344
votes
Employee lack of ownership
You seem to be confusing two things:
Them working any amount of hours to meet unexpected or unplanned issues.
Them being responsible and providing quality work in a predictable way.
Ownership is not ...
- 4,940
285
votes
Accepted
Should I talk to my team lead about unintentional sexism within the team?
I was wondering if this is a safe topic of conversation in a one to
one meeting with my team lead.
This behavior is an acceptable topic, jumping to conclusion as to the cause isn't. I would come ...
- 34.7k
278
votes
Accepted
Should I reveal productivity tricks to peers, or keep them to myself in order to be more productive than the others?
If you reveal it publicly (that is, everyone knows you have trained your peers) not only will you be more productive, but your whole team will be, and management will know why. By advancing the ...
- 148k
257
votes
Accepted
How to politely write 'I work best when working alone' in a CV
Generally you want to avoid expressing out and out preferences for this sort of thing in a CV but instead make obvious that the company will get the best results by giving you what you want, you're on ...
- 107k
252
votes
Accepted
I accidentally did my colleague's work better than he did. Should I say anything about it?
I recommend bringing this up with your colleague, not your boss. Even though you think your code is superior, it might be you're missing out on some specific details, or there are situations you didn'...
- 1,645
242
votes
How to deal with a subordinate constantly being in semi-professional chats
I would focus on her productivity, not her individual actions.
If her productivity is reasonable, then let it go. It's her process of getting more done at other times.
If her productivity is low, ...
- 4,449
220
votes
Team member regularly ignores "back to office" policy
As COVID-19 status was getting better, the company announced a "Two days in the office" policy.
Let's get something straight, COVID did not get better. Countries relaxed their mandatory ...
- 137k
205
votes
Accepted
How should I respond to a colleague who refuses to email me task requests?
If the designer doesn't want to e-mail you, you can take down notes when you're on the phone and then send him an e-mail with what you discussed.
Hello Designer,
As per our discussion I will ...
- 27.9k
205
votes
Accepted
How to deal with a workplace that spreads you too thin?
Of course your management doesn't think you need more people, you have people who are clearly not busy.
Never do someone else's work over for them. Miss the deadline and send it back. Every time. ...
- 142k
190
votes
Accepted
Should I tell management that I intend to leave due to bad software development practices?
You actually ARE in a position to change this. You lead by example.
You can start using version control locally for your changes. You can simply 'commit' everyone else change at the same time. You ...
- 1,358
187
votes
Accepted
How to respond to a ridiculous request from a senior colleague?
To distill the story down to its core elements: the employee is a new, junior member of the team; a senior team member asked for help preparing a presentation; the specific request is objectionable.
...
- 52.9k
186
votes
Who should pay for team building events?
management says employees should pay for such events
Sadly your management is clueless.
They are the ones who desire increasing engagement of employees. They are the ones who will have something to ...
- 380k
184
votes
Accepted
How to safeguard your trade secrets at work?
What do I tell any person if they ask me how I did whatever I did?
You show them what you did. Ideally, you teach them how to do it without you.
When you do that, you'll build a great reputation as ...
- 31.5k
174
votes
Gave a bad feedback to an employee on an appraisal and my manager has basically demoted me
What did I do wrong? Why am I being penalized for giving a bad appraisal?
The CEO told you what you did wrong:
He basically said during the last 2 months I should have complained to him about her so ...
- 24.8k
167
votes
Accepted
How do I tell my PM the priorities must change now?
Here's the secret: Stop working above your role.
You're a developer. The assignment of resources and negotiations outside your department is NOT your role. It is your manager's, and he is ...
- 63.3k
156
votes
How to respond to a ridiculous request from a senior colleague?
Give him this picture.
(The White dot is under the "i" in "him" - it’s Actually visible!)
This is 1000x1000 all black pixel image with a single white pixel.
- 3,439
155
votes
Team member regularly ignores "back to office" policy
I'm not going to question the decision to make them come into the office. I'm going to assume the company was entitled to make that decision, and that you simply have to deal with the fallout.
I don't ...
- 59.4k
145
votes
Supporting developers who insist on using their pet language
I suggest you put the question up for discussion to the team. Present your concerns at the next team meeting and ask what they think about them.
Since they sound like valid concerns I would imagine ...
- 2,428
142
votes
Accepted
Should I inform my colleague/manager that I get sudden "bad days"?
I think you'd best get some kind of professional (medical) diagnosis for this.
It is a lot easier to go to your boss with a medical term that they can, to some extent, relate to and appreciate, ...
- 951
137
votes
How to respond to a ridiculous request from a senior colleague?
The way to handle a request like that is to understand what the "customer" wants, and to ignore their implementation suggestions (in consulting, it's important to understand the difference between ...
- 11.6k
137
votes
Accepted
Co-worker knows a small fact about me and blowing it out of proportion
If he keeps behaving this way, you will have to confront him. Here's something you can try:
"It's time for you to drop this. I know it's terribly amusing for you but I consider flirting with co-...
- 13.1k
134
votes
Accepted
Extreme flexible working hours: how to get to know people and activities?
Deadlines are always met and the customer is very happy
This is what matters. I know you want to feel like you know your teams strengths and weaknesses as a manager since that's your job, to manage ...
- 19.3k
134
votes
How to deal with people whose priority is to not get blamed?
I'm assuming that you are the manager of that team?
Then I'm sorry, but from what you wrote, you seem to be a big part of the problem.
If something goes wrong and a task doesn't get done because ...
- 897
127
votes
Accepted
Who should pay for team building events?
Professional team-building is more than a few co-workers having a good time together. It is designed with specific goals in mind.
The event might encourage people from different departments to mingle ...
- 3,169
127
votes
Team member regularly ignores "back to office" policy
Talk to HR, but not about the employee.
You need to speak to HR, your boss, or whomever set this policy and get clarification on the policy.
Ask them what should be done when an employee fails to show ...
- 78.2k
124
votes
Employee lack of ownership
Even when I told him I needed it now, he said he had something else to do and sneaked off when I was not there.
Today, there is a critical bug and this senior guy said the same thing again - "I ...
- 11.9k
122
votes
Accepted
Limited number of places at award ceremony for team - how do I choose who to take along?
First of all, objectively present the situation to your team:
Guys, we have been nominated for an innovation award, however only 6 of us, myself included, can attend this event.
Next, tell them ...
- 49.6k
119
votes
How should I deal with coworkers who don't want to engage in small talk?
But on some days when the manager barely looks at me and only nods or grunts responses to my attempted small talk, it hurts my feelings. [...]
I think the solution is to change my attitude and remain ...
- 82.2k
118
votes
Co-worker knows a small fact about me and blowing it out of proportion
This kind of person thrives on the idea that you are uncomfortable with his behaviour, and confronting him simply confirms to him that he is getting a response.
Simply ignore it - if in the middle of ...
- 27.4k
Only top scored, non community-wiki answers of a minimum length are eligible