Ask a Manager articles

It’s five answers to five questions. Here we go…

1. I don’t want to work from my coworker’s house

I work for a major city government. I work remotely but do go into the office a few times a year for a few days, or even up to a week at a time, depending on what’s needed. I recently made a lateral change to a different team, which has around 10 people. We report to the same person, but there is an unofficial team lead who kind of helps keep us all on track. There’s a man on my new team, Fergus, who is also remote due to mobility issues. (I’m remote because my previous position allowed it, and so I was able to keep the same for this new position. It’s not any type of medical accommodation.)

During team meetings, I found out some of my office mates and supervisor work at Fergus’s house a few days a month because he’s lonely (he lives alone). In our last training, Fergus said he was excited I have office days coming up in a few weeks because he wants me to do the training at his house. I do not want to do this. I understand he’s lonely, but I’m very uncomfortable with the idea of going to some guy’s house to work when I can do the same work from basically anywhere else.

I also wonder how many household tasks my coworkers do for Fergus during the days they’re at his house. I don’t want to seem unhelpful, but I’m also not interested in doing any housework for a guy I barely know. He’s already been somewhat condescending during training since I’m much younger than him, so I could totally see him asking for non-work related help. I may be making assumptions on the housework aspect, since Fergus gets around well enough to live alone and even drive, but still.

I asked the lead about it, and he said it’s not a mandatory thing but several other coworkers do it, and Fergus keeps bringing it up saying how excited he is about it. Since I’m new, I don’t want to look like I’m not a team player, but I’m really not comfortable with this. My supervisor hasn’t said anything about it, but he just went to Fergus’s house to work last week.

Since I’m going in for a week next month, I want to make it clear to my supervisor I will not be going to sit with Fergus for training without just saying, “This is stupid and I’m not doing it.” Any tips to shut this down without sounding like I’m not willing to help out a teammate?

The next time Fergus brings it up, just say, “I appreciate the offer, but I’d prefer to work from the office so that’s where I’ll be!” If he pushes it after that, you should say, “I wouldn’t be comfortable with that, but thanks for offering. I’m going to be in the office those days.” Or, “I use my in-office days to be able to see a lot of different colleagues.”

If Fergus isn’t a complete boor, that will be the end of it. But if he continues to press it, then you should talk to your manager and say, “I’m not comfortable working from a coworker’s home, and I’m concerned that Fergus is continuing to push this after I’ve said no several times.”

Leave the housework out of it, though! He hasn’t said anything about wanting that, and your case for not wanting to go there is perfectly solid without it.

2. New boss has too-long fingernails

We are in the middle of transitioning executives. On our new executive’s most recent visit, I noticed that, while he is otherwise well groomed, he has very long fingernails. This freaks me out personally, but more than that I’m worried that others will notice it. He’ll be interacting with donors, alumni, and other high profile individuals, and I’m worried they will also notice this.

Anything I can do to subtly suggest he considers a trim? I’m his executive assistant and our time together is just getting started, I don’t want to offend him but feel this is important.

Nope. You don’t have the standing to counsel him on his personal grooming. If the people who hired him or who manage him think it’s an issue, they can raise it, but it would be an overstep for you to.

Once you’ve known each other better and have more of a rapport established, it’s possible you’ll have the kind of relationship where you could give a quick grooming suggestion — but even then, that would be more for “that tie really clashes with that jacket” and less about something that’s apparently a deliberate grooming choice for him.

(I am also squicked out by long fingernails on men, but it’s worth pointing out that those of us who have that reaction often don’t have the same response to nails of similar length on women. That won’t necessarily make it any less of an issue for, say, a donor who might have the same visceral reaction you and I both do, but it’s an interesting thing to try to work into your own thinking.)

3. Can I stop people from sending me useless edits?

I work at the staff level in a giant organization. Most of my tasks involve writing things. A lot of these are for internal use, though some are public. In practice, this means that I can end up having upwards of 25 people reviewing and editing my work. That’s not something that’s going to change. Those teams do need to look over things for accuracy, and their management will need to approve.

I’m pretty good at accepting constructive feedback and edits on my deliverables because other people know things that I don’t and also have good ideas. The challenge is that up to 90% of the edits I get back are matters of personal writing style and don’t add value. An example I got today was changing “the animals are fed…” to “animals are fed…” A lot are like this. And it falls to me to review and manage all the edits, which can take a lot of time, including on deliverables that are not important. Unfortunately, it’s a bunch of different people, so I can’t just have a conversation with the worst offenders.

