Posted on 03/17/2009 6:23:10 AM PDT by shy.invisible.grl
Sorry for posting what I guess amounts to a vanity, (inevitable) but I have encountered a situation that is beyond my ability to handle. (I'm somewhat new to the work force.)
Problem: Other people were given credit for my work, and I was given none.
Question: Is there anyway to set the record straight without making myself look bad/like a glory hound?
Details: I recently coordinated a weekend visit for 3 people, which took about a month of planning and work on my part. I handled all the logistics myself, monitored costs and prevented overages, basically created a 24/7 schedule for three people for three days. I was given three graduate students to "help" me, who did nothing. The visit went well, and the man officially in charge of the event sent out a thank you email giving credit entirely to the grad students. I don't require thanks, I don't want a pat on the back, I just don't want other people getting credited for my hard work. I realize I work for a socialist university but this is ridiculous!
Any advice would be much appreciated!
Have you discussed this with your boss?
I would create an event evaluation followup memo for the person you report to directly...a bit of a paper trail...outlining what you did, what went well, things to improve the process in the future (which makes it seem more like a review of the process rather than horn tooting) and then make a point of thanking the students who got the credit all the while pointing out the limited role ie. “after all of the planning, blah blah blah, the work that the students did on the day of the event helped to really solidify the success” or something...
Wecome to the real world. You’ll probably have to leave academia and start your own business to get away from the leaches.
Answer: Probably not. In the future, make sure your superiors (and specifically the person who neglected to mention you this time around) are aware of your work. This can be accomplished as simply as sending an email stating, "Did you see the note I left on your desk? I arranged the schedule for our vistors, would you like to make any changes?"
Keep a record of the email in case you get stiffed again. If you get stiffed again, you can respond with a polite, private, face-to-face session asking "what's up." If you get stiffed again, your boss is immovable and you'll either need to deal with it or find another job.
Ask yourself if your immediate supervisor knows that you put in the effort, and ask yourself if your peers (and the grad students) know that you put in the effort. If the answer is Yes, then you're fine and you should not worry about the contents of the letter. On the other hand, if your answer is No, then you need to ask yourself why no one is aware of the work you do.
Bottomline: My philosophy is to do the work and not worry about the credit.
Work as unto the Lord and not as unto man.
Lord Jesus knows all your work but the world is vain and seeks for glory.
Do not be like the world that passes away. Mothers who love their children and husband do the work of God and never get any glory in the world.
It is our reasonable service.
(I’m somewhat new to the work force.)
Welcome to the enviornment of the work force. That said you may need to be sure the people in charge know what your efforts are without you seeming to be a glory seeker. Apparently the three grad students were able to pull that off. Good luck and don’t get too disappointed this early in your early experience with the work force.
Praise and Honors for the Non-participants
You might consider your own complimentary e-mail to the grad students, of course copying the bigwig......word it deftly in thanking them for their help in following your direction and instructions; point should be made, if you do it carefully.
I wouldn't worry about it too much, you may think that you aren't recognized, but it may be those who sent out the note thought the grad students needed the extra attention and you where confident in your role. The key, if getting credit is your goal, is to be the person more in front of any presentation or report. Keep grad students/interns doing the busy, behind the scenes work.
If the job goes right, the team performed well....if the job goes wrong, it is your fault.....others will always take credit for your good work, the key is to just mention to your boss, while passing, what you did and how ( do it in less than 10 seconds ) and then forget about it. He or she will register this more easily that a long drawn out windbag blowhard type discussion....In the future, let you boss know what you are doing and what your progress is ( just pop your head in the door and give him/her an update on your project, remember to keep it less than 10 or 20 seconds )never brag about your accomplishments ( give credit to the team ) and always be the first to raise your hand when you make a mistake...this will prove you have integrity, and that alone is a valuable commodity...and always remember, your first job is to protect your boss, remember this and everything else will fall into place..
You were part of a team that was asked to accomplish something. The team gets the credit and praise for doing a good job. That's the real world.
Next time something like this comes up, if you'd like to show your competence, ask to be allowed to handle it yourself. Or, if you'd like to show off the incompetence of the others, ask that they be allowed to work it themselves.
Over time, things like this tend to work themselves out. Patterns emerge and those who want to get things done will gravitate toward you, and shy away from those not pulling their weight.
It’ll be hard but talk to your boss. Just tell them what you did and you wanted to make sure that THEY knew about it.
If you don’t, your boss may think that you did nothing for the project. THAT is why you need to speak up.
Whoever ‘gave’ you the grad students knows they were working under your direction, no? I’d go out of my way to give credit to those grad students, thanking them for their help and hard work. You look much better being generous and trying to make sure that your team gets credit, than in trying to get credit yourself. And in the process, people understand that they were working under your direction.
What, you say, those grad students didn’t actually do anything? Perhaps that was your fault, as one of the tasks of a university is introducing grad students to the act of being useful.
Best advice to a young person from an older and (hopefully) wiser person?...
Learn from this and move on. Vow never to be taken advantage of again and take steps to prevent this kind of thing in the future.
The behavior of the person who gave the credit seems to have been more than an oversight.
The only thing I would suggest saying to that person is, "I'm see you were pleased with how well things went. I'm glad all my hard work paid off. I'd be glad to help out if you need me again."
Then drop it and CoverYourAss next time.
You are in a bad position to say anything about this.
You don’t say what your position is or what your area of responsibility is, but if they gave you three grad students to help, and the three did nothing, why didn’t you manage their activities better?
Why did you do all the work when you were given three helpers? To complain now about the three helpers doing nothing while you did all the work would shine a bright light on your lax management skills.
See what I mean?
I doubt there’s much you can do. In many cases, your job it make the boss look good by doing things he or she can take credit for.
Good outlook but one that usually backfires when it comes to layoffs..remember, perception outdoes reality any day of the week. If it's perceived others did the work, they stay, you go..
I got out of a suit and tie years ago..I now work in blue jeans and a collared shirt, have traveled the world twice over (work related, I got paid to go) and make twice as much as I did when I wore a suit. Now at the end of the day, I get off work with no worries (budgets, backstabbing, petty quibbling etc..)
People know.
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