Ask a Manager

JULY 18, 2022

One time, outside of my cubicle, near the coffee pot, a group was chatting. But there we were, with my bread machine plugged in in its own cubicle. I am late 30s and work for the government. I never lived it down (and never did get removed from the email list). The attack. I don’t know why we thought this was ok. The flashing.

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Ask a Manager

JUNE 19, 2018

Our cubicles are right across from each other and every morning before I’ve even had a chance to put my bag down, she is in my cubicle b g about her morning or telling me some story about her kid. She still knocked on my cubicle wall or desk or waved her hand next to my face to get my attention. But I’ll be back later!”. •

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Ask a Manager

SEPTEMBER 28, 2022

I work in government, so it’s taken a while to hire even one person to replace them both, and the person they hired (Pam) doesn’t yet have a start date. One team member suggested we decorate for holidays to increase the “lived-in” look of our cubicle pod. Scarecrows?

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Attendance Bot

AUGUST 22, 2024

Traditional Office Environment The conventional workplace includes enclosed offices, cubicles, and rigid reporting chains. For example, this model is most commonly used in law firms, banks, and government offices where professionalism and face-to-face communication are critical. Here are work environment examples you can consider: 1.

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Office Layout Teamwork Supervising Creativity 52

Ask a Manager

FEBRUARY 19, 2021

In fact, I just got to move across the hall to the biggest cubicle in the department. If that doesn’t work and headphones don’t sufficiently block it out, any chance you can give up the biggest cubicle in exchange for a space further away from her? My coworker scream-yawns. I’ve started going back into the office.

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Ask a Manager

JUNE 3, 2015

And yes, there are certainly employers with total salary transparency, where everyone knows what everyone else makes, or government agencies where salary is public record — but I’m assuming that’s not the case here.

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Success

SEPTEMBER 6, 2021

When I read it in 2015, I was working both a full-time government job and launching a side business that would eventually eat up 80 hours of my week. If you fail to get this right, as I did with my online men’s store, then your customers won’t care about your offerings, and you’ll have to go back to your old cubicle job.

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Sales Delegation Problem-Solving Bookkeeping 115

Ask a Manager

NOVEMBER 17, 2020

So, for the first hour and a half of the day, she stands between our cubicles and rants about various work and personal dramas. I applied for a fairly high-level job with the federal government (I currently work for the federal government now, and this would have been a promotion to another location but similar job).

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Ask a Manager

FEBRUARY 20, 2023

She has been with our employer for over 20 years, is extremely good at what she does, is fiercely loyal to her staff, and possesses a wealth of knowledge and insight about our specific work unit and about government in general. My spouse thinks even that is too much, and I don’t disagree.

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Ask a Manager

FEBRUARY 13, 2020

I work in a large office that was converted from a warehouse — we have many areas of cubicles. I work at a government agency where we each manage our own caseloads, meaning that me taking time off doesn’t create more work for others. I suspect working for the government makes a yes significantly less likely, but that’s just a guess.

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Ask a Manager

MARCH 11, 2020

Could you construct something that mimics office cubicles? Not that you’d actually build two full cubicles in your small apartment, but using that as inspiration, is there a barrier you could construct that would give you similar benefits? I wasn’t expecting to be two adults quarantined in a studio apartment together 24/7!

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Ask a Manager

AUGUST 7, 2018

(Reminder of who’s who: Jennifer is the friend whose government lead told her she couldn’t accept an engagement ring from her fiance, Steve.). Steve’s bosses talked to Jennifer’s government lead’s bosses. Steve’s bosses talked to Jennifer’s government lead’s bosses. Jennifer just called me back.

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Ask a Manager

MARCH 9, 2017

A reader writes: I work on a temp contract in government. Recently there have been some restructures in my department as well as a machinery of government change, and there is a new executive director (new to my team, not new to the organization). She’s taken on our area as well as directing two others, so is very busy.

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Ask a Manager

MAY 4, 2016

A reader writes: I work a program manager in a small unit in a big government office. Can you confirm for me that it’s totally uncool for me to overhear this in an open bank of cubicles? Is there anything I need to know about the Teapot Grant?”. Is there some other way I should handle this?

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Ask a Manager

DECEMBER 20, 2019

I moved from non-profit to government work (unsurprisingly: comparable pay and benefits). In fact, I’m in the corner of a large open room with a private cubicle and not much foot traffic. The second time, he made a bigger effort to keep the kids with him in his cubicle and to keep the noise down, which I really appreciated.

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Cubicle Construction Supervising Consulting 21

Ask a Manager

MAY 7, 2019

No matter the size of the group, it’s typically deathly quiet all day, and for the most part folks just work silently in their offices and cubicles, even during lunch. However, I was today given a project in Saudi Arabia and the client is state-owned, so functionally I’d be working on a project with the Saudi government.

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Ask a Manager

JANUARY 7, 2020

She has been with our employer for over 20 years, is extremely good at what she does, is fiercely loyal to her staff, and possesses a wealth of knowledge and insight about our specific work unit and about government in general. My spouse thinks even that is too much, and I don’t disagree.

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Ask a Manager

NOVEMBER 11, 2018

I work in a large government ministry and we have a new(ish) director for our unit of about 100 employees. What would you think about having some “fun” awards, such as cleanest cubicle (or messiest), or best attitude, or even largest collection of shoes? She’d be wonderful to have.”.

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Ask a Manager

FEBRUARY 11, 2018

I recently was told I had to move to a different cubicle. He was in an office next to my previous cubicle when he was first employed and the smell was atrocious! I work for a government agency and we are required by law to interview all candidates whose applications pass the review committee. Sorry you’re dealing with this!

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Ask a Manager

OCTOBER 19, 2017

The row of cubicles that my fellow freelancers and I sit in right now is jokingly referred to as “Contractor’s Row.” I’m a freelance writer contracting at a large company, and I’ve noticed that some people tend to look down on contractors and freelancers.

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Ask a Manager

APRIL 28, 2016

We sit in a cubicle separated by a wall. I love my coworker to death, and don’t want to hurt her feelings. At the same time, though, I can’t hold myself back just for the sake of my coworker’s feelings. Two offices opened up and ideally we should both get into them. My boss asked us if we want to move over.

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Ask a Manager

AUGUST 17, 2022

In a government job, it’s very unlikely that you’re going to be successful in changing this. Would it be rude if I posted a sign asking them to knock or announce themselves before popping their head into my cubicle so that I can put on my mask? Hell, in a private employer it would be unlikely that you’d be successful in changing this.

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Ask a Manager

JULY 9, 2015

I work in a cubicle with two other people in cubes near me. but “Ed” in the cubicle next door has decided that he prefers a mechanical keyboard (which uses an actual physical switch to tell the computer that a key has been pressed, rather than a membrane common in most keyboards now).

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Ask a Manager

JUNE 2, 2021

I work in a county government building that is constantly under construction. My new space is a cubicle within an unrelated department. The person who occupies the cubicle in front of mine, Fergus, loves robocalls. Here we go…. My coworker loves to abuse robocallers.

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Success

JULY 17, 2021

If you’re sitting in a cubicle or your basement home office with the kids screaming upstairs, I imagine that being your own boss sounds delicious. No government has passed a law to regulate the coaching industry (though it’s likely to happen at some point, so you are free to hang up your shingle and get to work anytime you like.

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