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November 17, 2008 1:22 AM by Joanne Chen | COMMENTS
Power Coffee Breaks READ MORE 
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November 13, 2008 10:52 AM by Cubicle Coach | COMMENTS
Dear Cubicle Coach: I oversee workers in India, London, and New York, so my first conference call starts every day at 7 a.m. and my last one ends by midnight, if I'm lucky. I'm desperate for help, but my bank just downsized. How long should I put up with this?
Dear Conference Caller: You shouldn't be required to be in the office for 17 hours straight. It seems more than fair for you to do the early shift from home, perhaps roll into the office around 11, leave at 6, and grab a nap before finishing up that midnight call in your jammies while watching some TiVoed Top Chef. It's possible your company is just trying to weather the storm with their stock price only dropping by 80 percent. It's also possible they're trying to bleed the remaining employees of every last drop. If this is still going on after, say, three months, ask if you can lose one of the shifts, or switch to a four-day week. And maybe next time you're on the phone to India, see if they have any job openings.
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November 11, 2008 7:00 PM by Diane Stockwell | COMMENTS
Is your cubemate constantly shrieking into the phone about her cat's digestive issues?
At nicecritic.com, you can choose a prewritten, anonymous, tactful admonition — from requesting a perfume drawdown to suggesting less time on eBay — then type in the offender's e-mail address and hit send.
Founder Erik Riesenberg, a marketing executive in New York City, had seen sites that let you write your own message create situations that devolved into all-out office wars. "I wanted to keep it positive and constructive," he says.
Now nicecritic.com is making offices more bearable, one shower-challenged, porn-surfing gum-snapper at a time.
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November 10, 2008 10:43 AM by Cubicle Coach | COMMENTS
Dear Cubicle Coach: It's that time of year when we have to fill out self-evaluations as part of the review process. What's the best way to approach these things? I don't want to give myself all l0's but don't want to shortchange myself, either.
Dear Perfect Nine: The self-evaluation should reflect the aura you want to project in the workplace every day: a quiet but authoritative confidence with the humility to realize you don't know everything. Think Reese Witherspoon post - messy tabloid divorce - not Denise Richards. Don't be overly modest when giving yourself scores; better to round up to 8's and 9's, not down to 7's. In your face-to-face follow-up, focus on areas you haven't had a shot at yet, à la: "I gave myself an incomplete on 'ability to lead a group,' because that opportunity hasn't presented itself so far. I know you're looking for a SWAT team for the Madson project, and I believe I'm ready to take that on."
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November 6, 2008 9:34 PM by Cubicle Coach | COMMENTS
Dear Cubicle Coach: What does the happily unmarried woman do when her boss won't invite her to dinner parties because they're couples-only? I feel like I'm missing out on networking opportunities.
Dear Single Gal: First, be sure that's the reason you're not being invited and that it isn't more of a hierarchy cutoff - i.e., nobody below pay grade seven gets to enjoy flank steak on the boss's deck. If you're really being cut out, either approach the boss directly (but be prepared for a cold-water slap of "I don't feel you're quite ready for the inner circle") or, better, drop the word to someone who is invited to the soirees and see if she can intervene on your behalf. Or how about this: Throw a party yourself for your work pals, inviting singles and couples so your boss sees that bachelorettehood is nothing to fear. You can e-mail the Coach for a primo flank-steak recipe.
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November 6, 2008 10:05 AM by Cubicle Coach | COMMENTS
Dear Cubicle Coach: I'm in a position of authority, and I think one of my subordinates has anorexia. It hasn't affected her work, but she's lost a lot of weight lately and she seems very unhappy. Is it overstepping to say something?
Dear Walking on a Thin Line: As the Coach's ever-helpful labor attorney on call so aptly puts it, "Even the most well-intentioned action toward an employee can be misinterpreted." No matter how Nicole Richie - like your minion appears, don't bring it up without first notifying HR, which can help you frame your conversation around work-related symptoms rather than personal concern. The goal is to offer support without compromising your ability to raise performance issues later. Sorry to go all legalese on you, but you're a boss, and you know half your job is avoiding lawsuits. So whether a colleague shows up to a meeting with bruises on her arm, powder under her nose, or a protuberant clavicle, always consult an expert before getting involved.
