Questions about addressing difficult or complicated communication issues in the workplace. Communication in the workplace may take place in many forms (email, phone, face-to-face, IM) and between a variety of parties (coworkers, managers, reports, clients).
1
vote
1answer
349 views
How to deal with an annoying personal quirk
I have been working with a very intelligent fellow (my grad-school classmate, we got hired around the same time). We are both very technical (electrical engineering design) and while I have been ...
0
votes
1answer
48 views
How can I organize client communications with a business partner? [closed]
I'm in the early stages of running an Internet Marketing company with business partner. We do design, development, SEO and PPC. My partner deals with clients/sales and I take care of ...
3
votes
2answers
230 views
Project my query code performance to manager?
I worked on a project that brought the execution time of a query to 18 seconds from 5 minutes earlier. About 100 employees use this query to generate reports and further do their jobs. I am trying to ...
9
votes
5answers
452 views
How can I get co-workers to buy into some of my ideas? [duplicate]
I am very new in my workplace and would like to bring up some changes. Most of these changes would bring the environment up to industry standards for this field, software development.
How can I go ...
15
votes
8answers
1k views
How to act in a meeting when everyone is a manager except me?
Sometimes I join some meetings where everyone is a manager, like department managers to discuss a problem or a situation which needs the joined effort of multiple departments. Anyway I am no manager ...
1
vote
2answers
151 views
Handle a manager who is prejudiced, untrusting? [closed]
I am working for an offshore services company but doing a role as an Onsite coordinator and Analyst for a 12 member team but being onsite. The offshore project manager was an ex-QA for the same ...
5
votes
3answers
206 views
How can I work with a client who gives ambiguous directions but refuses to clarify--and is just more adamant that I follow his instructions?
I'm working on an assignment that my client thinks should have taken me twenty minutes... for one day and counting.
He gave me ambiguous instructions, and when I said, "What do you mean by saying ...
3
votes
5answers
230 views
Should an email group include the manager?
We have an "email group" set up for our department whose intended purpose is to provide a way to share information that everyone should know. However, because the manager is included on the list, it ...
3
votes
1answer
341 views
Should I care about the coworker next to me while he dozes off and our boss doesn't care?
Actually he falls asleep very frequently almost everyday and our boss have never concerned or been mad about him. There was only one time that he snored quite loud and our boss patted him so he woke ...
7
votes
5answers
405 views
How to deal with a colleague who mocks me?
A member of the team I work with is guy, who considers himself "super-smart". The guy makes snide remarks to me for no specific reason. I have not previously had such problems with others, so I can't ...
0
votes
0answers
54 views
How to handle existing work and poor management? [closed]
I'm in a situation where I'm one of the in house developers for a company that works in the engineering industry. The director of IT is an older guy - he seems to be nice, however, it seems that he ...
0
votes
2answers
161 views
Peer tasks me, then complains about push-back. Strategies? [duplicate]
Similar to this question, I have a colleague who gives me tasks/projects on a semi-regular basis. They are usually tasks someone has asked him to do, but he doesn't have the technical expertise to ...
2
votes
2answers
160 views
How should I address an email application if I don't have the last name of the receiver?
I'm sending an application to a freelance software developer by email. My goal is to work for free in my spare time (not quite an internship, but basically an internship). I have a completed, and ...
1
vote
2answers
146 views
Is a Motivation Letter for Employment different from the letter used while applying for a student visa?
I am a non EU person, a third country national, and if I want to convert my student visa into a salary one, I have to write a Motivation letter for Employment to the Embassy of the concerned country ...
1
vote
4answers
355 views
How to deal with “unresponsive” colleagues?
I routinely have to deal with a situation when some of my colleagues do not reply to my chat messages or emails. I can't just ignore them, because I get tasks from them and occasionally need to ...
10
votes
4answers
386 views
Requesting a dress code change that is up to my manager's discretion
When I started working for my current company, they permitted a dress code consisting of either jeans or khakis and a polo shirt. About a year ago, something unrelated happened in which the CEO was ...
6
votes
1answer
129 views
Is it better to avoid emailing bad/negative news, if you can use phone communication?
