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 other readers. * If you submitted a question to me recently, please do not repost it here, as it may be in my queue to answer. You may also like: employer said I didn't have enough "passion" when I couldn't interview on a S ..read more

This post was written by Alison Green and published on Ask a Manager. It’s four answers to four questions. Here we go… 1. The better I do, the more resentful my boss gets I’m a manager in a technical field and my boss used to be a huge micromanager. He is one of those senior leaders who is good at delegating tasks, but not at delegating decisions or leadership responsibilities, so he wants every decision, big and small, to go through him. Classic case of a person who worries nobody else can do it making that fear into a self-fulfilling prophecy. Recently the company has been going through a r ..read more

This post was written by Alison Green and published on Ask a Manager. A reader writes: I have a friend, Jane, who I used to be close to, but in the past few years she’s been very hot and cold, going through periods of being almost clingy and then turning on a dime to become unresponsive or even kind of annoyed that I’m talking to her. This has been emotionally difficult and I’ve decided I need to dial back the friendship. I’ve also been trying to get out of a job that’s become untenable, but the job hunt has been rough because my industry is small and competitive. Another friend, Carol, works ..read more

This post was written by Alison Green and published on Ask a Manager. A reader writes: My company has a very small number of permanent employees but we employ a large number of entry-level seasonal workers at a couple of points in the year. We don’t have landlines, only company cell phones. The phone number on our website, brochures, etc. is my number and job applicants often call my number, asking for more details about compensation, qualifications, job duties, etc. before they have been contacted for an interview. On the one hand, I don’t want to be one of those snooty HR people, and I know ..read more

This post was written by Alison Green and published on Ask a Manager. It’s five answers to five questions. Here we go… 1. Should I correct a service person’s grammar? Our family held a special event, and the staff at the venue were excellent, all very helpful and competent, they know their jobs well and I have nothing but good to say about the event. However, during the process of making arrangements via email, the young lady who was my contact person needed my credit card for a deposit and for a couple of payments. Each time, she sent me an email saying, “I have ran your credit card.” In the ..read more

This post was written by Alison Green and published on Ask a Manager. A reader writes: I recently started my dream job — amazing start-up, coveted industry, huge promise, incredibly competent management (a gift I do not take for granted). However, I’m working in arguably the most expensive metropolitan city on earth, one that is notorious for being a literal nightmare to drive or own a car in. As field marketing manager, I agreed to bring my car because I’m covering the entire state. However, my immediate responsibilities are focused on metropolitan area. Uber costs are exorbitant and I’m tra ..read more

This post was written by Alison Green and published on Ask a Manager. The Federal Trade Commission yesterday banned non-compete agreements for most U.S. workers, saying that they stifle wages. The ruling not only makes non-competes illegal, but it also requires employers to to inform employees with existing non-competes that they are null and void. An exception was carved out for existing non-competes for senior executives; the ruling would allow existing non-competes only for that small group but bans new ones for them too. It’s also important to note that the ruling will not apply to nonprof ..read more

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 coworker is bitter that I wouldn’t play a game with her I (19M) am a college student with a single source of income. Before my shift today, my coworker (18F) sent me a Game Pigeon text out of nowhere. I sort of went along with it, we went back and forth with Cup Pong a few times, and then I started my shift at work. I assumed it was okay to leave the game unfinished until I got off of my shift, but my coworker kept trying to distract me and get me to finish the game. I ..read more

This post was written by Alison Green and published on Ask a Manager. A reader writes: I genuinely don’t understand how folks deal with the overwhelming guilt of taking time off work. I’ve had this problem since I started working right out of college, and it’s persisted through multiple job and industry changes and multiple PTO policies — from seven days to unlimited — in my over 15 years of work. During Covid, my workplace was understaffed and very strict with travel and PTO, and I felt too guilty to leave even when my grandparents were dying from Covid or when my best friend wanted me to be ..read more

This post was written by Alison Green and published on Ask a Manager. It’s five answers to five questions. Here we go… 1. I don’t want to participate in my office’s steps challenge My office is getting ready to start a months-long steps challenge, and there’s a big emphasis on participating because we’ve got a mix of in-person, hybrid, and remote employees and this is supposed to be something to help us all engage. They’re launching it in a week, and I am dreading it. I don’t count my steps or focus on challenge-based exercise because I find that it’s not beneficial for me. I don’t care if ot ..read more