Ask a Manager

It’s five answers to five questions. Here we go… 1. If I quit my job when everyone else is quitting, the organization will fall apart I am the executive director for a small nonprofit with three staff. One of the staff members, “Abby,” has been there for 10 years and is in a leadership position. […]

It’s five answers to five questions. Here we go… 1. Should I kick a coworker out of our social huddles? I am an associate director and lead a team of three (mixed genders, some very new to the workforce). We work remotely, and each department has an optional weekly 30-minute huddle, purely social. My team […]

It’s five answers to five questions. Here we go… 1. Offensiveness in the fantasy football league I need to gauge if I’m overreacting. It’s fantasy football season, and as an HR professional I’m studiously ignoring the emails about joining “work” leagues (due to gambling being illegal). One of our new managers has joined this league […]

It’s four answers to four questions. Here we go… 1. New receptionist has a shopping habit Two months ago I hired a new receptionist, one of my few direct reports. She is young and this is her first office job. She has a good personality for a receptionist, and everyone likes her. The problem is […]

It’s five answers to five questions. Here we go… 1. Is my workplace toxic or am I just inexperienced? I came into my first job excited and idealistic, believing everyone wanted to improve the company and work towards the same goal. I was given some warnings prior to starting that my position had high turnover, […]

It’s five answers to five questions. Here we go… 1. Should I work with this investor or run for the hills? I have a connection who is a successful entrepreneur and investor who wants to start a business in my industry. Because of my industry experience, he asked if I wanted to work with him […]

It’s five answers to five questions and a PSA. Here we go… 1. My coworker refuses to talk to anyone because I asked him to stop calling us “young ladies” I’ve had a coworker, someone who’s been working at the company for 15 years, call both me and another woman (the only two women in […]

It’s five answers to five questions. Here we go… 1. My employee blames others for her mistakes I’m wondering how I deal with an employee who is “never in the wrong.” I try to provide constructive feedback, but she just denies that she’s done anything wrong or made any mistakes. Even when I provide concrete […]

It’s four answers to four questions. Here we go… 1. Asking coworkers to hang out socially I’ve been finding it incredibly difficult to make friends with my coworkers at my new job. I’m male and our company has 15 employees, 13 of whom are women, which can create awkwardness if you reach out after work. […]

It’s five answers to five questions. Here we go… 1. I kept my ex-boss’s affair a secret … and now I work with her husband So long story short, at my previous job my boss (the owner of the company) had an affair (both she and the man she had an affair with were married, […]