Questions tagged [work-environment]
Use this tag if the question is related to the work environment, such as an issue with your boss, your coworkers, or someone you have authority over.
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How to communicate to coworkers that I am not comfortable with celebratory hugs
I have three coworkers that I work with directly (one being the manager of our "pod"). As a team we generally work on weekly goals with a meeting at the end of the week to go over accomplishments and ...
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How can I ask my client to send the memento which is originally addressed to me?
I work as a graphic designer on a freelance platform. Recently, one of my regular clients messaged and said he had a surprise for me. He said that the poster I designed for his play won the award for ...
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How to convey to a person that I am not interested in talking to him?
I have a senior colleague at work with whom I do not wish to talk. He makes it a point to come over and talk to me despite me giving him a very clear cold shoulder. He stands there even when I have ...
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How to tell my manager that I am lacking a work assignment while not making my colleague look bad?
I am in a new job for a few months now. I just recently finished all my training projects and I'm now waiting for new instructions on how to proceed. The colleague responsible for training me has been ...
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How to avoid shaking hands?
I recently developed dyshidrosis, which makes my palms look disgusting. So I don't want to show my hands to anybody to see.
People often do not looking at the hands when shaking, and this eczema ...
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2
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How can I tactfully point out that someone misunderstood me?
Yesterday at work I had the same misunderstanding with two different co-workers. I'm working on a website with both an English and Spanish version. I explained over Slack that I found the resource ...
CommunityBot
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How can I apologize to coworker while avoiding another lecture?
My colleague Tom has been making me feel bad over a computer game. He's been insulting me and my ability to play this game, both during the game and at work. More info at my previous question: ...
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How do I tell my boss that I cannot learn the way he wants me to? [closed]
I'm currently in a new area of the business in what is somewhat a career change (from support to development).
I have been in this position for just over a year now, and when I started my boss wanted ...
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17
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5
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How do I tell certain customers they're not my number one priority?
Background
I work for a very small company that's been around a long time, we do a mix of processing customer products and consultancy work. We have a reasonable mix of customers, working for ...
CommunityBot
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3
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Telling my boss that I have tiredness issues
I'm a junior IT engineer who was recently hired by a company. I'm from France and my probation isn't over yet (two to four months left to go). I'm also on the autism spectrum (the people at my work ...
CommunityBot
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9
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3
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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'...
CommunityBot
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4
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1
answer
561
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I have to sack a temporary worker. How to communicate it?
I contracted a temporary worker for two weeks, to cover vacations of another person. There is no contract, only a word agreement. His work is to cover a turn during the night, checking some systems ...
- 1,697
9
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2
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659
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How to tell a patient I don’t want to discuss a personal detail?
I work an introductory job as a technician in a busy hospital. I manage equipment, conduct various tests on patients, and record information I obtain.
Because I’m directly working with the patients, ...
CommunityBot
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2
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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 ...
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8
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3
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937
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Explaining to my boss that I didn't attend a company social event due to tiredness issues
TL;DR: I didn't participate in the Christmas work meal, how to say that it was because I have tiredness issues without sounding like a bad recruit?
I'm newly hired in a company and I'm still on ...
CommunityBot
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12
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3
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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 ...
CommunityBot
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5
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3
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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 ...
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7
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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 ...
CommunityBot
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1
vote
3
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396
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How to introduce change in a process while avoiding conflict?
I'm a 23-years-old Q&A engineer who recently started a job in a company who never had Q&A before.
The other day, I was talking with my chief and the chiefs of the development team and told ...
CommunityBot
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5
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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 ...
- 357
7
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2
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Told you are wrong when you aren't by a boss
A long time ago I worked for a chef who would ask questions as teaching moments frequently. This is something I have seen a lot of chefs do, and I have done it myself. Something like:
I need you to ...
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7
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How can I correct text of another person during a chat without being pedant or making fun of the other person?
A written chat is not a good channel of communication for no verbal language, hence, is quite easy to make mistakes because each side might add different context to the sentences. This might cause ...
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3
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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 ...
- 14.3k
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4
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2k
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How can I get a drunk person to understand that I don't want to talk to them?
Today I was busing coding/programming in a bar/pub, had my headphones in (as I always do), trying to concentrate on my work. Around 2 PM an obviously-drunk man walks in and orders a beer, then starts ...
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4
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How to have a talk with a coworker I'm scared of?
First off: I tagged this as Asperger since having Asperger's makes me have trouble understanding others' motivations, thoughts, and interests, as long as they differ from mine. That means, to ...
- 17.2k
50
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11
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"Stole" my friend's excitement about a personal project - how to deal with the fallout
Background: I work at a woodworking shop, doing design etc. and both myself and a colleague sometimes do personal projects using the tools, machinery etc. here in our own time. These projects are ...