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November 3, 2008 11:54 AM by Unknown | COMMENTS
What's the craziest thing you've done recently to get an employer's attention?
Did it work?
CLICK HERE TO TELL US YOUR STORY!
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October 31, 2008 1:57 PM by Emiko Soekawa | COMMENTS
The island off the east coast of Africa lures travelers with its white-sand beaches and spice plantations. But off the tourist-beaten path, seaweed harvesting, considered women's work, is now a lucrative industry. By cultivating, picking, drying, and selling the green stuff for export to Asia and Europe - where it will be made into gelling agents for cosmetics, ice cream, and medicine - many local women are supporting themselves and, indeed, their fishermen husbands.
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October 23, 2008 11:31 AM by Cubicle Coach | COMMENTS
Dear Cubicle Coach: I have a precious little teacup dog who doesn't bother anyone and can fit in my purse. Can I bring her to work with me?
Dear Dog Lover: The Coach once had a boss who brought his flatulent golden retriever to meetings. Turns out it was a highly effective management technique: No one could stand the aroma for more than 10 minutes, so the boss's agenda was rammed through. That said, most companies prohibit pooches on the floor, because they're disruptive and unsanitary. Unless you're the wife of an Upper East Side industrialist or appear regularly in the pages of Life & Style Weekly, your mini dog stays home.
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October 20, 2008 11:32 AM by Cubicle Coach | COMMENTS
QUESTION: On Seinfeld, when George slept with the cleaning woman
in the office ("I don't know if it was the alcohol or the ammonia, but
the next thing I knew, she was mopping the floor with me"), what
present did he try to buy her silence with?
Get the answer after the jump...
READ MORE
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October 17, 2008 11:26 AM by Cubicle Coach | COMMENTS
Dear Cubicle Coach: There's a colleague I simply cannot get along with, and we were just assigned to work on a project together. I asked my boss to reconsider, and she said, "You have to work out your differences." Was that a cop-out?
Answer: One woman's cop-out is another woman's savvy management strategy. Unless there's some heinous HR-type issue between you and the offending colleague--e.g., ever since you squealed about her dinners out on the corporate Amex, she's always submarining you at meetings--the boss was probably showing faith in your judgment by throwing the problem back at you. I can't say this enough: You don't have to like everyone you work with. Figure out a way to tolerate it. I prefer the direct approach: "Look, there's been a lot of water under the bridge between us. Yes, I know I shouldn't have licked your boyfriend's neck at the company picnic, but kicking butt on this project can only help both of us. Let's grab lunch and work through it." Do that, and you'll be smartly adhering to the "keep your friends close but your enemies closer" adage while also solving a problem for the boss--the surest way to scale the corporate heights.
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October 15, 2008 2:21 AM by Cubicle Coach | COMMENTS
Dear Cubicle Coach: My boss gets moody every time he finishes a phone call with his wife, then takes it out on our whole team, often yelling at us. Do we have any recourse?
Answer: When the boss sneezes, alas, everybody gets a cold. Several of you could complain to HR, but that's dicey; a good HR department should protect your anonymity, but many can't be trusted or are just plain incompetent. You might enlist one of the boss's cronies to do your bidding, but often a crony only tells the boss what he likes to hear. Is this a sudden thing or pretty much par for the course? If it's the latter, start looking for a new job. Jerks rarely change. If it's recent, try to ride it out. Even bosses have baggage, and realizing that is a sign of maturity.
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October 14, 2008 11:23 AM by Cubicle Coach | COMMENTS
Dear Cubicle Coach: I've been getting calls lately from competitors about job openings. Should I take the meetings even if I'm not really interested? If the boss finds out, will she be angry, or will it send a signal that my talents are in demand?
