Ask a Manager

It’s five answers to five questions. Here we go… 1. My boss focuses on the negative, even when I do good work I have been in my role for about one year. I think I am performing well, but my manager is a lot more forthcoming about her negative feedback than her positive. It has […]

It’s five answers to five questions. Here we go… 1. My manager says my joke a year ago was unprofessional At the start of last year, I moved teams into a new-ish role that I was excited about. The manager of my new team (Ella) was someone I’d worked with for a long time and […]

It’s five answers to five questions. Here we go… 1. Employee sent a weird email asking if her coworker could leave early I’m the director of a small nonprofit and I just received an email from a staff member that I find bizarre. The employee, Phyllis, sent this email to me and other staff who […]

A reader writes: I have worked with a very quirky soul (let’s call her Paula) for a decade now at a small company. We have a new CEO and he’s doing an excellent job. He’s respectful, careful, and thoughtful, but not afraid to make tough decisions. Recently, he fired some very problematic people who were […]

It’s five answers to five questions. Here we go… 1. Companies incentivizing vaccines and returning to work My company is providing a return-to-office incentive to pay for office supplies if you’re staying home or wardrobe updates if you’re headed back to work. No receipts need to be submitted. It is $1,000, which is not a […]

It’s five answers to five questions. Here we go… 1. My boyfriend left me for an intern at work and her manager called my friend about it My live-in boyfriend of several years recently told me he has been having an affair for months and ended our relationship to pursue a relationship with the affair […]

It’s five answers to five questions. Here we go… 1. I’m overhearing my partner’s work conversations and they seem bad For the last year and a half of the pandemic, my partner and I have been working remotely. My partner has a well-paying job in a field they excel in and is highly respected by […]

It’s five answers to five questions. Here we go… 1. Thermostat wars with a classist twist My office is in the basement of a building owned by my company. The main offices are on the floor above me, and the floors above that are rented out as vacation/short-term rentals. Although I have a private office, […]

It’s five answers to five questions. Here we go… 1. How to handle false affair rumors Your recent post about the suspicious boyfriend reminded me of something that happened to me six years back, and I’m curious how you’d handle it. At the time I was new to the company and being trained by Sansa, […]

It’s five answers to five questions. Here we go… 1. Employee is trying to force me to accept a loan I never asked for Due to my spouse’s disability and my working full-time, we hire a cleaner for two hours every week. She’s pleasant but lacks punctuality and gossips non-stop. During one of these gossip […]