Ask a Manager

It’s five answers to five questions. Here we go… 1. Do I need to foster relationship-building on my team? I manage two lovely people. We are all fully remote and relatively new hires to a large organization (I’ve been here two years and they have been here between 3-6 months). I onboarded 100% virtually and […]

It’s five answers to five questions. Here we go… 1. Blackballing people who didn’t work during 2021 I overheard my brother saying something that I find problematic (to say the least). He and his friends, all of whom are managers at various companies, have an informal “pact” that they’re trying to spread. Basically, they’re tired […]

It’s five answers to five questions. Here we go… 1. Should HR ever call a spouse about an employee’s bad behavior? This is a secondhand question, but I’m interested in your take. Nora’s partner Nick works at ACME Corp; Nora does not work there. Nora notices that Nick seems to be in trouble at work, […]

It’s five answers to five questions. Here we go… 1. I can’t stand my coworker’s voice I know this is going to come off as petty or intolerant and you’ll probably tell me to just get over it, but I need some feedback. My company has been working remotely even before the pandemic, so we’re […]

It’s five answers to five questions. Here we go… 1. Coworker asks me for help “confidentially” I have a coworker who asks for help with certain processes, which is normal enough in our work, and I’m happy to help. But she also asks that her requests for help be confidential, which is weird (right?). She’ll […]

It’s five answers to five questions. Here we go… 1. My partner says I’m unethical for interviewing when I just started a new job I have a long history of doing an obscene level of work and not advocating for myself. Ever. Every single place I’ve worked for has sung my praises. Not a single […]

It’s five answers to five questions. Here we go… 1. My trainee got pulled over during a Zoom meeting I train new employees and one of my trainees was just pulled over during a Zoom meeting. Before that, I could tell she was away from her desk, which is fine as we are all permanently […]

It’s five answers to five questions. Here we go… 1. I supported my coworker’s kid’s fundraiser and he didn’t return the favor I supported a coworker’s kid’s Boy Scout fundraiser. I did last year too. For the record, I hate mixing this kind of stuff with work but I’m a new mom and learning this […]

It’s five answers to five questions. Here we go… 1. Employee wants bereavement leave for her dog I manage a team of 10 people. Our company provides my team with 120 hours of annual PTO. Separate from that, we provide 40 hours of bereavement for an immediate family member and 20 hours of bereavement for […]

It’s five answers to five questions. Here we go… 1. My new boss is someone I used to drink on the job with At a previous job, when I was young and dumb, I joined in with two other “rebel” coworkers, Rachel and Monica, to drink on the job. Daily. Usually meeting at one of […]