Questions tagged [coworkers]
For questions about interacting with one's coworkers, whether local or remote.
240
questions
9
votes
3
answers
590
views
Knowing when you should send message instead of asking in person
In my day to day life, when I have a question, I like to ask the person who has the answer in person (instead of sending a slack message). One of the reasons for that is that, most of the time, I can'...
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12
votes
2
answers
2k
views
How do I tell a colleague that I won’t have an intimate relationship with her?
How do I tell a colleague that I won’t have an intimate relationship with her without hurting our work relation?
Background
We have been working together for a few years; she was single and I was not....
- 223
6
votes
2
answers
217
views
How can I ensure I maintain a good working relationship competing with my colleagues for a promotion?
I've worked at my current job for just about 2 years. Due to the type of job it is, the turnover rate is high, so I am one of the most experienced employees there.
We're likely to have one or two ...
- 2,507
1
vote
1
answer
613
views
How to politely kick out someone who tries to take over your work?
I wrote three articles with several colleagues. Now in two of them I was included as second author. I am fine with that as the idea was not mine. The results of my research were used though. But my ...
- 299
12
votes
3
answers
1k
views
How to improve relationship with a co-worker who does not speak to me?
A little history:
I was hired onto this team a few years ago. The subteam I'm on has several people: the project lead (Jim), the co-worker I'm asking about (let's call her Mary), and others including ...
- 121
5
votes
3
answers
2k
views
How to talk with my boss about the lack of hygiene on our workspace?
I'm currently working in a small office with around 14 coworkers. We have a tiny scullery just to make coffee / wash dishes and a bathroom. Most of my coworkers are men and they're developers. I'm ...
- 95
8
votes
5
answers
4k
views
Saying thanks without making it sounds like "you are doing me a favor"?
I'm a 23 year old woman, working as a junior Q&A.
Some time ago I asked the dev team (mostly men, all older than me) for something that I needed to do my job. They weren't really happy with my ...
- 17.2k
3
votes
3
answers
2k
views
Etiquette about signing card when coworker leaves
Let's assume that you are working somewhere, a co-worker of yours leaves and someone takes the initiative to buy a "best wishes" card for people to sign.
Is there a specific etiquette regarding who ...
- 17.2k
8
votes
2
answers
6k
views
How to react to a coworker calling themselves dumb?
First of all I want to express that I feel this question belongs in here and not in workplace because it's an interpersonal thing more than a work thing and I'd like a more general answer.
So I was ...
- 1,235
12
votes
2
answers
1k
views
How to tell a colleague that touching my behind at the christmas party was not ok
During my company's Christmas party one colleague got extremely drunk. He then went to me, put his arm around me and his hand on my behind. I found this both annoying and highly inappropriate and ...
- 121
8
votes
2
answers
624
views
Appropriate way to show appreciation to colleague?
I've started my first year in industry some months ago in a UK Software company. Since I'm pretty much a newbie I had to ask around for help. There is this guy that has been helping me a lot with work ...
1
vote
3
answers
674
views
How do you tell your superior that you have a problem with another coworker?
Background
I'm a woman, 23 years old and a freshly hired Q&A ingenior (2 weeks). I was asked to do some task (implement automatic test on Jenkins).
I ran into a problem and needed the help of ...
- 17.2k
2
votes
2
answers
389
views
how to say no to a recurring request from my managers and team members [closed]
So I've been living in another country for 10 years, and I've been working with a client for about 2 years, and about 6 months ago I made a mistake, I agreed to prepare a drink from my home country ...
- 523
10
votes
7
answers
2k
views
How to not be "this annoying nitpicking Quality Engineer"?
I am a 23-year-old woman who was hired 2 weeks ago.
As a Q&A engineer, I have to ask developers to change the way they are coding in order to improve the code's quality, maintainability, and ...
- 17.2k
1
vote
1
answer
324
views
How to manage the tension caused by conflicts between two of my superiors?
So, this morning when I got to work, I found my two superiors (a project manager and a manager) arguing about some models. I did not see the beginning of the dispute so I can not say what exactly it ...
