Slate's Work Advice Column About a New Manager Who Repeatedly Reschedules One-on-one Meetings From Morning to Midday

The reader wants to give grace but is growing tired. The advice column suggests preparing messages to decline late meetings, proposing shorter agendas, setting a hard stop at 5 p.m., creating a shared running agenda, and adding a scheduling item to discuss sticking to appointment times. The column emphasizes that meeting with direct reports is a core manager duty, and habitual postponing is disrespectful and inefficient.

A second letter involves a sister's engagement ring, but the source text cuts off mid-sentence. It’s a little too late to start a meeting today, but I’m free tomorrow morning.