I know that I might just be being a wuss, so I thought I'd ask...
January 12, 2010 1:01 PM   Subscribe

How do you respond to the situation at work where people, be they superiors or peers, take credit for your work?

I have a pressing deadline, so I'll have to make this quick. If you need more detail, I'll be back to provide it - so thanks!

Situation 1:
I'm a consultant on on a small team where the manager is from the client. The client will ask me to prepare something, it might take me hours to do. I will submit it to the client. In a later meeting which includes the senior manager from my consulting firm who is above both myself and the client manager, the client manager will say something like "So, Senior Manager, I've prepared this XXX", XXX being my work. This has happened multiple times.

Situation 2:
I volunteered to help write a few articles for the inaugural issue of our company newsletter. I wrote a few articles. At our most recent meeting, just a few days ago and also just a few more days from our deadline, the editor-in-chief (another volunteer, my effective peer with more seniority) of our newsletter team presented her design. It was atrocious -- think Windows 3.1 or Clarisworks. After being asked for my thoughts, I volunteered to "take a look at the design". I then proceeded to put together a pretty decent design over the next couple of days, which was loved by the rest of our team. I then overheard from my cubicle a coworker of mine exclaiming "I love the design. Anon did this, right?"

Editor-in-chief: "we've been working on it together."

Now, I know this might not sound very major, or that it could have been a simple poor word choice, and also it is literally true-- but it offended me a bit regardless. I think I'm being too sensitive, but it seemed like she was trying to take credit for my hard work -- the design is not derivative of the editor-in-chief's design, but is instead, totally and completely different.

*I work at a very competitive company, which is probably making me feel more competitive than I normally do.
posted by anonymous to Work & Money (20 answers total) 4 users marked this as a favorite
 
If things like this are rewarded piecemeal with compensation you might want to speak up. Otherwise just keep detailed records of what you do and contribute and be prepared to make a friendly, eloquent case for yourself when reviews come around. If you start yelling "I did that!" from a few cubicles over you'll just become that guy.
posted by muscat at 1:08 PM on January 12, 2010 [1 favorite]


Situation 1 is normal. Client Manager delegated work to you, which is part of Client Manager's job, since Client Manager is above you on the food chain. Thus, your work product is part of Client Manager's work product. It might be nice for Client Manager to say something to the effect that you assisted Client Manager or you did the work, but Client Manager need not do this because it is understood that Client Manager may have delegated the work out.

Situation 2 is more iffy. That said, I wouldn't get caught up in it. EIC is probably just trying to save face, not out to get you. And even if EIC were out to get you, I don't think that should change your behavior much. It's generally best to be gracious in a work environment and acknowledge other peoples' help. So, if asked yourself, you might say that EIC's design was a good start and that you hope that your work is an improvement and helpful to the company. Always focus on what helps your seniors and what helps the company.

Final note, If I did what hal_c_on suggests to anyone superior to me in my (admittedly pretty rigid and seniority-focused) line of work I'd get strange looks and tick off the people I work for - and since they feed me the work, I'd be SOL after a few incidents like that. *Especially* if done in front of clients.
posted by lorrer at 1:13 PM on January 12, 2010 [4 favorites]


I've worked in consulting firms for over 10 years, and the rewards for being a "team player" and allowing supervisors/team leaders to take some credit for your work far outweigh any benefit you'd get from insisting on marking every piece of work you did as your own.
posted by xingcat at 1:17 PM on January 12, 2010 [2 favorites]


In my experience, these things tend to sort themselves out rather nicely on their own. I would not directly contradict your boss, especially since he gave you partial credit. It is more important to be interacting with people other than your boss, so your talents will naturally come out.

It is not so much that you get a cite every time you do something, but that you become someone that can reliably produce top work. If these two projects are indicative to what you can put out, people will begin to recognize you. If your boss begins to monopolize your time and not let you work with other people, then you have a real problem. For the time being your boss gave you kudos for the work while still saving face. Coming out swinging will make you look like an arrogant prick that doesn't work well with people. Sorry, that might not be true but it is how it will look.

