Ask a Manager
- Website
- askamanager.org · all feeds from this site
- Feed URL
https://www.askamanager.org/feed
Read it in your FeedListing reader
Or add to: Feedly Inoreader Raw feed
Latest posts
-
customer jokes that I’m incompetent, work meeting in a bar, and more
It’s five answers to five questions. Here we go… 1. Customer jokes that I’m incompetent At my job I deal with the general public, and I have a particular customer who is normally very playful and “joke-y.” Recently, he’s started making a new “joke” that every time I can’t make…
-
I don’t want an in-person meeting to tell me I didn’t get a promotion
A reader writes: I have just had an interview for an internal position, which is a promotion in the team I currently work at. The interview didn’t go particularly well and I have made my peace with not getting the role. However, on my way out, they dropped the horrifying news…
-
my employees are harassing a disabled coworker
A reader asks: I manage a small digital marketing firm. The owner is usually in the background doing the “big stuff” like networking and bringing in sponsors or big clients, I do almost all the hiring, and we use a virtual assistant HR company that tends to just forward me…
-
I was bullied and pushed out of the business I helped create
A reader writes: After being very successful in my field, including working for one of the most successful CEOs in the world, I got pregnant with my first child. We moved two hours from our city, and I have had been a full(ish)-time mom since then. I’ve been happy to volunteer…
-
I don’t want to work from my coworker’s house, boss’s fingernails are too long, and more
It’s five answers to five questions. Here we go… 1. I don’t want to work from my coworker’s house I work for a major city government. I work remotely but do go into the office a few times a year for a few days, or even up to a week at a time, depending on […] The post I don’t…
-
weekend open thread – October 31 – November 1, 2026
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: Madwoman, by Chelsea Bieker. A woman hides her traumatic childhood from her…
-
previously on Ask a Manager…
A look back at what we were talking about around this time in previous years: One year ago… will people think I named my baby after my employee? my parents called my abusive boss to complain I’m taking extended leave and management has zero coverage plans Two years ago… I…
-
open thread – October 30, 2026
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…
-
I can’t give my team the excellent ratings they deserve, boss read 6 pages of complaints to me, and more
It’s four answers to four questions. Here we go… 1. I’m a federal manager being told I can’t give my team the excellent ratings they deserve I am a federal supervisor who, so far, has decided to stick out the chaos. Some of us are still here! We’re still very much under assault.…
-
could my spouse be a reference in the future?
A reader writes: I’ve been unemployed for more than six months after a layoff, and I’m extremely discouraged. My industry is being cannibalized by AI, and my ambivalence about our robot overlords is one of many factors making it hard to find another role. My husband has been…
-
curses, hexes, and haunted offices: a Halloween round-up
In honor of Halloween, here’s a round-up of letters about magic, curses, and other supernatural matters at work. curses and magic an employee is putting magic curses on her coworkers my coworker put a magical curse on her boss (and the update) my coworker spends his day on magic…
-
has anything spooky happened to you at work?
Did you ever work somewhere haunted? Feel the ghost of your predecessor marooned in your office? Encounter an evil spirit lurking in the coffee maker? It’s almost Halloween, so let’s hear all your stories about spooky experiences at work. Share in the comment section! And to…
-
coworker says hi to everyone but me, can an interviewer ask about your belief in ghosts, and more
It’s five answers to five questions. Here we go… 1. My coworker says hi to everyone but me I work at a bank in a small lending department. One of the lenders, Vivek, has had a reputation in our department for some time that it seems he can do whatever he wants and no one […] The…
-
accessibility changes on Ask a Manager
I’ve been working on making Ask a Manager more accessible, and I want to tell you about some changes I’ve made (and a new tool you can use if it’s helpful to you). First, Dan Hoover at MakeWPCompliant did an accessibility audit of the site, and I’ve been working to fix…
-
the music ban, the end to the chili cook-off, and other rules that exist because one person ruined it for everyone
Last month we talked about workplace rules that exist because one person ruined it for everyone. Here are 15 of my favorite stories you shared. 1. The vodka In one of the courts where I regularly appear, no lawyer or party is allowed to bring their own reusable drink containers,…
-
my coworker goes overboard with grisly Halloween decorations
A reader writes: People in our office go bonkers over Halloween. The woman in the cubicle next to mine must have emptied out her storage area of Halloween decorations. Now there are gross bloody looking, ghoulish figures hanging from the ceiling above our desk space. There are…
-
a student tried to lead our networking group in prayer
A reader writes: I am on the board of the local chapter of my professional organization and on track to be president in the next two years. I was part of a core group of people that revitalized the chapter after it fell mostly dormant following Covid, and need some advice about…
-
employee told my boss she thinks I have dementia, coworker misuses a word, and more
It’s five answers to five questions. Here we go… 1. My employee told my boss she thinks I have dementia It was reported to me from my supervisor in an upward feedback conversation that my supervisee stated she thinks I have dementia. I do not. I am a 55-year-old woman who is in…
-
should workplaces ban Meta glasses?
A reader writes: What do you do when you discover that multiple people in your office are wearing Meta glasses? (Note from Alison: Meta glasses are eyeglasses that include built-in cameras and microphones.) It has recently come to my attention that at least three people in my…
-
my boss stole my presentation
A reader writes: I was hired by my current employer about two years ago and joined our internal consulting team. Different departments bring us in to help address challenges or figure out what’s going on when they’re facing a problem they can’t figure out. However, we also…