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3
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1
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What is a polite way to apologize when sneezing frequently at the office? [closed]
I have allergies and I sneeze a lot (at least twice a day and could be even 20 times a day)
Does etiquette demand that I say "excuse me/sorry" after every time I sneeze, given the fact that it ...
- 27k
12
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2
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1k
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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 ...
- 6,235
1
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3
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674
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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 ...
CommunityBot
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2
votes
2
answers
389
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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 ...
- 17.2k
15
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4
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2k
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How to ask people to speak softer?
I am suffering from a medical condition called hyperacusis, which makes normal levels of noise painful (and potentially damaging) for me. I have found ways to cope with this condition in my daily life,...
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1
vote
1
answer
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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 ...
CommunityBot
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7
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2
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How to politely decline a friend request from a colleague who wants to add me on Facebook?
I have a colleague at work who has sent me a friend request on Facebook, but I don't feel we're close enough for them to be seeing my personal posts, I'm not sure how they feel though, they could ...
CommunityBot
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3
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Requesting time off to attend a Pride event
For those that are unfamiliar June is Pride month.
The month of June was chosen for LGBT Pride Month to commemorate the Stonewall riots, which occurred at the end of June 1969. As a result, many ...
- 17.2k
3
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2
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Polite way to request more "elbow room" in open-plan office?
My workplace subscribes to a startup mentality and our seating is made up of long double-sided tables that are each five "desk" pieces locked together end-to-end. Anyone is free to sit where they like ...
- 17.2k
1
vote
2
answers
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How do I get my colleagues to turn the radio off? [closed]
I work in a big, open-plan office. One of my colleagues on my floor likes to work with the radio on and most people seem to agree. I dislike the radio (radio specifically, rather than music) for all ...
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4
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2
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How can I retain the attention of an Interviewer?
Off-late, I have been attending interviews and I have had good and bad experiences, one of which is as follows.
The interviewer asks a question and minds their own business, viz, working on their ...
- 32.4k
10
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4
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5k
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Why do people flirt in customer service situations? [closed]
I ran into this twice today with two different customers and it's a little strange to me. I almost thought it was just me being aspie and misreading the situation when it happened yesterday, but after ...
- 27k
3
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3
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How to be Polite without giving wrong signals (because this happened before!)
Few years ago I was super friendly to people (in office setting), and got unwanted attention. So much so that not only I cut off that person (directly said "I am not interested"), but cut off everyone ...
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Coworker at same rank is acting like he supervises us, and higher-ups don't seem to care. How to talk to him about it?
Our company is set up in a ranked structure. There is someone I know, when we are told to go to the back of a company or something, us senior ranked (but not too senior) employees would do what we are ...
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132
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13
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How can I explain to people that a programmer isn't a computer technician?
In Italy, a lot of people keep thinking that programmers are computer technicians.
A programmer does completely different things, and in a company, I'm not the guy who should assemble your computer ...
CommunityBot
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23
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5
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7k
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How do I recommend that someone delete their browsing history or use private mode?
Sometimes, I'm in a situation where I have to use my friend's, or colleague's, mobile phone to search for something, and they have tabs with pornographic websites opened, or their history shows they ...
- 5,881
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5
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Dealing with people who feel the need to constantly talk
Maintaining focus on a single task until completing it might require a lot of effort, to me. While I'm a talkative person and enjoy long conversations myself, I still can't work/study and talk at the ...
- 17.2k
8
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1
answer
1k
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How to deal with condescension?
I am a software developer. We are a small team of 13 people. This is my first job and I have been with this team for the past one year. I am quite an introvert and don't speak much.
My problem is ...
- 17.2k
10
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1
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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 ...
CommunityBot
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1
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1
answer
342
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How to get over anxiety for an upcoming Christmas lunch at work? [closed]
Long story short, I have anxiety when in groups of large people, unless I know them all very well. Each year everyone at my work (about 20 people in total) goes to an office Christmas lunch. This is ...
- 105
8
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2
answers
478
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How to respond to loud people in workplace?
TL;DR:
People in my academic department office like to talk loudly, and today, there was boisterous laughing, which caused me to lose concentration. How do I indicate that they need to quiet down, ...
CommunityBot
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25
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3
answers
4k
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How can I ask an autistic volunteer at camp to be more independent?
I work at a camp run by the nature center in a large local nature reservation. Each camp is for three hours, either in the morning or afternoon. Optimally, there is a naturalist leading the camp, an ...
- 7,115
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1
answer
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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--...
- 4,387
14
votes
4
answers
3k
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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 ...
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