Work Appropriate

If you spend a lot of your life doing something, it's natural to care about it! But sometimes the amount we care about our jobs does not match the way our jobs care about us . So when you come to the realization you need to care a little less about your job... how do you actually do that? Simone Stolzoff , author of The Good Enough Job: Reclaiming Life From Work , joins host Anne Helen Petersen to...

We're diving into the wide, wondrous, and often deeply messed up world of non-profits. Nicole Washington returns to join host Anne Helen Petersen and answer listeners' questions like, "Were my expectations too high?" "How much of my industry can I personally fix?" And "How do I quit without the whole organization collapsing?"  If you work in an industry that seems like it's failing, we want to hea...

If your boss is making your life hard, you've probably heard the advice to "manage up." Should everyone be spending more time cultivating their managing up skills? Or should managers just be spending more time figuring out what’s actually going on in their department? Alaina Fuld , Sr. Manager for Communications & Community Impact at Brooks Running (and one of AHP's BFFs), joins host Anne Hele...

Learning how to work or manage or collaborate remotely is a very real skill-- but for many workers and organizations, it had to happen overnight, with no training or preparation. Three years after the start of the pandemic, companies want to go back to "normal," and workers aren't so into the idea. Marissa Goldberg , founder of Remote Work Prep , joins host Anne Helen Petersen to answer listeners'...

The state of paid parental leave in the U.S. is abysmal. And advocating for it, coordinating it, and scraping it together more often than not falls to mothers. Raena Boston , co-founder of Chamber of Mothers , joins host Anne Helen Petersen to answer questions from listeners about advocating for paid leave, how to plan for your leave, and whether you can start-- or quit-- a job while you're pregna...

Every decade or so, the entire writing-for-money paradigm shifts yet again. To write for money is to get very comfortable with constantly changing your expectations, your strategy, your skillset. It's a lot, particularly when all you really probably want to do is... write. So to talk about how to navigate this ever-changing and increasingly unsustainable business, host Anne Helen Petersen is joine...

"Boundaries" has become a buzzword, especially in the conversation about work-life balance. But work is a part of life-- and why should you be the only one responsible for making sure work doesn't creep into every other part of your life? Shouldn't your workplace prevent the creep in the first place? To re-examine this idea of boundaries, and come up with alternatives, host Anne Helen Petersen tea...

The idea that every problem, every issue, every roadblock in your organization can and should be solved by a meeting — that’s meeting culture. But often, meetings feel like a huge waste of time, and they can take up so much of your day that you can't actually get your work done. There has to be another way!   Christina Janzer , SVP of Research & Analytics at Slack, joins host Anne Helen Peters...

Sometimes the stuff that happens to us at work is weird, or frustrating, or funny-- but sometimes it's straight-up traumatizing. How do you move forward when you still feel like you're carrying trauma from a  previous job? Should I go back to my old job, because at least I had friends there? Should I tell my manager about my PTSD diagnosis? Licensed psychologist Dr. Hammad N'cho joins host Anne He...

Live from SXSW EDU, it's Work Appropriate! Your coworkers are not your family, your bosses are not your parents—but workplaces are filled with the sort of big emotions we usually associate with family dynamics. In front of an excellent crowd, Anne Helen Petersen and guest host Gloria Chan Packer answer all manner of questions from listeners who are grappling with tough relationships at work.  Got...

In a lot of workplaces, compensation isn’t transparent— and sometimes it’s actively obscured. Leaders and managers work to implicitly and explicitly communicate that you shouldn’t talk with your coworkers about money — arguing that it’s demoralizing, or “private,” or unfair to share what you make with your coworkers. But that mindset only keeps compensation deeply inequitable. On today's episode,...

In our episode " May I Speak to the Manager? " host Anne Helen Petersen talked with Melissa Nightingale about why and how formal management training has really gone by the wayside, resulting in a plethora of managers without the skills they need to thrive. In today's episode, Melissa returns to answer questions from listeners about really specific problems they're having as managers. Whether it's...

