Perhaps more frustrating than a teammate who refuses to pull his or her own weight is one who takes all the credit for something he or she had no part in creating. A credit-stealer might be compared to a cunning shark sitting behind a fishing vessel, waiting for a fisherman to hook and exhaust a fish only so it can swiftly and effortlessly snatch the caught fish for itself. Like the shark, a credit-stealer sustains his- or herself by profiting from the hard work and dedication of others, waiting for that moment in which he or she can easily seize the spotlight and commandeer your work, portraying it as his or her own. Recently a coworker brought up a friend who is presently dealing with a teammate unwilling to play by the unwritten code of workplace ethics, asking how he or she should respond to his or her teammate’s cunning.
If you are dealing with a teammate who behaves more like a fox than an esteemed colleague, you might find the following few tips helpful:
- Carbon copy. Take quiet steps to let those around you (particularly your supervisor) know, before the completion of a project, in which parts of the project you had a hand. A primary way of doing this is by carbon copying your supervisor on e-mails between you and your teammate pertaining to the work you are doing together.
- Put your name on everything. If it isn’t a teammate that is stealing your work, but a colleague, put your name on, or hide your name in everything you produce. While you cannot do this if it is a teammate who is unrightfully stealing the limelight, what you can do is, when questions arise about the intricacies of the project, and your teammate is unable to answer such, chime in and answer whatever questions are asked. Doing this will demonstrate authorship and will clearly show what role you played in the project’s development and completion.
- Take control. Career guru Liz Ryan, treating the somewhat different yet similar topic of the lackadaisical teammates, suggests that you take control. One way of doing this is by “pushing back” against your teammate, by sitting down with him or her and clearly defining the division of labor. If your teammate refuses to be assigned work, Ryan recommends that you speak up in meetings, “saying things like, ‘So then I’ll do the marketing project and have that to you on Friday, and Jason will get you the slides by—did you say Tuesday, Jason?’” Though this might amount to fighting fire with fire, it will help ensure that your teammate adheres to the rules of workplace etiquette.
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