- 523
4
votes
4
answers
1k
views
How can I point out errors to a teammate in a group project without being the "bad guy"?
I am working in a university coding project of 8 people.
We're working on gitlab and every time someone does a merge request, at least 3 people need to look over the code and upvote the request, if ...
- 143
5
votes
3
answers
1k
views
How can I inform a foreign colleague that the private conversation in their native language is not so?
I enjoy learning languages and in the past few years, have been learning Spanish. A work colleague, who is either new or I have only just noticed him, calls (presumably) his partner during his lunch ...
user8671
4
votes
0
answers
773
views
Stalking - I accuse a colleague to be a free rider. How can I ask him if he does that? [closed]
My situation: I am 35 years old, female, from Germany. I work at the university and I have a lot of male colleagues. Two years ago, a friend of mine (no colleague, living appox 500 kilometers away) ...
- 141
10
votes
1
answer
3k
views
I have to work with an ex-friend, how can I limit the awkwardness of the situation?
Context
I had this very good friend who told me a few days ago to stop any form of communication that is not work-related. Talking about the situation is not an option as she made it clear that she ...
anon
2
votes
1
answer
590
views
How to politely avoid a hand-shake with somebody who is infected by a flu virus?
In our daily life people often meet and greet with different styles and traditions, but mostly we do it by shaking our hands and it is quite normal around the globe.
But if a person who is infected ...
0
votes
4
answers
641
views
How to tell someone I won't do their work
I'm in a situation I don't really know how to handle.
I'm a student at university and one of my class mates decided to study way too many things at the same time so she doesn't show up to many of ...
- 508
10
votes
1
answer
1k
views
How exactly to tell someone to not touch me
I know this theme has already been discussed, but I would like to ask for exact advice for my exact situation.
Outline
I am an Eastern-European lady living in Germany and working as a software ...
- 735
14
votes
2
answers
722
views
How to persuade a coworker we both need to do our own work?
I recently started on a new team, with a single fellow developer. Under the motto of 'getting her up to speed as quick as possible', my co-worker has spent the past week sitting at my desk (open ...
- 33.9k
8
votes
1
answer
2k
views
Appropriate behavior after accidentally touching female player's chest in co-ed sports game
Recently I was invited to a co-ed indoor soccer game where all the participants were people from my company. At the time I didn't really know any of the other players personally and most of them I'd ...
- 189
11
votes
4
answers
2k
views
How can I politely tell a colleague that mocking someone's clothes in front of everyone is rude?
Context
We are working in a open space, in France, for a big company and there is this colleague that has been working here for 15 years that enjoy mocking everyone for everything. It seems that he ...
- 1,795
7
votes
1
answer
449
views
How can I tell if I'm being a bother when asking for help?
I started a new job several weeks ago and like with any new job, I have no idea what I'm doing.
I have a "mentor"--somebody on the team who's designated to helping get me up to speed with everything--...
- 15.2k
14
votes
4
answers
3k
views
How to signify to a coworker I'd like to become friends?
TL;DR
I'd like to befriend a coworker with similar hobbies and values but I'm afraid I'd either sound awkward or flirty. How can I make him understand I'd like to become friends?
Situation
I've ...
- 14.3k
9
votes
5
answers
8k
views
Handling the question "what did you do for the weekend?"
Another week, another Monday and another same old unpleasant question (at least for me) - What did you do for the weekend?
A couple years ago I moved to another country in western Europe from South-...
5
votes
1
answer
307
views
How do I approach a co-worker about talking too much and being distracting?
Background
I work as a counselor in a drug and alcohol treatment facility. It is a high-stress, demanding job and requires extensive charting tasks to be completed by specific deadlines. All ...
- 209
14
votes
4
answers
4k
views
How to communicate with a coworker who repeats meaningless context? [closed]
Background
I work in a technical role in an international environment, and have (and prefer) a very direct communication style. If you want my help, the best way to get it is to simply state your ...
4
votes
3
answers
509
views
How to politely decline friends/colleagues trying to persuade me to join a Friday after-work event?
I’m part of a software development team and the people engagement team in our company. This week has been extremely exhausting with both of my development work and people engagement work being really ...