I’ve mostly accepted it when these changes come from management. They are empowered to make useless edits if they want. (My own management agrees that the edits are useless and agree with my approach of accepting the edits because they’re not worth fighting over.) But these also come from people at my same level. I know they’re trying to be helpful and they want the work to be good, but it’s getting on my last nerve. For some deliverables, these colleagues would potentially see that I just rejected most of their edits, so I do need to tread a little carefully in how I work through the changes. But just accepting all of everyone’s rewrites is kinda soul crushing because there may be not much left of my work.

I’ve tried to head this off by asking colleagues to let me know about “substantive” things they’d like to change, or using similar language to try to get people to focus on things that really matter (are there factual errors? will the intended audience understand the message?) and stop changing things for the sake of changing things or to match exactly how they’d write it when my version was just as good. I’ve also tried directing them to particular sections of things where feedback is most needed and asked for their ideas about specific things that would genuinely be helpful.

It hasn’t worked. Probably, my wording has been too subtle. But I’m at a loss for how to be clearer about what kinds of feedback and edits I’m looking for and what I’m not, without alienating my colleagues. They probably think they’re helping, but it’s just frustrating. Is there any way to at least reduce the useless edits I have to deal with?

You can try heading it off from the start by saying, “At this stage, I am only looking for feedback on factual errors (or whatever else you want from them). Some parts may be revised so please do not submit copyediting or stylistic changes at this stage.”

Even then, some people will still offer input outside of the scope you want; that’s just how this goes. But when you’ve clearly laid out what you’re asking for from them, it’s easier to ignore edits that fall outside of that.

Also, you absolutely can just ignore edits that are outside the requested scope from most peers (assuming someone doesn’t have a job that gives them standing to overrule you), and so part of this might be about (a) getting comfortable doing that and (b) not feeling you need to explain or justify to people that you’re not using all their feedback. You can just take what’s useful, leave the rest, and not feel like you have to go back to them to explain why.

4. I think I might be illegally classified as a contractor

Some years ago, I started working for a nonprofit organization that’s a subsidiary of a larger organization, which is responsible for funding us and providing supplies. It’s part-time work, which I find convenient as it allows me time to focus on my studies.

I recently heard that, if my hours and wages are determined by my boss, I should be considered an employee and receive a W2. I also have to request time off if I want it. Since I began my employment, I’ve been receiving a 1099 form every year and, tax-wise, have been treated as an independent contractor. Apparently, this means my taxes are higher because I’m considered self-employed.

There was another incident a while back that also gave me pause. I made a minor mistake. Apparently, my boss spent two hours fixing my mistake (which I find unlikely given the nature of it), and when I came in for my next shift, I was told I owed them two free hours of work.

I actually do like my boss despite these issues, and I don’t want to report them to the IRS and hit them with massive fines, but I also don’t think I can let this stuff lie, especially the tax stuff. It’s my first job, and I don’t have any idea how to handle the situation. I’m about to receive a certification in a different industry, and I’m planning on resigning in the very near future, but part of me does want to return as a volunteer with very limited duties as I really do support their mission. What the heck should I do?

Your boss settings your hours and wages doesn’t make you an employee or prevent you from legally being an independent contractor. The IRS has a multi-part test they use to determine who can legally be an independent contractor, looking at three factors: (1) behavioral — does the company control or have the right to control what you do and how you do your job? (2) financial — are the business aspects of the job (like how you’re paid, whether expenses are reimbursed, and who provides tools/supplies) controlled by the company? (3) type of relationship — are there written contracts or employee-type benefits (insurance, vacation pay, etc.) and is the work a key aspect of the business? To complicate things, they note, “There is no ‘magic’ or set number of factors that ‘makes’ the worker an employee or an independent contractor, and no one factor stands alone in making this determination. Also, factors which are relevant in one situation may not be relevant in another. The keys are to look at the entire relationship, consider the degree or extent of the right to direct and control, and finally, to document each of the factors used in coming up with the determination.”

That said, based on what you wrote here, there’s a pretty good chance that you should be being treated as an employee, not a contractor. You could try simply saying (ideally to HR, not your boss), something like, “I’m concerned that I’m not correctly classified as an independent contractor and that the IRS rule on this requires me to be paid as an employee. Here’s the info I found; could you take a look at this?” If that doesn’t resolve it, the next step would be to fill out a Form SS-8 and the IRS will figure it out for you. You should definitely pursue this because if you’re misclassified, you’ve been overpaying taxes; your employer would owe what you’ve been paying and you’d be owed a refund from the IRS.

Also, you don’t owe your employer free work because you made a mistake – definitely not as an employee (100% illegal) and generally not as a contractor either (unless you have a contract that spells that out).

