Performance Tracking and Feedback

It’s four answers to four questions. Here we go… 1. We’re supposed to do enneagrams at a company retreat I work at an organization with 100+ employees. We gather periodically for company-wide retreats. We have done this in the past with various professional learning opportunities. This time we were asked to fill out an enneagram survey that would be facilitated in conversation about “what truly drives you and how to apply that to your job.” I find it to be mumbo jumbo and about as scientific as astrology. I took the quiz and found myself increasingly uncomfortable with the questions and rigor of the survey. How can I share this with management? How can they create alte…

Whenever a new generation ages into the work world, the sky always seems to be falling, accompanied by much hand-wringing from their elders. We were told millennials were overly entitled participation-trophy-chasers, and Gen X were disaffected slackers. In my experience, this is usually BS. Most of the complaints about any new generation at work are simply about young people. It’s about their inexperience, not their generation. But Gen Z might actually be grappling with a different set of challenges, because of both the pandemic and the move to remote work just as they’re establishing their careers. My column at Slate today explores whether there’s anything to that — and…

This post was written by Alison Green and published on Ask a Manager. A reader writes: I started a new job about four months ago in a team of six people in a mid-sized company, and my five immediate coworkers have been nothing but nice and helpful. They answer all of my questions, take lots of time to explain stuff, include me in lunch plans, go out of their way to make sure I have the equipment I need, etc. We spend one week per month in the office and work from home the rest of the time. There is a group chat for just our team and our manager where we discuss work, but also post the occasional funny meme, talk about our weekends, just normal stuff. The thing is that …

Here’s a round-up of advice about counteroffers. can I leverage a job offer for a raise at my current job? should I use a job offer to get a raise at my current job? should I talk with my manager before I accept another job, even though I wouldn’t accept a counteroffer? my job made me a shocking counteroffer can I ask an employer to match a counteroffer from my current job? when a recruiter wants you to commit to not accepting a counteroffer some cautionary tales my company made a counteroffer to keep me — and now is attaching strings to it my employer made me a counteroffer, then rescinded it I accepted my company’s counteroffer, and now they’re going back on o…

Here’s a round-up of advice about how to navigate a job offer — evaluating it, accepting it, declining it, negotiating, and more. how to negotiate salary, benefits, start date, and more you should ask for more money when you get a job offer. here’s how. negotiating a start date with a company that’s moving slowly while pressuring me to start soon how to ask for more vacation time everything you need to know about time off when you start a new job don’t forget to scrutinize benefits when you’re considering a job offer how to negotiate a different title when accepting a job can I negotiate a later schedule before accepting a job? assessing the offer 7 questions to…

With the snow storm that hit much of the eastern part of the U.S. this week, you might be wondering whether you get paid when your office is closed, if your employer can require you to work despite the storm, and other questions that arise when weather intersects with work. Can my employer require me to come into work even if the weather is making it hard for me to get there? Yes. Your employer can require you to come to work despite severe weather, although a decent employer will make allowances for employees who can’t reasonably make it in. If your employer is requiring to come in and you don’t believe you can safely travel, or if authorities are telling people in yo…

Last month, after talking about bad corporate gifts, we also talked about corporate gifts you actually liked, and here are some of my favorites. Of course, even wildly popular gifts won’t be universally popular and this is not an attempt to claim they are. These are just gifts that happened to be enjoyed in these people’s offices that I found interesting to read about! 1. Choose your own desk plants Shortly after I started at one job, we got sent a link to an online garden shop and instructions for us each to pick 15 euros worth of potted plants we’d like to have at our desk. (This one is arguably more of an office perk, but I was allowed to take mine home with me when …

It’s four answers to four questions. Here we go… 1. How do I fire someone humanely when management ignored years of underperformance? I’m a manager at a small product company and I’m facing a role elimination that’s keeping me up at night. I joined this org a bit less than a year ago and inherited a team, including one person who has been here for eight years — the only job he’s ever had since college. The role has always required strategic thinking, synthesis, and independent problem framing. He has never fully met that bar, but when I arrived, the work happened to be more execution-focused and predefined, so the gap was less visible. Now that the work requires what t…

