Per My Last Email

Managers share feedback struggles with underperforming employees. Discussions on balancing workload, providing constructive feedback, and nurturing team dynamics. Explore strategies for enhancing collaboration, navigating workplace conflicts, and resolving relationship issues.

This week’s letter writers are looking to change their relationships to work. One is wondering if it’s time to leave UX all together and monetize a hobby instead. The other is a budding thought leader…who gets the ick whenever they say “thought leader.” Sara and Jen have brought out all their best questions and resources to help these folks get unstuck and plan their next career move—without ignoring the human being at the center.Links:Don’t feel like an expert? Share anyway.Check out the new book Present Yourself from Women Talk DesignHone your Spiky Point of ViewJoin the Manager’s Playbook May cohortGot a work situation eating away at you? Send it to us! Submit your dilemma at PMLEshow.com.

Learn how to address challenging manager relationships and push back against oppression and gaslighting in the workplace. Explore effective communication strategies, setting personal boundaries, and finding joy outside of toxic environments.

Today’s episode is all about job titles—and all the weird feelings that come with them. Our first letter writer enjoys their work and is paid well, but feels like they’ve been leveled lower than their peers. Another is considering a “demotion” to manage burnout, but is worried about taking a long-term hit in their career. They’re turning to Sara and Jen to help them get unstuck—without racing back onto the corporate ladder.Links:Identify your needs with BICEPSGot a work situation eating away at you? Send it to us! Submit your dilemma at PMLEshow.com.

Today’s letter writers are working to make change in their organizations…but they’re running into all kinds of roadblocks. One wants their discipline to get more respect, but feels ignored and outnumbered. The other is pushing their company to hire more inclusively than “people we already know”—and hitting a brick wall. They’re both frustrated and exhausted. Listen in as Sara and Jen help them decide how to move forward—without burning out or burning bridges.Links:On moral injury: Employees Are Sick of Being Asked to Make Moral CompromisesSign up for Power Shift (registration ends 2/6)Got a work situation eating away at you? Send it to us! Submit your dilemma at PMLEshow.com.

Career transitions are always hard, but today’s letter writers are having an especially tough time deciding what their next move should be. One’s finding that their field of choice isn’t all it’s cracked up to be. Another’s struggling to know how to position a harmful past experience in a way that doesn’t count them out of future opportunities. Both are feeling really stuck—and looking for help from Sara and Jen to decide what’s next for them, and how to get there. Links:Sign up for Power Shift (register by 12/31 to save $150)Got a work situation eating away at you? Send it to us! Submit your dilemma at PMLEshow.com.

“Prioritize better,” “lead more,” “be more assertive.” In today’s episode, Sara and Jen take on questions from listeners who are deep in the midst of corporate gaslighting and help them understand their feelings, assess their options, and find a way forward—without just working harder.Links:Read Sara’s article: Hey Designers, They’re Gaslighting YouCheck out “Gaslighter” by The ChicksIs Therapy-Speak Making Us Selfish?The Moral Injury Project at Syracuse University  Jen’s Luddite book rec: Blood in the MachineJoin us for Reclaim Your PowerGot a work situation eating away at you? Send it to us! Submit your dilemma at PMLEshow.com.

“Transparency” sounds like a good thing…but is it always? When should you share personal info with your boss? What if you know a layoff is coming? This week, Jen and Sara look at tough situations about disclosing information—and help two listeners with very different scenarios decide whether spilling the tea is the right thing to do, or if it’ll cause more harm than good. Links:Explore the depths of WaterTokEpisode 8: Why you gotta be so rude?The Pregnancy Discrimination Act of 1978 (USA)The Equality Act of 2010 (England, Scotland, Wales)Got a work situation eating away at you? Send it to us! Submit your dilemma at PMLEshow.com

What do you do when your burnout doesn’t just feel like exhaustion, but more like disillusionment—and maybe even cynicism? In today’s episode, Sara and Jen tackle questions from listeners who are struggling to keep afloat amid job search burnout, career malaise, and the kinds of communication breakdowns that leave us questioning, well, everything. Links:Layoffs.fyi is tracking aggregate numbers of tech industry layoffs.According to Techcrunch, we’re probably past the worst of it.You don’t have to love networking, but you probably need to make peace with it. Jennifer Kim’s guide can help.Got a work situation eating away at you? Send it to us! Submit your dilemma at PMLEshow.com. 

Managers being paid less than their ICs, punitive raise structures, cryptic pay bands…this week’s submitters are really going through it. But how do you start the compensation conversation when information is hard to come by? And what do you do when you’re told that there’s no way you’ll get a raise—just accept being paid less than your peers forever? This week, Sara and Jen tackle questions of pay inequity, when it’s time to fight, and when it might be time to move on.   Links:Curious what other people in the field are making? Take a look at the Global UX Compensation Database!For Equal Pay Day, Survey Monkey polled users on their beliefs about pay equity. It found that “men and younger Americans are the most likely to incorrectly believe that genders are paid equally for similar jobs.”Join Rachel de Jong for Own Your Impact with StrengthsFinderGot a work situation eating away at you? Send it to us! Submit your dilemma at PMLEshow.com.