Amy Gallo

How to Master Conflict Resolution

Not getting a promotion you were promised can bring up a whole host of feelings, from frustration to resentment. In this article, HBR’s advice columnist Amy Gallo answers a question from a reader who is facing this situation and offers advice and resources for how to work through their disappointment while keeping their career growing.

Covering for your boss when they’re out on leave can present a unique opportunity — it gives you the chance to showcase your skills and readiness for a promotion — but it can also be detrimental if you don’t handle the situation carefully. In this advice column, workplace expert Amy Gallo answers a question from a reader who’s looking for guidance on how to demonstrate her own abilities while her boss is out on maternity leave without overstepping. Amy outlines steps to try as well as pitfalls t…

Handling scope creep is one of the most challenging – and important — aspects of a project manager’s role. This often means saying “no” when stakeholders request additional features or changes. In this article, the author outlines practical strategies for how to push back on more work in a way that maintains your relationship with the requester, whether that’s the project sponsor, a customer, or another stakeholder.

Raining on people’s parade is rarely welcome. How can you moderate your pessimism so that you can be effective — and have healthy relationships with your colleagues? In this article, the author outlines practical, research-backed strategies to try. You may not be able to change your outlook — particularly if you’re someone who has a prevention focus — but remind yourself that you do have agency. And you can make choices to change your behavior so that your negativity isn’t infecting anyone else.

Getting Along: My Coworker Is Sabotaging Me — and My Boss Won’t Help

Building a relationship with a difficult colleague may seem hard, but it’s a skill you can learn. In this piece, the author outlines three common archetypes of difficult coworkers — the pessimist, the passive-aggressive peer, and the know-it-all — and offers practical ways to manage your relationship with each of them. Sometimes trying something new, even something small, can shift the dynamic between you and a coworker who gets under your skin.

There are numerous challenges when you’re the “only” at work (the only woman of color, the only person with a disability, etc.), and they’re only exacerbated when the culture you’re working in is unhealthy or even toxic. How do you thrive in an environment like that? In this advice column, workplace expert Amy Gallo answers a question from a reader who’s one of very few women of color in a “frat-like” culture. She wants to know how to succeed when she’s being excluded. Amy offers research-backed…

What Is Psychological Safety?

There are many interview questions that inspire dread in an interviewee — from “What’s your greatest weakness?” to “Tell me about yourself.” But one in particular is especially complicated: “What are your salary expectations?” If you go too low, you might end up making less than they’re willing to pay. But if you go too high, you could price yourself out of the job. In this piece, the author offers practical strategies for how to approch this question along with sample answers to use as a guide.