Dear Wanted: Interviewing for jobs you're not gunning for can be great for practicing your technique and gleaning where you stand dollar-wise, so when the right thing does come along, you're honed and ready. As regards the boss finding out, you only want to be caught sleeping with the enemy if it will get you something on the back end--a raise, a promotion, a certain uneasiness in the higher-up's stomach as she contemplates losing a superstar like you. Ideally, you know her well enough to anticipate her reaction. Based on that, decide whether showing up in your sharpest Ann Taylor pantsuit on Hawaiian Shirt Day is worth the grief. Regardless, should she see you in that suit every other week, she may decide you (and your disloyalty) are no fun to have around. If you do get busted, justify the maneuver as counterintelligence work--explain that you were sneaking into enemy territory like Jennifer Garner in Alias, sans wigs, bustiers, and indecipherable plotlines.
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October 1, 2008 11:53 AM by Cubicle Coach | COMMENTS
Dear Cubicle Coach: Sure, I enjoy cake in the afternoon, but do I have to pitch in for every
coworker's birthday, even the people I'd never talk to outside the office?
Dear Sugar Mama:
In this penny-pinching, efficiency-conscious era, the expensed birthday cake has
fallen by the wayside, along with pension plans, free holiday turkeys, and, in
one office where the Coach used to work, pens. (But, damn it, I drew the line at
printing out on both sides of the copy paper!) Show your face from time to time
out of respect for your fellow working stiffs--you don't want to be known as the
office misanthrope. And pitch in for the ones you really consider pals--or at
least trusted colleagues--and when you know they're springing for the primo
Italian bakery and not the local Stop & Shop. That said, I also believe in
honor. No dough, no cake.
Posted in:
October 1, 2008 11:35 AM by Unknown | COMMENTS
I hate blow drying my hair but it's one of those tasks that just had to be done (unless of course I want to look like an un-groomed toy poodle). On days when I'm running non-stop from meetings to appointments to after work events, I want my hair to look glam so I wake up extra early to get it just right. It never ends up looking like a salon blow-out but who has time on those busy days to pop into a salon at lunch?
Well, no need to now. I thought my hair prayers had been answered when I heard that Bumble & Bumble was opening their doors at 7:30am for blow outs! Yep, their Early Bird Blow Dry Special is available 7:30am - 9:30am, Monday through Friday at their uptown salon:
146 East 56th Street, NYC.
The best part? It comes complete with complimentary breakfast. Coffee anyone?
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September 24, 2008 9:50 AM by Cubicle Coach | COMMENTS
Dear Cubicle Coach: My consulting firm just oversaw the downsizing of a client, and the
company--or what's left of it anyway--was so impressed by my insights that
they've offered me a job. The survivors there are going to hate me, knowing I
helped oust their friends. How do I warm them up so they'll be happy to work
with me?
Dear Axe Man/Woman: Looked at another way, your beneficence has spared all of them,
so maybe they'll treat you like Ra, the Sun God. Your bigger problem is that
they'll suspect you're there to spy on them and find further
"redundancies"--i.e., can as many of the remaining workforce as possible. Maybe
you're really good and can win them over with your brilliance and sparkling
personality. But you might be better off passing up the offer and staying on
with the consultants--or as an old boss of mine referred to their ilk, "Capons
who tell roosters how to screw."
Posted in:
September 19, 2008 10:17 AM by Cubicle Coach | COMMENTS
Dear Cubicle Coach: Although none of my colleagues knows it,
I'm going through a divorce. I'm an emotional wreck at work, acting irritable
and sobbing in the bathroom. Should I share what's going on or keep my problems
to myself?
Dear Working Girl: Couldn't you use a little daytime support? Much goodwill can be
bought with a simple, "I'm sorry, but I've been going through some stuff lately.
It doesn't excuse my behavior, but I'm hoping you'll cut me some slack." You
don't have to share with everyone--perhaps someone you're close to, or even just
the office town crier, who'll happily disseminate on your behalf. As regards the
boss, unless you have a long-standing relationship, spare her the details and
focus on logistics: "I may need to take some personal time soon. I'm divorcing
my husband and have meetings with his scum-sucking lawyers." Be sure to explain
how your work is going to get done (ultimately her real concern), à la "Debbie's
agreed to cover for me every other Tuesday during the custody hearings."
And
remember the Coach's wisdom: If you don't have baggage, it means you haven't
traveled. Or, less eloquently: Everyone's got their shit.
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