Is My Expectation Right?

Discussion in 'Education & Personal Growth' started by blackbeauty84, Jul 1, 2020.

  1. blackbeauty84

    blackbeauty84 IL Hall of Fame

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    Hi,

    I work as a independent contributor my boss/super boss will assign projects and I start working on it. I speak to them in case of any trouble or someone writes to them in case of escalation/appreciation.

    There is one more person in my team who is very senior to me. Since lockdown he has worked on a particularly tough project and for a module he sought my help. I informed my manager and started working on it I worked for almost 16 hours a day including weekends. Now that project has crossed a milestone, he dropped a mail to the team specifically mentioning few people who helped him in the project. He didn't specify my name.

    I wrote to him individually asking him to drop a note to my boss. He didn't do that saying he has informed my boss.
    How should i deal with it? Let it go or fight for the recognition.
     
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  2. 1Sandhya

    1Sandhya Platinum IL'ite

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    Fight it. Let it be all in open.
    Reply to his general email with one of your own- a polite one congratulating his milestone and listing your contribution and how much time it took. End with a line saying it is interesting he did not even consider your help worthy of a mention. Let him explain that to the rest of the team.

    Next time he reaches out for help informally don’t agree to help him right away. Escalate to boss and have it assigned and calculated so your own workload is adjusted.

    This is your wake up call to not do any more favors for ungrateful co-workers. Document document document.
     
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  3. blackbeauty84

    blackbeauty84 IL Hall of Fame

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    @1Sandhya many thanks. Drafting a mail to team already..Lesson learnt not to help anyone.
     
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  4. startinganew

    startinganew Gold IL'ite

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    Hi @blackbeauty84

    My reply might be too late. I want to commiserate with you that I would be very, very angry in your position too.

    However, I wouldn't publicly shame a colleague even if what they did was unprofessional - because the "public shaming" would itself be unprofessional on my part.

    I would take it up to my manager - and say that you are very disappointed that despite making a significant contribution, your name was missed out in an email that specifically thanks contributors. Simply ask - do you know why? I'll wait to see how my manager responds - is he/she trying to be defensive for the senior team member or being fair and stating that this was a mistake.

    Manager should be the one rectify the issue and possibly send a reply to the common email and thank you for going beyond your normal duties and stretching your work hours for many days to help make the milestone successfully.
     
  5. sarvantaryamini

    sarvantaryamini Gold IL'ite

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    Do you have any record of your work? Surely there should be some form of record? If you have, bring those up in front of your boss. If you don't have any, then let it go. How is your situation in the company? How is your relationship with rest of the people including your manager? Even after bringing up records if nothing is done, then you should consider leaving instead of confrontation with anyone. You could say that the reason was for a change.
     
  6. sociallifein30s

    sociallifein30s Gold IL'ite

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    You got to fight for the recognition girl!! I like that someone suggested writing to your manager "Do you know why". Thats a good step. Will know what defense he has. It is infact uncomfortable in these situations to ask for credit. Playing the devils advocate, maybe the other people helped. You and this person were actually owners of the project - since you said you informed your manager before starting. Maybe your manager also thinks you co-own the project.
    In that case, you can write a mail on top of this guys email thanking your own set of people and how it gave you a "challenge" and a "sense of accomplishment after it".

    These situations are exactly why we slowly getting a dearth of goodness. People undermine goodness, take advantage of it. And someone else who is sincerely is need of help, might not get help because we also get apprehensive about taken advantage again.
     
  7. Rihana

    Rihana Moderator Staff Member IL Hall of Fame

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    Much as it rankles, since you did not react right when the email went out to the team, the best thing is to learn many lessons from it, bring your hard work to the manager's notice and move on.

    - Informed manager and started working on it. Now you know, you should wait for the manager to acknowledge your initiative. You should also have an ongoing discussion with the manger about the time you are putting it and how crucial your help is.
    - 16 hours a day including weekend: How many hours of the 16 were your own work and how many to help the senior team member? Looks like being an IC means any long hours you put in are not as obvious to others. So, you have to make it more obvious.
    - "Wrote to him asking him to drop a note to my boss." In the future, try not to put such requests in writing (email/text/anything). Be a bit more professional. Perhaps, reply to that email, cc'ing only him and your boss.
    - "Fight for the recognition" - More important than pick your battles is to pick your victories. Will recognition got in this manner be worth it? The unfortunate image of you "help but seek acknowledgement" will prevail along with the recognition. Not fair, but happens.

    So, you use this as a learning experience and move on getting as much recognition as you can without shaming that team member. Maybe he did indeed tell your boss verbally instead of a note.

    The ideal response would have been to reply to the team email congratulating the senior team member, the team, and including your effort and "Glad to help..." etc etc.

    If you do want to publicly highlight how he missed your name, one option is to use humor, if the team dynamics allow. A light funny query about your name missing. "I zoomed ni/ increased the font and still can't find my name..." kind of thing.
     
    Last edited: Jul 2, 2020
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  8. Rihana

    Rihana Moderator Staff Member IL Hall of Fame

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    Solid advice otherwise but the ending line suggestion was surprising to read from you.

    The focus should be to highlight one's effort and help. No words in the email should be wasted on the other team member's action. What the team member did will be obvious to the readers. Keep response in such situations brief and professional. Always leave the other person a graceful way out. Readers of the email will appreciate it and also note down that you are not to be trifled with.

    Now, if the matter were being discussed in a meeting, one could be more frank.
     
    Last edited: Jul 2, 2020
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  9. blackbeauty84

    blackbeauty84 IL Hall of Fame

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    Thanks all for the suggestions and tips. Will use it in the future when the situation demands.

    Update: I dropped a mail congratulating other person and how I enjoyed working for the project. He replied saying thanks for the same and sorry missed out my name. My super boss dropped a mail thanking me for my contribution.

    I think I managed what I wanted to achieve.
     
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