Workplaces are often very, very skilled at making us feel very, very bad about ourselves. Sometimes you need structural reform of the whole workplace, and sometimes you just need a good, old-fashioned pep talk. Whether the crisis in confidence comes from imposter syndrome, or from feeling like you're the only one who thinks it's weird to give a CEO a holiday gift-- we've got some advice. Comedian...

We're kicking off a new series on Work Appropriate called "My Industry Is Failing." First up? Academia.  Professor Dominique Baker of SMU joins host Anne Helen Petersen to answer listeners' questions about surviving within academia when the whole institution seems irrevocably broken. Regardless of your own industry, you're sure to hear some familiar themes in these stories. If you've got a workpla...

Just 10% of American workers are in a union. But according to a 2022 Gallup poll, support for unions is at 71%-- the highest since 1965. Unions can be a source of protection and security, but just like any organization they can be run poorly or run well. Maximillian Alvarez , editor in chief of The Real News, joins host Anne Helen Petersen to answers questions from listeners about forming solidari...

Our society's understanding of ambition is that it never stops burning, that it rules your life and every decision you make, and that it somehow lands people in some mystical land of perfect contentment. But how much ambition is too much ? Or what if, after decades of striving, your ambition is just... gone? Rainesford Stauffer , author of the forthcoming All the Gold Stars: Reimagining Ambition a...

On this show, we talk a lot about systemic workplace problems, with roots in rapid-growth capitalism, the gender and racial wage gap, etc. Today, we're doing something a little different-- we're talking about the little things coworkers do that are just plain annoying. Writer Lyz Lenz joins host Anne Helen Petersen about how to cope when your colleagues are on your last nerve. Got a workplace quan...

"Do what you love and you'll never work a day in your life" sounds like sage advice, but it doesn't account for the burn-out, demoralization, constant churn, and low pay of so many passion jobs. Lisa Sánchez , city council member for Boise, Idaho, joins host Anne Helen Petersen to answer listeners' questions on how to manage when a passion job is wearing you out. Got a workplace quandary you need...

For people who aren't white, straight, cis men, being your authentic self at work can be risky. Even though your identity isn't and shouldn't be a problem, many workplaces treat it like one. We received a slew of listeners' questions along these lines-- from choosing to come out at work, to celebrating LGBTQ+ employees in a hostile work environment, to caring for oneself in the process of asking f...

It's the start of a new year-- and with that inevitably comes resolutions to get out of a soul-sucking job and into a life-giving one. But job hunting can be really frustrating, and the process can be opaque. Laura Mariani , a neuroscientist-turned-recruiter, joins host Anne Helen Petersen to answer listeners' questions about deciphering job postings, inquiring about remote work policies, and pivo...

This is Work Appropriate's version of a holiday episode! As work parties ramp up, so do small talk conversations about diets and eating habits. So what can you say at the holiday potluck when your boss comments on people's weights, or says she's being "so bad" for eating a brownie? What can you do when your workplace cafeteria has calorie counts plastered everywhere? How can you have a frank conve...

There are plenty of reasons people choose to freelance-- better hours, more money, freedom from all-staff emails. But then... there's often a moment when you look around and realize that you've created a toxic work environment for yourself. In this episode, freelancer extraordinaire Wudan Yan joins host Anne Helen Petersen to help freelancers everywhere become better bosses to themselves. Got a wo...

Sometimes there's no amount of therapy that's going to fix your relationship with your job. Sometimes your company's culture might be irreparably toxic. And also, sometimes you're just... bored. But when should you cut bait and move on? Jane Coaston , host of the New York Times podcast The Argument, joins host Anne Helen Petersen to answer listeners' questions about whether it's time to quit. Got...

Starting a new job is almost always stressful-- there's, of course, the tasks and workflow to figure out, but there's also a whole new culture and set of norms to find your place in.  Throw in a pandemic and remote work, and it's gotten even more complicated. Work has changed. It’s not going back to how it was. And it’s time for us to figure out new ways to onboard and mentor within this new way o...

Often, people get promoted into management because they're good at their jobs-- not because they know anything about managing people. In this episode, Melissa Nightingale from Raw Signal Group joins host Anne Helen Petersen to posit that management is a skill that can be learned. From learning to manage a remote workforce, to dealing with generational differences in the workplace, to setting a goo...