Inc.com columnist Alison Green answers questions about workplace and management issues--everything from how to deal with a micromanaging boss to how to talk to someone on your team about body odor.
Here's a roundup of answers to four questions from readers.
1. My employee wastes too much time on bad ideas
I am a manager for a small but extremely busy office. I have one employee who is part-time and comes in only a few afternoons a week. She wastes a huge amount of time pontificating about every little detail about her job, always making suggestions of how things could be done better, and constantly seeks my advice for even the smallest thing. I am always open to suggestions, but when she makes suggestions it is normally a long-winded conversation about how and why, etc. and I often end up explaining we have tried to do this before and it hasn't worked and these are the reasons why, but I am extremely busy and I am finding it really frustrating and a waste of time. She is also very quick to put other staff members down to me about mistakes she finds, even though they have more complicated and busier workloads and are all there full-time.
I always recommend staff email me suggestions for the next team meetings, but she has emailed me more suggestions herself then everyone else put together. She has also started to text me on my day off even though there are senior staff members to address queries to on that day. Any suggestions of how to handle this would be really appreciated.
Green responds:
"Jane, because you're only here a few afternoons a week, I need you to spend that time focusing on your work. I'm finding we're spending too much of your work time going over suggestions and very small details about your job. Let's plan to have one short meeting to check in each week (or every other week, depending on the nature of her work), but otherwise I need you to stay focused on your work the rest of the time you're here." Then make that meeting for a specific amount of time (maybe 30 minutes, depending on what's needed for her work) and stick to an agenda for it. This time should largely be for checking in on her projects, but you can set aside time at the end for anything she wants to raise. But stick to the time you've allotted for it, and stick to the ending time.
When she puts other staff members down: "Ray is a great staff member and I'm surprised by your tone there." And then if it happens again: "I'm concerned by the tone I've heard you using about this kind of thing a few times. What's going on?"
When she texts you on your day off: "I'm not working today. Please contact Portia." (Or, if you can reasonably expect her to know what days you don't work -- if they're always the same each week -- it's fine to address it once and then, after that, not respond until you're back at work.)
But also: How good is she at her job? Is she a high performer? My hunch is that she's not and that this might all be symptoms of a larger problem that you need to address. If I'm wrong about that and she's great at her job, then just be really direct about these specific changes you need from her ... but I suspect it's worth taking a broader look at the situation.
2. Should we consider a candidate's hot-button political views in hiring?
We recently interviewed a candidate who previously held a position at an organization involved in a hot-button issue. This candidate is also very involved in the issue through social media and posts in support of their stance on the issue. The candidate was purely professional during their interview and didn't bring up their stance on the issue. They only spoke about the work they did at the organization. That said, it was fairly simple to deduce which side they were on.
How much of this, if any of it, should be taken into consideration? This candidate's point of view is not a popular one with some of the folks involved in hiring for this position, and they've made that clear. But I don't think their bias should play into our decision when we're talking about finding the best person for the job based on skills and culture fit. We are not a political or media organization. If we were, I do think this would matter more. And I expect that any professional will leave their strongly held political beliefs at home. What say you? Should personal politics be taken into consideration during the hiring process? Or does this fall under the category of biases to recognize and avoid?
Green responds:
It depends -- does the public speech involve hatred or bigotry? If so, that's fair game. We've decided as a society (rightly, I'd argue) to treat bigotry and hate speech as different from other political discourse. And if this candidate is advocating against the rights and safety of groups that may include some of your own employees, that's additional reason to choose not to welcome that into your workplace.
But if the issue is something like, say, charter schools or environmentalism, that's a different thing, and you might point out to your colleagues that diversity of perspectives is a good thing on your staff (as long as people are not evangelizing at work and annoying their coworkers) -- but also that you're hiring people to do a job, not to go on political marches together.
3. Can I ask for a chance to process things at work before responding?
I'm an introvert who works with a group of extroverts. When in critical work conversations, I often find myself unable to think on my feet. I know myself well enough to know that I almost always come up with better answers when I've had time to process things.
I've thought about asking for for a day or two to think about things, but I'm afraid of it not being received well or being perceived as weak. Is it ever appropriate to ask for a chance to process? If so, when and how? If that's not appropriate, what else can I do?
Green responds:
It's not a sign of weakness to want time to reflect before you give an answer. If anything, it can be a sign of strength to be confident enough to announce you're going to take some time to think before making a decision or offering input. Ways to say it in the moment:
* "I want to take a little time to reflect on this. Can I come back to you with input by Thursday?
* "Do you need my thoughts right now? Ideally I'd like to a couple of days to think on this and then revisit it."
* "My initial thought is ___, but I haven't fully digested it yet. Let me take some time to think this through and come back to you later this week."
4. I don't want to hire someone I worked with in the past
I am hiring for a position and was contacted by someone from my previous company who I hired and managed there. They are interested in this open role, but I really struggled with them when we worked together. They took a long time to train and never fully grasped the work that the job required. I've made inquiries but it appears this former employee has not made much improvement in the time since I've left.
How can I delicately handle this situation? I don't want to be too blunt but I also don't want to lie. Should I just ignore the email (even though my gut instinct is that would be rude)?
Green responds:
Don't ignore the email; because you know this person, that would indeed be rude. If they're clearly not a match for the job in some specific way you're comfortable sharing, it's fine to say, "For the role, we're really looking for someone with more experience in X, so I don't think that this would be the right match." But if there's not a quick and easy explanation you can give, it's also fine to just say something non-committal like, "We have a competitive pool and a lot of candidates, but I'd be glad to take a look at your application if you'd like to throw your hat in the ring. Either way, it's great to hear from you."
Want to submit a question of your own? Send it to alison@askamanager.org.
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