Ask a Manager

This post was written by Alison Green and published on Ask a Manager.

It’s five answers to five questions. Here we go… 1. Unauthorized visitor won’t leave our cafe I work for a university research department, and we have run into an issue with a stranger repeatedly remaining in our office cafe/kitchen space, and it is proving surprisingly difficult to resolve. The building we are in houses many […]

This post was written by Alison Green and published on Ask a Manager.

This comment section is open for any non-work-related discussion you’d like to have with other readers, by popular demand. Here are the rules for the weekend posts. Book recommendation of the week: Long Bright River, by Liz Moore. It’s SO GOOD! It’s the story of two sisters, close as children but estranged as adults. When […]

This post was written by Alison Green and published on Ask a Manager.

It’s the Friday open thread! The comment section on this post is open for discussion with other readers on any work-related questions that you want to talk about (that includes school). If you want an answer from me, emailing me is still your best bet*, but this is a chance to take your questions to […]

This post was written by Alison Green and published on Ask a Manager.

It’s four answers to four questions. Here we go… 1. How can I advocate to work from home in an interview when it seems against company culture? I have been a full-time remote employee since late 2017. This organization has always been fully remote and I have thrived in this environment. I do good work […]

This post was written by Alison Green and published on Ask a Manager.

A reader writes: I have an extremely low-stakes question: Is there a way to say “did you receive my gift?” that doesn’t come off as aggressively asking to be thanked but instead expresses what I really want to know, which is, “FedEx/etc said it was delivered but was it really? Or do I need to […]

This post was written by Alison Green and published on Ask a Manager.

Remember the letter-writer whose new boss treated her like his assistant … which isn’t what she was hired for? Here’s the update. I did follow your advice and speak with HR. They listened to my concerns and to their credit they launched an “investigation.” I know that at some point they found my claims credible […]

This post was written by Alison Green and published on Ask a Manager.

It’s the Thursday “ask the readers” question. A reader writes: I’m a woman job hunting right now and desperately want to buzz my hair. It’s a pretty strong look, and I think it would have the same effect on my search as a bold hair color. I’ll probably do it. But it got me thinking […]

This post was written by Alison Green and published on Ask a Manager.

It’s five answers to five questions. Here we go… 1. Coworkers are very concerned that I’m not wearing a coat I am a relatively young woman (late 20s) in a workplace in which many of my coworkers are twice my age or more, and the profession is heavily skewed female. I’ve been at this workplace […]

This post was written by Alison Green and published on Ask a Manager.

A reader writes: I was out for a few days recently for personal reasons and came back to discover that two of my colleagues have done something incredibly thoughtless that has completely screwed up a major work product for me and then lied about it to my supervisor, saying I was involved in the decision. […]

This post was written by Alison Green and published on Ask a Manager.

A reader writes: As a relatively new manager, I’m wondering about how to navigate sick time. Background: We’re 100% remote. I have weekly standing meetings with employees; apart from that, I don’t require details on what they’re doing through the day. When I know someone is at a doctor’s appointment for a few hours, is […]

This post was written by Alison Green and published on Ask a Manager.

A reader writes: I work in a country with strong job protection, have a boss who is reluctant to do performance improvement, and I just transitioned out of managing a team. One of my reports was a recent-ish hire I’ll call Pam, who is mid-career but entry-level. Pam volunteers for an optional LBGTQ+ employee resource […]

This post was written by Alison Green and published on Ask a Manager.

It’s five answers to five questions. Here we go… 1. My manager constantly talks about her personal finances I am the only direct report to a manager who constantly talks about how much money she is spending in her personal life. Her spouse owns an international company, which allows her to have a pretty nice […]

This post was written by Alison Green and published on Ask a Manager.

A reader writes: I work at a small college, and part of my job involves working with new faculty. I have one new faculty member who is well on his way to becoming known as a vulture on campus. My events for new faculty often involve food in addition to programming, and this faculty member […]

This post was written by Alison Green and published on Ask a Manager.

A reader writes: I’ve been conducting a low-key job search for months without much movement, and suddenly within the last few weeks I have what seems like serious interest from two different companies. I’m near the end of the interviewing process with both of them but, from what I can tell, one of them is […]

This post was written by Alison Green and published on Ask a Manager.

A reader writes: I work in a small office of six people, and since we’ve all been here for 3+ years at least, we’re pretty close. We hold a gift exchange where basically everyone buys a gift for everyone else. I understand that’s probably a bit much, but it works for us. In 2022, my […]

This post was written by Alison Green and published on Ask a Manager.

It’s five answers to five questions. Here we go… 1. Asking my wife not to attend a work dinner Am I wrong for not wanting my wife to attend an after hours dinner where I’m excluded? Probably, yes. It’s very, very normal to have work dinners where spouses and partners aren’t invited. These are business […]

This post was written by Alison Green and published on Ask a Manager.

A reader writes: We have about 25 employees, and prior to Covid, we had a somewhat-contentious compost bucket under the sink in our staff kitchen. It was always gross, full of flies and rotting food, and rarely emptied by the people who used it. Recently, a colleague decided to reinstate the compost bucket and messaged […]

This post was written by Alison Green and published on Ask a Manager.

A reader writes: I am having a very backwards problem with one of my employees, Jill, being too accommodating and self-sacrificing. We have regular hours that we work, but it’s not uncommon for hours to need to change when something comes up. Everyone is aware of this when they come onboard, and we do our […]

This post was written by Alison Green and published on Ask a Manager.

A reader writes: I work for an office of 20/30somethings with a strong drinking culture — our events inevitably end up in pubs late into the night and include all partners, funders, etc. This is not abnormal in my industry. The other night, we were all out late after a successful event and the boss […]

This post was written by Alison Green and published on Ask a Manager.

It’s five answers to five questions. Here we go… 1. We can’t have couches anymore I work as a staff member at a college. The other day, the HR director told us he is getting rid of all of the couches around administrative offices and lobbies. When asked why, he said, “Title IX. We want […]