- 141
18
votes
5
answers
11k
views
How do I prevent people from repeating to others everything I say to them? [closed]
I’d like to know how I can make people stop telling others every single thing I tell them.
Here’s a dialog between me and my high-school classmate, in class:
Me: In case you can’t eat any more, ...
- 577
0
votes
2
answers
321
views
How to handle negative campaign about me by a colleague [closed]
I have a colleague, with whom I need to spend the most of my time. I personally feel that this person is not mature enough and does loose talk with others.
I am a very silent person and not prefer ...
- 221
76
votes
12
answers
25k
views
Asking a coworker to discontinue his chivalrous acts towards me?
I've made a friend, Bob, in my workplace who is too much of a gentleman for my comfort level.
Initially, we became fast friends due to our shared interests and political beliefs. We often message ...
- 22.7k
12
votes
6
answers
2k
views
Co-worker constantly thinks I'm slacking off
I work as the sole web developer in my department doing back end work. As I'm sure many of the developers here will attest to, a large portion of the time spent programming is spent on thinking how ...
- 223
2
votes
1
answer
399
views
How do I ask my coworker his true opinions?
Recently communication with my coworker had been a bit weird.
Some background here.
He came to me a few weeks ago and expressed concerns that an important goal of his team was not progressing and ...
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5
votes
3
answers
2k
views
How do I tell my coworker to stop talking about her kid every day?
A coworker in the cubicle next to mine only wants to talk about her daughter when someone comes to her cubicle to engage in small talk. The conversation may start out talking about things like our ...
user21891
5
votes
2
answers
602
views
How to tactfully shut down gossip-talkers?
I have run into a problem at work which I can not figure out the best way to deal with; the coworkers often like to gossip about eachother, and me being new makes me a great person to tell gossip (and ...
- 2,439
4
votes
1
answer
240
views
Coping or Treatment Strategies for Avoidance Behavior?
I am wondering how I can help an individual overcome counter-productive avoidance behavior.
For example, let's say a woman (let's call her Jane) works in an office where her boss once became ...
- 141
56
votes
12
answers
22k
views
How to say no to an extremely pushy friend
My friend, which is also my coworker, likes to organise events for his friends. He invites a lot of people, but always expects everyone to join him regardless of if they have already planned something ...
- 561
3
votes
3
answers
565
views
How to improve relationship with uninterested coworkers?
I'm not sure whether this is a question for the workplace or IPS board, but I think it's more of a inter-personal than work related issue. Please correct me if I'm wrong.
About three months ago I ...
- 133
17
votes
3
answers
8k
views
How to remind someone to do a task that they have forgotten about?
I work in a small team in a smallish company. Every so often, one particular member of the team will say they will do something (typically unrelated to our job such as buying a card for someone who is ...
- 173
3
votes
3
answers
876
views
How to address a friend/boss about how she speaks to me?
My friend of over 10 years hired me earlier this year to work for a major corporation making great money. She's my boss now and since then our friendship has not been the same. Oh, and did I mention ...
1
vote
1
answer
508
views
How to respond if your colleague is rude to you? [closed]
I'm working in a software company as a junior s/w developer(fresher). Recently I was assigned to a project, already 2 of my team members who are senior to me by almost 3-3.5 years are working on this ...
user21628
29
votes
7
answers
14k
views
Carpooling coworker sometimes makes me arrive late or stay late
TL;DR: I drive to work at my own expense. My friend gets a free ride from me, saving her money and time. I say "don't be late" sometimes, and she freaks out.
So I live in a metropolitan area and have ...
- 619
10
votes
4
answers
2k
views
How to tell someone they broke my code and ask them to (help) fix it?
I started a new programming job recently and just wrapped up my first task. As part of it, I had to change a critical line in a file from ABC to XYZ.
For my second task, a coworker mentioned that it ...
- 13.6k
8
votes
5
answers
3k
views
How to introduce myself to a coworker after a sufficiently awkward amount of time has passed
I work as a junior programmer in a rather large office setting, and I would like to introduce myself to a coworker who works near me, but in a different field (possibly HR?). Unfortunately, I feel ...
- 197