So what do you do about a manager taking credit for your work?

[Godhumor]

I just found out that the senior PM in my company has been presenting three of my projects in terms of updates and results to the executive committee. Furthermore, she has labeled herself as the PM of these projects with myself listed under the additional resources category.

I found out about this when president praised her work to an all-hands senior level meeting and gave her kudos for steering these projects to completion.

Naturally, I am pissed.

I have not been invited to any of these meetings. I have not been consulted on the presentation prepared for these meetings. Senior management is not even aware that I am the actual PM of these projects.

The worst part is that this woman isn't even my boss. She has no direct reports and a title like "Change Director" or something similar. Apparently, the company project has assumed that all initiatives are running through her, and she did nothing to dissuade him of this notion.

The only reason I found out at all is that of the upper managers in HR happens to be my friend and was a little surprised to see her getting the kudos in the senior management meeting for these projects. He also shared with me her Power Point she presented.

I'm at a bit of a loss as to what to do. Complaining may be seen as sour grapes or vindictive, but, to be frank, these projects represent probably half of my deliverables for this year. Anyone ever deal with this kind of situation before? If so, how did you handle it?

I love my job and really have no desire to quit due to the actions of a non-direct manager, but I sure would like to see this fixed.

[dsc]

1. I would think it depends

the first thing it would depend on is can you prove the work is yours. The second is just how well connect is she in the company. the third would be just how important is it to your career that you get credit for this work.

[Skittles]

2. is your boss aware of this?

[Godhumor]

8. Not yet. I scheduled a meeting with her tomorrow morning

Why I am getting antsy. Starting to get nervous at the storm I could be unleashing.

[Skittles]

11. you need to report this to your boss

this is just egregious.........I mean, bosses taking credit is one thing (GRRRRRRRRRRRRRR) but someone who isn't even your boss? That should piss off your boss!

[Renew Deal]

3. I don't have good answers, but these might

http://blogs.hbr.org/2011/10/the-secret-to-dealing-with-dif

http://blogs.hbr.org/2010/04/stepping-out-of-your-boss-shad

http://blogs.hbr.org/2011/06/dealing-with-your-incompetent

http://blogs.hbr.org/2012/08/the-seven-deadly-sins-of-manag

http://blogs.hbr.org/2012/08/are-you-sure-youre-not-a-bad-b

[elleng]

4. If there's anyone 'upstairs' whose ear you have,

might be possible to learn how to address it through him/her. I'd sure try; good for you, but also for the company, as this level of dishonesty could indicate a weak link they should know about.

[zappaman]

5. I work in Hollywood.

When DOESN'T this happen.
I used to get pissed.
Now I just roll my eyes and feel good that others know who really did what.

[Lars39]

6. Sounds like plagiarism.

People get fired for that, and rightly so.
How has she been able to access your work?
Shut her out, prove step by step it was your work.

[ljm2002]

7. You said you don't report to her...

...that's good. You should go to your manager first and explain the situation. Better if you can management to handle it than try something yourself. Also you should be clear on what you want to happen -- you should be recognized for your work.

OTOH: it's always risky to make waves. No matter how right one is. That is the voice of bitter experience.

[valerief]

9. That stuff happens all the time. I didn't know people expected it NOT to happen. nt

[WillowTree]

10. You say she isn't your boss. So who is? And why.......

.......doesn't s/he know what you're doing? If I were you, I would document my work carefully and make sure that your own boss is updated as to what you're doing regularly. Like at least once weekly. It will be harder for this woman to take credit for your work if you've carefully documented your activities and made others up the food chain aware of what work is actually yours.

[Godhumor]

14. My boss does know

She also does not sit in on the senior manager meetings and is most likely unaware of the situation (meeting with her tomorrow to discuss). My boss is quite good in keeping up to date on what her team is doing, as we are a jack-of-all-trades group with a lot of different fire burning.

The person who did this is on a separate reporting line directly to the president. Her role is to foster change, and she seems to have latched on to the work I have been doing on some cross-functional teams.

I am honestly not sure how the conversation with my boss will go tomorrow in the sense that I think we will be seeing a rapid escalation of "who gets credit".

[ReRe]

12. What you have there is....

... a sociopath in your midst. So what did the HR suggest? Well, you can eat it and let her keep eating your lunch. Or you can go to HR and file a complaint. Or you can go to HR and tell them to "take this job and shove it," and why. And the first suggestion is out, ok? Good luck to you, Dearheart.

[Go Vols]

13. How did this person know your work/ideas,

if she wasn't your boss or an "higher up"?

[Godhumor]

15. Because her job is to stay informed on change management

So my boss and I have both updated her on what PM work is being undertaken.

[MohRokTah]

16. This is typical management behavior in the corporate world.

My recommendation is to quietly put your resume out there, quietly take the interviews, and quietly accept the best offer you get, which will be better pay and benefits than your current position.

Then you put in your customary two weeks.

During your exit interview, make sure you tell them your reason for leaving and name this PM on multiple occasions during that exit interview.

[Ino]

17. You said one of the upper managers knows it's your work?

Why isn't he speaking up for you?

I've never been in such a situation, but it makes me angry just hearing about it! Reminds me of the movie "Working Girl" with Melanie Griffith.

Wish I could be more helpful

[catbyte]

18. Wow. This happened to my co-worker on Tuesday. She got so mad she called out the

offending faculty member right in the middle of the meeting she was taking minutes for. The Department Chair told her after the meeting that he was glad she spoke up & suspected the the faculty member hadn't done the work herself. He has a meeting set up with the project thief tomorrow.

Good luck--what that person did is just not right.

[Sherman A1]

19. I have gotten to the point

where I no longer provide any ideas or suggestions at my work place. Sure a few minor ones here and there, but I simply let those who have all the answers (but, don't know the questions) to figure it all out for themselves. I just go in, do my work, take my lunch and go home at the end of the day.

I watch their new ideas or changes cost the company money on multiple occasions and just simply let it go right past me. It is no longer worth the effort to try and protect them from themselves.

Years ago I came up with a plan that would save the company $34K per year by simply recycling a plastic sleeve into another purpose before it was discarded. Had to fight tooth and nail to send it upstairs and was blocked by my Division Manager on multiple occasions. It was only implemented later after someone ordering supplies noted that we were using far fewer plastic bags than other facilities and I was questioned by the individual doing the ordering. He pushed the idea forward and it was implemented company wide. I received a nice certificate, was offered tickets to a baseball game (I can't stand sports) and was mentioned at a quarterly corporate management meeting.

I absolutely will never do anything like that again, although there are huge opportunities for savings all around me.

[IdaBriggs]

20. You send an email to the person organizing the meetings.

You cc the offending party, and also your own management chain (who she is stealing credit from, too).

It has recently come to my attention that there has been a miscommunication regarding roles and responsibilities during the recent presentation to the executive steering committee regarding fill-in-the-blank. I am the Project Manager for x, y and z. In the course of completing my duties, person has received status reports, as have other staff. As you are aware, being copied on status reports does not a Project Manager make.

While I am grateful to person for ensuring my contributions are recognized as beneficial to the company, I would prefer my name and role be titled appropriately in future presentations not only to inform senior management about my accomplishments, but also in order to avoid the perception of person taking inappropriate credit for other people's work.

Your cooperation in correcting the error on the presentation to the committee is much appreciated.

Remove emotion, and state facts - recent good advice I received. Feel free to edit. Good luck. Oh, and keep us posted on the outcome.