A reader writes: I have a situation at work where my favorite work friend is now not speaking to me because of politics. We have political differences, but we have always been respectful and it’s never caused an issue before. Now I’m getting shut out because I’m, quote a part of the left. Wondering if you could do one of your round-ups of past posts about friendships going sour, or awkwardness at work. I know to be kind and professional, and I’m giving her space. But would be nice to have a re-read of some of the older posts. I suspect maybe I’m not alone in this. Yes! Here you go: friends at work friend drama may collide with job hunt I referred my friend to my com…

This post was written by Alison Green and published on Ask a Manager. It’s four answers to four questions. Here we go… 1. Excusing myself from a fancy work lunch due to allergies I have severe food allergies to multiple common food items. They are complex (substitutes for one food often contain another, some allergies are tied to flavoring or preservative agents not immediately obvious, etc.), often challenging, truly allergic (not an intolerance), and fairly new (adult onset a few years ago). For that reason, I very rarely eat out. My food intake is consistent and incredibly limited. I had to work with a dietician for several months to figure out how to even get enou…

Federal workers and others affected by the government shutdown: we’re in day 22 with no end in sight. How are you doing? What’s going on in your workplace / with your colleagues? The post government shutdown day 22: how are you doing? appeared first on Ask a Manager. View the full article

It’s Halloween! Let’s revisit some Halloween questions from past years. 1. My coworker goes overboard with grisly Halloween decorations People in our office go bonkers over Halloween. Recently we were encouraged to decorate for Halloween. I would take that to mean a little black and orange garland, maybe a plastic pumpkin, right? Well, not hardly. People go overboard and apparently the only rule was no trip hazards in the aisle. 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 skeletons with teeth, cobwebs st…

It’s five answers to five questions. Here we go… 1. My coworkers’ approach to group work is driving me mad At my workplace, we’re regularly required to give short presentations on how our work is coming along. As we work in teams, the teams need to present together. It seems like every time I come up against the same dynamic, and it’s driving me up a tree: For example, Fergus and I need to do a 5-10 minute presentation on sales in a certain district. We have to make a PowerPoint and a summarizing document to be shared with everyone. We split up the work so that we’re each handling one half of both the PowerPoint and the document, and set up a check-in meeting a few day…

It’s five answers to five questions. Here we go… 1. I don’t want to stay in a haunted hotel on a work trip I’m a junior employee at a smaller firm (100-200 employees). I travel about once a month for work and typically stay in generic hotels. I’m heading to a small town on my next trip and the project manager suggested we stay at a cute old historic property. Not a problem, I go to book, and it says the hotel has a friendly ghost. I am absolutely petrified of ghosts and paranormal things — think years and years of weekly therapy. The two people I’m traveling with are more senior than I am, and I’m a little embarrassed to say, “Hey, I know you’ve stayed here before but …

A reader writes: A few weeks ago, our HR manager, Cara, brought in a photo of her dog’s adorable litter of puppies and everybody appropriately ooh’d and ahh’d all over them. Now that the puppies are old enough to be adopted, she’s started to put the bite on everybody in the office, and after a few other employees were winnowed away for various reasons (apartment building doesn’t allow pets, just had a new baby, etc.), she seems to have focused her attention on me. Backstory time, I grew up in a house with a mother who … it’s probably most accurate to say she compulsively hoarded pets … and growing up having to take care of up to 10 dogs at one time has thrown cold water…

A reader recently sent me a cover letter that I want to share as a great example of explaining a maybe surprising job history: she had started in one field, then left it, then was trying to come back to it. First, though, the caveats I’ve learned to give when sharing these: The writer has allowed me to share this as a favor to me and to readers. Please remember she’s a real person when you’re commenting. This writer’s voice is her voice. It will not be your voice, and that’s part of the point. There is no single cover letter in the world that all hiring managers will love or that would be the right fit for every employer and every industry. But I receive letters all th…