5. Locking a shared resource in a building with multiple tenants

I work for a performing arts and my company rents a theater that two other companies also rent. One of the other companies currently has “control” of the building. I went to the ice machine behind the bar and found a padlock on it. This machine is part of the building, not owned by any of the companies. I was able to get the padlock code from my counterparts in the other company, who also told me that the lock was added because their company manager saw someone from housekeeping put their hand into the machine instead of using the scoop next to the machine.

I do not know if the company manager spoke to housekeeping about the issue, but surely a lock is an overreaction to what should be a conversation? Also, considering this is supposed to be available to any workers in the building, is it legal? I mean, it’s probably not illegal, as I am sure access to ice is not a legally protected right.

It probably depends on the terms of your lease. It’s definitely more of an issue for your landlord than for the law.

It’s four answers to four questions. Here we go…

1. I’m a federal manager being told I can’t give my team the excellent ratings they deserve

I am a federal supervisor who, so far, has decided to stick out the chaos. Some of us are still here! We’re still very much under assault. For instance, did you know that almost 1,000,000 federal employees have lost their union representation over the last two years? Including my agency, which was declared a “National Security” agency not entitled to union representation. My team is full of biologists and park rangers; to argue that we have a National Security role is absurd. Most people have no idea what federal workers have lost.

My question is about the latest bit of chaos, which is that the regulations for our performance evaluations changed less than two months before the end of our performance cycle, and as supervisors, we’re being told to implement the new guidance. Which means that people spent most of the year believing their performance (and thus end-of-year bonuses) would be based on one criteria, only to find out it’s a whole new criteria after the year is over.

The biggest change is that I’m now expected to rate at least 60% of my team as “meeting expectations” or below, I have a cap of 40% on “exceeds expectations” or “outstanding.” Our political leadership says that “meets expectations” is a “good” rating; it means you’re showing up and doing your job.

Here’s the thing. Very few of my staff members are just “showing up and doing their jobs.” We haven’t been allowed to hire in two years, and most of my team is doing their work and the work of two to three other positions, including jobs that would normally be a promotion for them. My team has knocked it out the park this year, we’ve managed to meet a number of goals that the administration says are their priorities, with fewer people, a smaller budget, and more hoops to jump through to get anything approved. In many cases, my team members objectively met the quantitative criteria that their performance plans say warrant an “exceeds” or “outstanding.”

I have to give them the ratings that I’m required to give them, or quit, or get fired. I told the first line supervisors to recommend the ratings they think they deserve, and I’ll figure out how to make it work, so at least this isn’t falling on the direct supervisors.

But how do I communicate to the employees that I believe they deserve a higher rating than I can give them, without being outright insubordinate? And how can I recognize good performance without the ability to do it through performance ratings, and with no budget for employee appreciation?

I feel stuck in the middle. The amount of micromanaging of how I manage my team, from people five or six levels above me, is like nothing I’ve ever seen in federal service. My team keeps asking why the managers don’t “push back,” and we are quietly trying to keep things somewhat normal, but on some of this, there is no quiet way to do anything other than what we’re being directed to do. If I quit or get fired over this, they’ll just find someone else who is willing to do their bidding.

It’s not insubordinate to matter-of-factly share info about how evaluations will be structured — and specifically that you have a cap of 40% on any rating over “meets expectations.” That is the fact of how it now works, and it’s okay to tell people that. That’s all you can really do — a straightforward, “I believe your performance has been outstanding (or exceeded expectations), and I recognize the challenging conditions and limited resources you are working with. Your direct supervisor recommended a rating of X. I am constrained by new performance evaluation rules which limit the ratings available to us compared with our previous process, but I want you to hear from me directly how impressed I am by your work this year.” If you believe being that straightforward will cause problems (like people will cite it in protesting their rating), tone it down a bit — but you can deliver some version of a message that says, essentially, “Your work is great, and this is about our new rating framework.”

As for how to recognize good performance despite this and with no budget for it: Look for opportunities to give written recognition that employees can cite in future interviews (like personal messages describing exactly what they did and why it mattered), give credit publicly as much as possible to help them build their reputations both within and outside of your agency (being specific about what people have achieved), document their accomplishments outside of the evaluation process (so they can use it in the future), talk with people about what additional opportunities they want that you can help with, and talk openly and often about what makes your team so excellent so they know they’re seen and appreciated. It may not be enough, given the broader situation, but it will count for something and it’s all you can do in the current circumstances.

Related:
questions from federal workers who are currently under attack

2. My boss read six pages of complaints to me

I have been with my company since earlier this year. The work was in my field, education, and I was really enjoying it. I’m technically mid-ranking but I am also the most junior employee on my team.

