A witty, practical guide to navigating 200 difficult professional conversations, from the host of the popular website Ask A Manager.
What do you say when your new job is very different from what you agreed to? How do you tell your boss that your workload is too heavy, or that you need more training? How do you deal with a colleague whose loud speaker phone calls are driving you insane? And how do you repair your reputation after getting drunk at the company holiday party?
Ten years of writing a workplace advice column have taught Green that people tend to avoid difficult conversations in the office because we simply don't know what to say. But the stakes are just as high if we don't speak up, because problems that could be solved with a simple conversation can fester if they aren't addressed.
In this witty and practical guide, Green tackles 200 of those delicate discussions that you need to have, but might not be sure how to begin - and arms you with the wording to do it. Along the way, she shares some of the most outlandish and hilarious letters she's received from readers over the years - from an employee who placed a black magic 'curse' on her coworkers to a boss who repeatedly stole an employee's lunch.
You'll learn what to say when:
- Your coworker keeps pushing her work on you.
- Your new job is very different than what you agreed to.
- Your boss seems unhappy with your work.
- You catch an employee in a lie.
- Clleagues keep making judgmental comments about your diet.
- Your coworker's loud speaker phone calls are making you homicidal . . . and plenty more difficult or awkward situations you might find yourself in!
About the Author
Alison Green writes the workplace advice column
Ask a Boss for
New York Magazine , and answers readers' questions daily on her blog,
Ask a Manager , which is syndicated by
Inc., Time, Money Magazine, and in multiple newspapers nationwide. She also writes a weekly column on work issues for
U.S. News & World Report , and has recently been tapped by NPR's Marketplace for a monthly workplace advice call-in segment.
She is also the author of
How To Get A Job: Secrets of a Hiring Manager Made Easy, co-author of
Managing To Change The World: The Nonprofit Manager's Guide to Getting Results, and the former chief of staff of a successful nonprofit, where she oversaw day-to-day staff management.
Industry Reviews
Clear and concise in its advice, and expansive in its scope,
Ask A Manager is the book I wish I'd had in my desk drawer when I was starting out (or even, let's be honest, fifteen years in). Alison Green's pragmatic approach to solving workplace dilemmas - from taking criticism to dishing it out - will make you not only a better, happier employee, it will help you tolerate less-than-perfect managers and put you well on your way to having their job someday . . . and doing it better
Frequently hilarious, sometimes disturbing . . . the advice, though not always by the book, is surprisingly sensible when it comes to diffusing everyday conflict - People Management
I am a
HUGE fan of Alison Green's 'Ask a Manager' column. I never miss it and always want more. This book is even better. It teaches us how to deal with many of the most vexing big and little problems in our workplaces - and to do so with grace, confidence and a sense of humour
Ask a Manager is the ultimate playbook for navigating the traditional workforce in a diplomatic, but firm way. Alison Green covers just about every conceivable awkward moment you can (and will) experience as an employee, coworker, or boss and then gives you a script for how to address and, more importantly, solve the problem
For those of us who navigate the complexities of the workplace at this point