This post was written by Alison Green and published on Ask a Manager. A reader recently sent me a cover letter that I want to share as a great example of explaining why you’re applying for a job in a different field and how your skills will carry over. First, though, the caveats I’ve learned to give when sharing these: The writer has allowed me to share this as a favor to me and to readers. Please remember she’s a real person when you’re commenting. This writer’s voice is her voice. It will not be your voice, and that’s part of the point. There is no single cover letter in the world that all hiring managers will love or that would be the right fit for every employer a…

This post was written by Alison Green and published on Ask a Manager. It’s five answers to five questions. Here we go… 1. How do I give 360 feedback to my clueless coworker? I have been asked to complete a 360 review for the junior staffer on my team. In general, I would like to only be positive in these, as that’s what I want in return! And I have never expressed these feelings to this coworker. But he is like a little baby in the outfit of a 26-year-old man. He doesn’t have the general sense at work you’d like someone four years into their career to have — as an example, he scheduled our boss to meet with board members, assigning them a meeting time without asking t…

This post was written by Alison Green and published on Ask a Manager. A reader writes: I’m in a quandary and really second-guessing a decision I made regarding an offer that was made to me a couple of weeks ago. I work for a company that makes, let’s say, teapots. I recently found out that Cersei, the director of a different teapot-making company, wants to fire her entire design team and hire me to head a brand new one. I would not only be responsible for leading the new team, but for hiring everyone in it. The complication: the current head of the to-be-fired team is my mentor of 20 years, Jaime. I found out about this when Cersei invited me to lunch and told me she …

The work on the site is (hopefully) complete, and comments are turned back on. Thanks for your patience the last few days as we ran into some bumps with a server migration. The post housekeeping update appeared first on Ask a Manager. View the full article

A reader writes: I teach in a business school and previously worked in my industry. I’ve been an AAM reader for a long time. I have seen you write about how group work in school projects is nothing like group work in the real world, and I’m not sure I totally agree. I have definitely worked with coworkers who slacked off or didn’t have the right skills, but there was no accountability, etc. I think getting some output from folks like this is actually a common challenge, which mirrors student work. Anyway, regardless of my personal opinion, every single industry speaker we have says they want students who work well as part of a team. Hiring managers who come here tell u…

A reader writes: Although I have managed project teams for many years, I have only started supervising staff directly in the last few years and am about to begin managing my first fully remote employee. Any advice on managing a fully remote employee? I’m fine with task management for project teams in different locations, but being someone’s supervisor also includes supporting their professional growth, making sure we as the employer are meeting their needs, addressing problems that may arise, and assigning work to meet chargeability goals. I also want to make sure that this employee stays happy, especially as she grows professionally. And my reports and I are known as a…

I’m off today so here’s an older post from the archives. This was originally published in 2017. A reader writes: Every since I was a small child I’ve been praised for how nice I am, how likable I am, how good I am with people. In many ways, this is a positive thing. I think of it as a skill that takes effort, but is very useful. However, as I’ve started working professionally I’ve run across a problem. I have a really hard time telling people when they are being awful. I can do normal job-related criticism fine – “please make sure you proofread for typos next time,” etc. – but when it comes to more emotionally turbulent conversations or anything with conflict, I complet…

A reader writes: I hired a promising junior employee who seemed polite and reasonable during his interview. However, now that he is my employee, he constantly condescends to me and says things that come across in a belittling way. Here are some examples: Me: “Bob, I was going to train you on how to do X today.” Bob, with a dismissive laugh: “Yeah, I was wondering when you were going to get to that.” Me: “Bob, has anyone shown you how to do Y yet?” Bob, with a dismissive laugh and a shrug: “How hard can it be?” Me: “I just noticed an issue with the X documentation and wanted to make sure I corrected that so you have the right information.” Bob, with a dismissive lau…

It’s the Thursday “ask the readers” question. A reader writes: I have been with my current employer for 20 years. We have been fully remote since 2020, though we do have in person meetings roughly once a quarter. And I travel for business frequently so also often spend times with colleagues this way. I have very close friends at my current role, but that is a reflection of my long-term tenure and the old days of lunch in the cafeteria and chats by the photocopier. I’m starting a senior manager level position next month at a new company and I’m looking for advice on how to develop relationships with coworkers. I will lead high profile cross-functional projects and will n…