should our office ban smelly foods?

A reader writes:

My staff are busy so I do not discourage them from eating at their desks. My problem is the type of food because some produce strong odors. For example, kebabs are smelly and the smell lingers throughout the afternoon, and if dropped on desks they can stain! We don’t have enough room for a designated eating area, so eating at their desks is the only option. Do you think that banning certain foods is unreasonable?

I answer this question — and four others — over at Inc. today, where I’m revisiting letters that have been buried in the archives here from years ago (and sometimes updating/expanding my answers to them). You can read it here.

Other questions I’m answering there today include:

• Roasting departing colleagues
• Problem employee lashed out at me
• Giving references for multiple people for the same job
• After I couldn’t interview on short notice, employer picked a different candidate

You may also like:

• coworker asked me not to eat lunch at my desk
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should our office ban smelly foods? was originally published by Alison Green on Ask a Manager.

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