Perhaps I've been lucky, but I've always found that the best way to deal with this is simply perform a high standard of work with everyone you interact with. You want your boss on your side, telling people that you did the high quality work together (even if he just rubber stamped it).

PS When you say consulting you mean management or some sort of business consulting? Because in my experience, business people are fucking design blind. Like you could smack them up the head with an ugly design made in Windows 3.1 and some beautiful piece of corporate design falling out of a perfect IBM 1972 corporate report and they wouldn't know the difference. Design is a low, low priority for business types. Legible is all that is needed. I say this as someone who has friends at top consulting firms who have shown me just absolutely ugly fucking presentations.
posted by geoff. at 1:17 PM on January 12, 2010


Your job is to impress the client, not let the boss steal your work.

Your job is to impress your boss.
posted by smackfu at 1:18 PM on January 12, 2010 [11 favorites]


in scenario 1, I'd approach the person who's been taking the credit and telling them something like "i really don't appreciate it when you don't give me credit for the work I've done on this project, especially in front of my superior." The person may not realize he/she's undermining you, because of all the other things happening.

If your EIC's designs are that bad, he probably doesn't have any fucking clue about the nature of design, and what's an original thought vs. what's a no-brainer of that type of design that he just happened to hit upon. Don't worry about it until credit winds up being in print somewhere.
posted by Jon_Evil at 1:22 PM on January 12, 2010


In a heirarchical corporate environment, your work is your boss' work. They are responsible for it getting done properly. Who exactly on their team did it, and how, and why, is the team leader's business.

Don't get me wrong...when I'm managing people, I do my best to give them public credit for their work. But my position on this is still a management choice. And I have quit a job before because I didn't feel like I, personally, was getting enough acknowledgement for my contributions... but the setup that made that possible was both common and unchangeable.

I once attended a client presentation, where the entire presentation was given by someone who reported to me. I just sat there and nodded. Also in attendance was my boss (the CEO). When it was over, the CEO patted me on the back and said "good job." What she meant was: I was the one who had made the decision to let my direct report do the entire presentation. That was a management choice, and I, being a manager, was getting paid to make such choices. At her level, the CEO was unconcerned with niggling details such as who actually did the work, and that's common.

This is just how the game is played. In response for helping your boss look good, your boss helps you out as well. If he doesn't, then you quit.
posted by bingo at 1:27 PM on January 12, 2010 [6 favorites]


With regard to Situation 1 -- this time of situation is entirely normal in my line of work.
posted by gagglezoomer at 1:34 PM on January 12, 2010


These people are trying to look good for other people they work with. The trick is to master the art of meaningless compliments. If you are presenting your work to the client, the group or person who matters, try to vaguely acknowledge your boss's/other people's "contributions", even if what they did was stupid/meaningless/terrible in reality.

I used to think most people are above that sort of thing, even embarrassed by the transparent manipulation. But they aren't, they love it and even demand it, maybe because they are needy and insecure and don't have a sense of self apart from what other people think of them.

The weird part is that no-one really thinks those compliments are sincere; everyone knows you are going through the motions to spare people's feelings, so I think people get the underlying message: "I did all the work, but it's rude to say it directly."
posted by AlsoMike at 1:35 PM on January 12, 2010


We had a Situation 1 at my agency, which was fine. When the manager (on their side) left and was replaced by new people, we were up for review against an agency the new folks brought with them. But it quickly became clear that the bulk of that work had been coming from us, and not that individual -- so our agency was chosen over the incoming, they'd-worked-with-for-ages, tons-of-resources agency.

As for Situation 2, I think the answer is to document and report EVERYTHING. That means, send group emails simply as an update/announcement when things are ready for review. It could be something like, "After a long night's work I'm pleased to share this newly revised PDF of the design!" or something more subtle like, "Looking forward to showing off my revisions at the meeting Tuesday."