However, after a few months, my line manager changed and my work came under greater scrutiny. I assumed that since this new boss had never been a manager before, they were just finding their feet and would calm down eventually. I was then blindsided in the middle of August with an extension to my probationary period, the primary justification for which was a number of minor administrative errors, for example sending out an internal meeting hold for the right time but wrong date and fixing it within 10 minutes.

Knowing which way the wind was blowing, I asked for specific performance metrics. My manager took a few weeks to give me a list of expectations, which basically boiled down to “don’t make mistakes” and “run everything by me.” Despite the vagueness here, I’ve been doing my best to work towards these expectations.

Most recently, however, my boss scheduled another short-notice performance review meeting which consisted of them reading out six pages of complaints. The first was that, due to lack of availability of senior members of the company, I suggested that a meeting could take place between 1:00 and 2:00 (lunchtime). This was cited as a performance concern.

I know this all is unfair, but my question is more specific. The reading out of the six pages of complaints is really bothering me, not because of the content but because of the sheer managerial incompetence I feel it exemplifies. If a manager actually had six pages of valid complaints then how should they actually go about conducting such a meeting?

Yeah, reading six pages out loud to you is absurd. If your manager actually had six pages of issues to talk to about, the way to handle that was to talk to you, not read at you. They should have articulated what the general patterns of problems were, then offered specifics, then talked about what you needed to do differently (and ideally included what support they could offer, what timeline they expected to see improvement in, and other “what happens next” details). If it was important for you to read the six pages, they could have given them to you to read on your own time, as supporting documentation to help you retain and understand the conversation. But it should be a conversation, not a formal reading of charges.

3. How do you write a resume with zero work experience?

How does one write a resume as an adult with zero prior experience? My best friend has been a stay-at-home-mom for almost 20 years at this point, and her circumstances have recently changed such that she’s on the job hunt grind again for the first time as an adult. Her work history is nothing. She doesn’t have any degrees or academic achievements to draw upon, and no time or money to acquire any. What can we do to make her resume application-ready, as someone intelligent and motivated but lacking the history people want to see?

Does she have any outside-the-home work in her past — volunteering, organizing committees, fundraising for her kids’ school, or any other work in her community? Those are all better than nothing and can be shaped into appropriate work to include on a resume.

But if she doesn’t have any of that, the truth is that she can’t really construct a resume right now (or at least not one employers will find persuasive). If that’s the case, her best bet is to look at jobs that don’t require a resume to apply. Those will generally be retail or very entry-level jobs — which might not be her first choice but she’ll have a better shot at getting hired for them, and that will start the process of building a work history that can end up on a resume.

She should also lean heavily on her network (including friends’ and family members’ networks if possible) to find someone who might be willing to hire her, even if it’s just for something very short-term to let her start building a work history.

This is a hard situation.

4. Will an old college GPA snafu affect my job search?

I graduated decades ago from a state school. Because of a family emergency, I had to leave a prestigious private university and move back home my freshman year. My local school was a bit of a nightmare: lost transcripts, having to appeal grades (a professor failed me when she transposed my grades with the student below my name in her book), and a sexual harassment charge against an adjunct professor.

I often had problems getting into required classes for my major, so I’d take random classes in order to keep my health insurance. This resulted in a double major, but I still had to take a summer class after graduation to meet my first major’s requirements. There was another class that piqued my interest, but it was full.

When I received my report card, I was shocked to see I failed the full class! I never received notice that I was taken off the waitlist. Had I known, I would have gone! Naturally, I appealed, but I lost. According to the dean, it was my responsibility to ensure I withdrew from class in a timely manner … even though I was never informed I was enrolled.

Because I already graduated, this failing grade stayed on my transcript and drastically lowered my GPA. At this point, I don’t recall my actual GPA or the one reflecting the school’s mistake. I’ve requested my transcripts, but instead of receiving copies, I get bombarded by the alumni association for donations.

I have two decades of professional experience and have been exploring new opportunities. Is the ambiguous GPA something that will affect my job hunt? Or can I chalk it up to a past annoyance?

20 years later, it’s extremely unlikely to come up. Most jobs don’t ask for your GPA or check college transcripts. And those that do check transcripts are very unlikely to care about your GPA 20 years ago.

GPA is a proxy for what you might be able to achieve professionally when you don’t have much actual work experience; most employers don’t care at all once you have a 20-year work history they can look at instead. (There are some jobs that ask about GPA — some management consulting ones being a big example — but they’re typically targeted toward people much closer to graduation than you are.)