Really great post Stephanie, thanks for writing this.

What advice would you give to someone experiencing bullying in a smaller work environment? I once found myself working at a small firm (~12 people) and the stakeholders of the business were also my managers/directors and there was no HR person because the company was so small and under-resourced.

There were times when I raised concerns regarding the lack of user involvement, absence of evidence-based decision being made, as well as lack of resources to facilitate my role. Voicing these concerns not only fell on deaf ears, but I was also reprimanded and berated by my manager for voicing concerns as this was viewed as “inappropriate”. I wrote a bit more about this strange experience here: https://uxplanet.org/fake-ux-jobs-and-how-to-spot-them-and-avoid-them-3770b863e081. Luckily I’m in a much better work environment now as my career has progressed.

My question to you is what tips would you give a person who might be a bit more junior and lacking the political capital to actually change things in a small, low UR maturity firm, but also lacking the experience and seniority to easily escape such an environment.

Again, excellent blog post and I’m sorry you had to endure these experiences. I hope this subject gains more visibility because life is too short to be working with jerks.