What do you do when a coworker steals credit for your work?
Here are three steps to decisively and diplomatically shut down a colleague who takes credit for your work.
- Step 1: Immediately set the record straight. Let’s say it happens again.
- Step 2: Follow up in private.
- Step 3: Repeat.
What is taking credit for someone else’s work called?
In other words, plagiarism is an act of fraud. It involves both stealing someone else’s work and lying about it afterward.
How do you deal with a co-worker who steals your credit?
Harvard Business Review recommends framing your claim as a question, so your colleague has a chance to explain his or her actions. This could mean directly asking the credit-stealer about what happened, in neutral language. “When you talked about our project, you kept saying ‘I’ instead of ‘we.’
How do you deal with a coworker who takes credit for ideas?
“You may not get credit for the idea or for slaving over the analysis, but hopefully your boss absorbs that you’re an important part of her team.” Instead of making accusations, ask questions. This shifts the burden of proof to your colleague: he has to explain why he felt justified taking credit for the project or idea.
Are you getting the credit you’re not due?
Of course, this assumes you’re actually getting the credit for your efforts—which, sadly, you can never assume. Whether intentional or an honest mistake, colleagues and bosses routinely take credit where it is most certainly not due, and your contributions can go unnoticed by those who matter.
Is your name included in the credits at the office?
Whether intentional or an honest mistake, colleagues and bosses routinely take credit where it is most certainly not due, and your contributions can go unnoticed by those who matter. To really succeed at the office, you not only need to do the work, you need to make sure your name is included in the credits.