Maybe people will notice you're doing it, and maybe they'll snark privately about it. But if you do this, if there's ever an issue of any kind, you'll at least have the email records to show when you communicated these things.

At my agency we refer to this as "covering one's own ass."
posted by lhall at 1:56 PM on January 12, 2010


Your job is to impress your boss.

The problem (IMHO) is that in corporate culture, there is a weird duality going on. Your boss can tell you to do your job a certain way because a job is a job and you're not supposed to be personally invested in it. Your boss can also expect you to be personally invested in your job and show things like deep concern, caring, high-level though, innovation, etc. But these two aspects, in my experience, are largely mutually exclusive. It sounds like you are being asked to personify both sides of that equation--get it done and step out of the way without concern for credit, but also make it a personal challenge and invest lots of personal creativity in it.

Unfortunately I don't really have a resolution. I think corporate culture, with its tiered levels of human beings, is fundamentally broken because it promotes power-seekers rather than the individuals best for each role (much like the political system). It favors people who use others for their gain in exactly the way you described. I'd say keep a record of your contributions for any reviews, turn in projects directly whenever that is appropriate, and otherwise try to ignore when people out of your control (your superiors) stab you in the back with a smile. No sense in getting demotivated if you can't positively affect the situation.
posted by Phyltre at 2:00 PM on January 12, 2010 [2 favorites]


Your job is to impress your boss.

I would even go so far as to say it's your job to impress your boss and make them look good in front of the client. Which you've actually been doing pretty well.

Your saying anything in front of the client about it being your work does the exact opposite though, and also undermines the thing where getting their staff to create good quality work to present actually is your boss' job, so they did contribute (as far as the client is concerned anyway). I've also had first hand experience of this whole situation and in my competitive, hierarchical job saying something in front of the client did not go down well. I was told later how inappropriate it was. It wasn't a big deal in the end but I certainly wouldn't go there again.

You could talk with your boss about it away from the client, find out the thinking behind how they give credit for such things. Firstly, clients do generally know that work is a team effort so I doubt they think you did nothing. Also, who knows, some snobby clients may get upset if they think the work was done by someone lower than your boss. Understanding the system may help you deal with it, either by letting it go or realising there really is a problem to be addressed. But whatever you do don't do it in front of the client.

It is appropriate for your work to get acknowledged when it matters, when money and your career are on the line. So bring this stuff up at reviews and similar (not the part about your boss, the part about your contribution) or any time that bonuses or whatever are being given based on the work.
posted by shelleycat at 2:02 PM on January 12, 2010


Do not bring any of this up in front of a client. I would approach this as the team's work is also the manager's work because the manager runs the team. A good manager and a good person will publicly acknowledge the efforts of the team, even going so far as to say, "because of x's job on the analysis of market data and y's research into related gobbledygook, we were able to put together a comprehensive presentation, blahblahblah," and would direct questions about your particular component of the project to you. It sounds like you have a mediocre manager, and while it's infuriating not to be given credit, especially when you've worked hard, you need to trust that your boss notices what you do. Keep good records, and make sure you list your contributions come self-evaluation/review time. Your reward comes in the form of job security, raises, benefits, and perks.

As for the other thing, well, that's annoying and speaking as someone who is in charge of their company's newsletter, your EIC should give you credit for the work you do. Because I'm the public face of my company's newsletter, people tend to associate me with the content, but when I receive a compliment I make sure they know, "Actually that was so-and-so's post/idea/picture. Didn't she do a great job?" Honestly, while your redesign was probably far superior to what your EIC came up with, you did have her work as a foundation for what you did, so yes, you did work on it together, even if you did the bulk of it. I wouldn't resent her for taking dual credit, as long as she acknowledges you were a part of the final product. Again, just make sure you have a record of what you've done, and mention these contributions at your review time.
posted by katemcd at 2:24 PM on January 12, 2010


Your goal is to accept praise, while not making anyone look bad.

Client: Fabulous design.
You: I'm so pleased that you like it. Your logo was great inspiration.
Nice smile, so harsh words.