I'm in a situation where I've taken a hiatus from work, in order to complete schooling (I was an intern though, and after the degree I'm expecting to be FT). However, the hiatus will need more time ...
10
votes
7answers
429 views
Should I propose a big change as a newcomer?
I have been working in the IT department of a (relatively) small company for 2 months.
Recently the boss of another department (who is a former developer) told me that it would be nice if we started ...
8
votes
2answers
481 views
How To Deal With a Whistler [duplicate]
There is this guy in the office that constantly walks around whistling loudly all day long. He doesn't seem to realize that it's distracting and that others including myself find it to be incredibly ...
35
votes
3answers
10k views
Jokingly told my boss “I quit” on April Fools, and I think I just got fired [closed]
I jokingly told my manager "I quit" via email (it was longer than that) as an April Fools joke. We get along pretty well normally.
Well, it seems my joke was taken a bit too seriously as I just got ...
0
votes
3answers
232 views
How can I improve my verbal communication to make it simple and crystal clear?
I have a lead role in my organization. My role demands high impact and crystal clear communication from me. I have been told that I am able to successfully communicate verbally anything to others, but ...
4
votes
1answer
103 views
Changing when you're able to interview - Asked interested company to wait for me to graduate, but that's delayed
I'm an undergraduate student at an overseas campus of a university that's not based where I am. If everything went well, I'd graduate around this august and when contacted by a recruiter, I'd asked ...
3
votes
3answers
254 views
How to avoid “throwing away” soft skills at a hard skills job?
I have an unusual problem in finding work. I have been in many interviews (over 10 in the past year), but none of them produced any job offers. However, the employers I've interviewed with are ...
9
votes
4answers
1k views
What is appropriate email follow-up etiquette after no response?
Sometimes I send emails and need a response. While not quite as bad as not being able to find denvercoder9, it sometimes happens I get no response.
This presents a problem if the request is something ...
-1
votes
1answer
218 views
Is this wrongful firing? How can I make sure that I get my unemployment benefits? [closed]
I managed a barber shop for a year and a half by myself averaging 20 haircuts a day. The owner then made her sister a manager of the shop, with no one other than me at the shop.
One evening her ...
5
votes
5answers
269 views
Constructive feedback on Trust to Management
There are quite a few articles trying to emphasize and define Organizational trust. What is a good way to tell your boss that you are losing trust in him/her/them?
Articles - huffingtonpost, ...
32
votes
10answers
2k views
My boss started sending me IMs to my private account. How should I deal with this?
I few days ago my boss started to send me instant messages to my private phone on my private account. He sends me error-messages and screenshots from customers.
I fully understand this may be his ...
7
votes
3answers
204 views
Managing multiple status emails efficiently
What should I look for in techniques or tools for helping to communicate status well and efficiently to multiple managers with different areas of interest?
I'm working on multiple different projects ...
4
votes
4answers
344 views
How should I approach a 'One on One' with my boss's manager when there are issues with the project?
Here is my problem. I have recently shifted job and I am mainly into computer programming. We work in a framework which is almost 75-80% complete. And I have been given a task to add something more to ...
-5
votes
1answer
117 views
Convey a Boss message to a colleague using email or by phone? [closed]
My Boss has a message that I need to convey to a colleague, who is situated at a different office. (a few kilometers away).
I consulted another colleague and he prefers it to be email if the message ...
-3
votes
2answers
238 views
Should employments be listed in ascending or descending order? [closed]
My employer preferred events listed descending. But in UML sequence diagram, they are listed ascending (and to the right), for example:
2013
2014
2015
2016....
My employer prefers the opposite:
...
-2
votes
1answer
134 views
Job titles in the web business… What do you call yourself if regularly work with multiple disciplines? [closed]
I'm currently the Flash developer at an Ad agency. Knowing that Flash is becoming antiquated, I have spent the last few years absorbing everything that my coworkers do.
At this point, I can say ...
0
votes
2answers
188 views
How can I introduce myself as well as request help from a colleague?
I will be contacting some colleagues at different locations and effectively requesting some of their time to greatly assist a project I am working on. Given their other responsibilities, I am not ...
