Ask a Manager

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

A reader writes: I work at a barbershop that’s under the booth rent model, so I’m a sole proprietor. How do I professionally tell people to stop coming in sick/bringing in their sick kids? Should I display a sign at my station as well? I don’t understand how a haircut is so important when you’re […]

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

Just a heads-up that Ask a Manager is on Bluesky in case you’re over there: bsky.app/profile/askamanager.org If you’ve been considering trying Bluesky but haven’t made the leap: I really like it. It has a lot of the stuff that used to be great about Twitter before it imploded, plus cool features like being able to […]

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

Let’s talk about malicious compliance — times when someone purposely exposed the absurdity of a rule by doing exactly what they were told to do. For example: “I had a boss who needed to know via email every. single. time. we stepped away from our computers (we were all fully remote). So I decided to […]

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

It’s five answers to five questions. Here we go… 1. People are bouncing on yoga balls during Zoom calls I’m at an all-remote company. Zooms are our go-to. In the Zooms I organize, I prefer videos off and most people know that. (So I don’t have to do my hair or get distracted, and it […]

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

A reader writes: A few years ago, I got a promotion in a different country. The organization I had previously worked at went through a re-structure and my position was eliminated. My good friend Suzie was promoted into a position that was very similar to my former position, but higher on the org chart and […]

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

A reader writes: I recently had to fire a manager for a belligerent, profanity-laden outburst during a board meeting. He has not been doing his job and has been suspected to be drinking or have been drunk while working (although no proof). To further complicate things, his manager has not done his job by documenting […]

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

A reader writes: In 2020, due to the pandemic, my entire company started to work from home. I enjoyed a much better work-life balance and know many others did too, especially because so many people moved further away for more space. Sadly, we’ve been asked to come back into the office. At first it was […]

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

It’s five answers to five questions. Here we go… 1. Our HR person helped her mom get hired in secret I work for a small company of 12 people, led by two partners. In the hierarchy of the company, I am the next tier down from the partners. We are not large enough to have […]

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

A reader writes: I’ve done my fair share of job interviews, but not in the past five years or so. In early August, I applied for a manager-level role at a local nonprofit that fits exactly within my professional experience and personal interests. Almost four months after the application deadline, I finally got an email […]

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

A reader writes: I manage a team of five. One of my staff, Helen, does some variation of a week-long juice cleanse or other liquid diet about once per year, and has for the four years she has been on my team. During that week each time, she arrives late or leaves early for three […]

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

A reader writes: I (a woman) travelled by myself to a work-related conference and encountered some bad behavior on the flight. A quick search on AAM indicated many readers asked questions related to work-related trips with folks within the same company. How about with folks from another company? Other than ignoring and walking away, what […]

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

It’s five answers to five questions. Here we go… 1. Is there a polite way to avoid sitting by a loud coworker? I’ve recently transferred to a new team at work and so far am really enjoying it. The only real snag is that I have trouble sitting nearby one of my teammates, Chris. To […]

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

A reader writes: One of our staff, Leonard, runs to work. Given our local climate, this often results in him arriving damp and/or cold, which has caused issues: • Our offices/meeting rooms have glass walls, so he uses the shared washroom to change on arrival – tromping through in muddy shoes or bare feet, washing […]

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

A reader writes: A junior employee I manage writes rude emails. He will send three emails in 15 minutes, and then respond rudely when I answer the first one, as I haven’t gotten around to the other two or hadn’t seen them in my inbox yet. He’ll respond quoting his previous emails I haven’t had […]

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

A reader writes: I recently landed a job offer at a large global company after taking a year off. The job search was a tough one, but after some bumps in the road I was pretty excited about this company and accepted their offer. I ended up negotiating for additional vacation time (four weeks) to […]

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 […]