In the case where the coworker knew it was yours, mention to coworker: I heard you like the newsletter.
Coworker: yeah, that was you, right?
You: I helped X out with it.
than shut up.

People will get it, and you look like a good teamplayer.
posted by theora55 at 3:24 PM on January 12, 2010


Your job is to impress your boss.

Except when the boss is acting in his own best interests, and acting against the wishes of the client (and probably his own firm) to feed his own ego / needs. I ran into this when I followed a client's policy (Refused to support Minesweeper as a tech call), but the Consulting Boss told me I made him look bad, and I should have broken client policy to make the consulting firm look good to the end user. End result - I left the consulting firm over his attitude, got a better job, and the client got wise to him, threw him out, and hired all the consultants that made them happy. Bosses vary - some you want to please, some you want to avoid dealing with, although they usually deal with themselves sooner or later.

Nthing the idea above that good hard work WILL be noticed by those who matter. Numerous times, something I've put a ton of effort into quietly and (I thought) anonymously came back in a positive fashion in the end. When layoffs happened at my company, I was cut because I was low on the totem pole... and then brought back because my presence and work ethic was actually noticeably absent.
posted by GJSchaller at 5:25 PM on January 12, 2010


The question here is responsibility vs. accountability. Whoever is accountable ('where the buck stops') will get the blame for everything gone wrong AND everything gone right. Even if they didn't produce the actual work. They get it all, the good and the bad, and that comes with being the manager (you get to delegate).

The difference between responsibility and accountability is that the latter you can't delegate.

In both situations it sounds like your superiors are accountable for the job at hand, so it's their win this time.
posted by gillianr at 7:34 PM on January 12, 2010 [1 favorite]


gillianr makes a good point that deserves emphasis. This is something that might differ even within a single company: some managers believe in passing praise and blame alike downward to whoever generated it, while others will take both. The best ones take blame and pass praise; the worst ones the opposite.

Is there a disinterested third person who knows the EIC, whom you could ask about this? I would phrase the question as a matter of understanding how things are done, rather than looking to correct a specific slight.
posted by d. z. wang at 8:25 PM on January 12, 2010


The folks upthread are right -- the team leader represents the team. So when the team leader is praised, he or she is implicitly accepting the praise on behalf of everyone. Good leaders go out of their way to give credit to others, which is nice and makes people feel good, but it's not actually essential -- the assumption is that the leader had help. No-one thinks they actually did all the work themselves.

Like others said -- the only person you need to impress is your boss. I don't know why you'd care what anyone else thinks: what difference would it make? And your boss presumably already has an opinion about your performance, which isn't going to change based on whether you are publicly praised by the client manager. Unless you make a big deal out of this --- in which case your boss may decide you're whiny, self-interested and/or clueless about how things work. (I don't mean "how things work" in some kind of dark insinuating way -- I mean literally, how workplaces function and how work gets done.)

Really -- this is not a big deal, and you should definitely let it go.
posted by Susan PG at 10:49 PM on January 12, 2010


Hm. I just re-read the part where you called your company "very competitive," and I realized that my comment assumes you work in an environment that's reasonably fair and humane. If your workplace is actually more cutthroat/vicious/backstabby, then my advice is completely wrong. In those environments, you actually do need to put a lot of energy into managing how you're perceived, including keeping other people from taking credit for your work.

If it's a horrible environment though, there's really no way to win, and you will probably ultimately want to leave. I hope that's not your situation :-)
posted by Susan PG at 11:00 PM on January 12, 2010


One approach is to agree with the person who says they did it, then clarify. That's only if you're involved in the conversation already, though - you can't leap into a neighboring cube just because you're being talked about.

jerk: "I prepared this"
you: "That looks great - I'm glad you could use the (large thing) I gave you without many changes."

jerk: "We worked on this together"
you: "That's right, having your initial design made it easier to be sure I included everything in the new layout"
posted by aimedwander at 7:26 AM on January 13, 2010


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