2
votes
2answers
131 views
How to impose standards on a client/company?
I got hired by a company about a year ago that doesn't normally do software development. They had contracted out to a firm to get some software written for them. Later, they hired me to help maintain ...
5
votes
2answers
314 views
Is documenting communication with my boss on expectations, targets, and promises wrong?
When I was working on my earlier project, the project management diplomatically played with the communication. There was big mess related to expectations, commitments and promises. At one point, I ...
11
votes
7answers
474 views
Is it tactful to get in touch with a previous developer?
I'm in the position where I have inherited a highly complex codebase predominantly written by developers who have since separated from the company. I am not aware of what circumstances they separated ...
2
votes
3answers
232 views
What are your options in dealing with an employer who does not pay for your gas when doing errands for him?
I have a friend who works for a company part-time (paid hourly) doing marketing/website work. Occasionally, his boss will have him make trips to the store to get office supplies or go do some ...
2
votes
2answers
381 views
How can I tell my boss that the solution he wants is impractical?
My boss asked me if I have an idea for a solution to a problem he is facing. I've determined that this can not be achieved without having negative effects, so we would need an alternative approach.
...
5
votes
3answers
306 views
No Job Satisfaction - Any Suggestions? [closed]
I know a person with the following issue in their workplace, and I wish to help them, however I am unsure as to what suggestions to give them. So here goes (Lets call this person Jane).
Jane works as ...
27
votes
8answers
2k views
How to politely ask a coworker to “Google it” instead of coming to me all the time with basic questions?
I'm working in a team of 8 consultants just like me. I'm the youngest member of the team and also the one with the least experience (on resume at least). But 4 of the 8 members of the team will often ...
19
votes
12answers
1k views
How can I encourage a coworker to report problems and describe those issues but not to suggest solutions?
I am a software engineer. My team and I frequently work with a team of data analysts to help them load and retrieve data from our software.
The analysts we work with are simply brilliant. They are ...
9
votes
3answers
236 views
Communicating with hundreds of bickering SVPs
I'm a regular person at my employer -- no one reports to me. I report to one person, he reports to one person, and so on. But near the top of the chain, there are a few hundred Senior Vice ...
12
votes
4answers
600 views
Explaining that I'm leaving because I'm bored — or do I need to?
I'm bored at my job. I haven't learned a thing in the year that I've been there and I'm rebuffed whenever I request to be able work on a task that I would find more interesting (after having my daily ...
10
votes
3answers
406 views
In an interview, how could you describe a time when you communicated well?
In a sysadmin job interview, I was asked to describe a time when I used my verbal or written communication skills in an effective way. I don't know how to approach this question. It's very open-ended ...
-3
votes
2answers
121 views
How do I make a major technology proposal at work [closed]
My work place is a daughter company of a large corporation that has a few products it offers to financial institutions.
Most of the software written in our company, as well as most of the software ...
5
votes
2answers
195 views
Should I mention an incomplete graduation on my CV/Resume?
I am creating my profile in stackoverflow careers, and I am in doubt if I should mention an incomplete graduation in my CV.
To be clear: I gave up of this graduation in first year and I moved to ...
15
votes
4answers
1k views
How to provide negative review of manager in “360 degree” feedback?
At my workplace, in addition to the traditional annual performance review, there also another process called "the 360" where each employee is assessed also by their subordinates and peers.
I will be ...
-3
votes
2answers
181 views
Improve English skills of a colleague [closed]
I have a colleague (non-native speaker) who joined recently.
Ours is an IT firm where we need to communicate on a regular basis with folks around the globe.
His technical skills are pretty decent, ...
71
votes
9answers
3k views
How can I tell people to get to the point?
I've recently come to a work place where people use a lot of useless business lingo and generally inflate communications with long unproductive fluff. I frequently find myself nodding and hoping they ...
13
votes
8answers
1k views
How to dismiss allegations of relationships
According to this Workplace.SE post, romantic relationships with co-workers/subordinates are discouraged due to perhaps the suspicion of unprofessional behavior. However, a co-worker (who is female) ...
