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Archive for November, 2007

Part II: Clique fuels behind-the-scenes sniping

Friday, November 30th, 2007

  Dear Office-Politics, I manage a smallish office of 11 people. The interpersonal dynamics have always been great, but just recently I suspect a small clique has formed, with some flow-on effects to the rest of the office. The difficulty for me is that the negative effects of this clique are fairly difficult ...

Part I: Clique fuels behind-the-scenes sniping

Friday, November 30th, 2007

Dear Office-Politics, I manage a smallish office of 11 people. The interpersonal dynamics have always been great, but just recently I suspect a small clique has formed, with some flow-on effects to the rest of the office. The difficulty for me is that the negative effects of this clique are fairly difficult ...

Is organization trying to force me to quit?

Thursday, November 29th, 2007

Dear Office-Politics, I am the Director of Finance & Operations of our organization. Things used to be good back when we were in Ottawa, however since we shut down the department and moved to this new city, things have changed. I noticed people who used to be “friendly, supportive, and there ...

What tactics when I’m excluded from meetings?

Wednesday, November 28th, 2007

Dear Office-Politics, I'm new in an area with three other women managers. One of the managers has mentored the other two. As I come up with ideas, I review them with our manager and with each of my peers. When it comes time to make decisions on directions I suggest, I ...

Stepped on by the Good Ole Boy’s and Hot Girl

Friday, November 23rd, 2007

Dear Office-Politics, I am so appreciative of your website. It is helping save my sanity. I work for a union, in which a new administration was just elected. My new boss has had an affair with my coworker and they are still "friends". We are a small ...

‘Performing exceptionally’ and yet shafted again

Monday, November 19th, 2007

Dear Office-Politics, I started in a company in a position that reported to the Chief Technology Officer. At first he appeared to take little interest in my role (Quality Assurance Manager), and even though I was told I was performing exceptionally well, after an organizational review I was then demoted ...

Outranked: target of attacks and backstabbing

Friday, November 16th, 2007

Dear Office-Politics, My latest job has proven very dramatic. The scenario: I recently joined a large software company in late august. I was hired by the GM, whom I met through a mutual acquaintance. Here's where it gets complex. Apparently, the former GM had left in march, and the period between April and ...

Is it OK for owner to flirt with employees?

Wednesday, November 14th, 2007

Dear Office-Politics, A 42 yr old married friend of mine is an owner of a restaurant who tends to flirt with some of his female employees. The flirting can at times contain sexual connotations. Some of the women (as young as 19) will flirt back. Because they do, he feels that ...

Testified against Boss, now he wants me fired

Tuesday, November 13th, 2007

Dear Office-Politics, My boss is trying to get me fired. He's the Director and I'm the Assistant Director so we're supposed to work together as a team. I work for government (thank you for your sympathy) and last year there was an investigation on his actions and I was ...

Management drags feet to halt bullying

Tuesday, November 13th, 2007

Dear Office-Politics, I work in a fairly small business in which there is little opportunity for growth and a high turnover rate. A mature worker, I have an excellent reputation as a straight up, honest hard worker and have been well liked. However because the demands of my position were so ...

Staff won’t obey rules… I feel like a dictator.

Monday, November 5th, 2007

Dear Office-Politics, I'm having some trouble getting employees to follow some simple procedures without turning the office into a police state. For example we have a standard email client that was selected for security reasons. Some employees prefer a different email client which has less security and is more prone ...

I am recovering from a disastrous office party…

Monday, November 5th, 2007

Dear Office-Politics, I need to recover from a disastrous office party where I got too drunk. Events of concern are as follows: 1. I managed to charm the bartender into supplying me drinks for free rather than purchasing drink tickets. 2. Invited many upper management folks to have a drink at the bar with ...