What do you do when a classmate, colleague or peer(s) take credit for your work and/or ideas? Do you confront them?  Do you tell your boss or supervisor? Or do you just let them take the credit?  What if it is your manager taking credit for your work?

Growing up, I seem to attract these kinds of people, the credit takers. The ones who'd partner up with me, somehow manage to make themselves unavailable to not do any work, and then when I'm done doing all the work myself, take credit for my work.  I remember as a kid, project after projects, I put my trust in different classmates who immediately jumped to be my partner, just to bail at doing any work.

I remember in 6th grade, we had to build three 3D structures of ancient monuments, using anything we want, write a report, and do a presentation.  My partner and I chose the Egyptian pyramid, the stone henge and the Roman colosseum, which I suggested to be made out of play dough.  This partner did show up at my house, but then kept saying she didn't know what to do so she sat there as I tried showing her, but instead of trying, she called her ride to leave, because "something important" came up.  Then the days ahead, were different reasons for her not being able to meet up to help finish  the project.  So I did the entire thing, the 3 structures, the papers and the preparation for presentation.

The day of the presentation, she ran up to meet me as I tried carrying all the structures and asked "Do you need help carrying?" I accepted and was very appreciative until my teacher locked eyes on my projects in awe, kept complimenting the awesome structures, while my partner, smiled proudly, said Thank you, taking credit for the work.  On top of that, she stood next to me during the presentation and winged a few comments and description, believable enough that she did some of the work.  

I think I was too quiet and "too nice" to "rat her out."  If I could turn back time, would I have told my teacher?  Maybe.  It's hard to say because she was a friend of mine and at the time I didn't want to have a conflict with her.  Maybe the right thing to do was to tell the teacher, so that she wouldn't take advantage of others like that. Friends don't do that to friends.

The same thing happened in high school, but it became worse. I was dubbed by peers as a "high achiever".  What happened was a friend said she couldn't meet with me for the project, then ignored my phone calls, (only picking up if someone else called). I wrote a paper which landed the both of us an A(+) but this time, I wouldn't let someone else take credit for my work, and did quietly report it to the teacher.  But doing so backfired amongst friends. She rumored that I wouldn't let her do any of the work and that I wanted to do it all myself.  Unfortunately, some people believed her that I'd want to do all the work to get the A.

The adult world is actually not much different, but it is more intense to be in such situation because instead of grades being involved, it's money involved, and instead of classmates you're dealing with, it's your colleagues that you're dealing with that you interact with daily and sometimes for years.  It can be a break between having a positive working environment or a hostile working environment.

I have to admit, I ran into at least one situation where I was explaining all sorts of web stuff, and coming up with several ideas and projects that would help the company. That ended up being reiterating by a colleague as his/her own ideas that he/she "helped" implement. At first I thought I was just over thinking things but then it happened continuously enough, and to others, that it became was obvious.  At first, it didn't bother me that he/she was taking credit for my work as long as I had opportunity to implement it for the greater good, so it never crossed my mind to say something to management.  But then I realized over time that it was probably harming me in the long run.  Management was not asking me when they needed something, they started to question if I was able to do certain things.  So not receiving credit for my work probably made me come off as not being a innovative thinker, or contributing to the company enough.  In all, this put me down and disrespected me and I started to lose some respect for this person.

I  never mentioned this to management but over time if I had stayed longer, I would have possibly confronted the person in a respectable civilized manner to not put any blame on them.  I would ask, that I noticed not receiving much credit or any credit for the work I do.  This at least acknowledges to the person that you're well aware of what they are doing, and how it is hurting.  If they respect me enough they'd acknowledge the credit instead of taking the credit.

What if it's your supervisor or manager that is taking credit for your work? This happens.  Managers sometimes may just manage others but may  not practice, do or have the time to proactive the actual project.  They want to appear knowledgable to their manager and may feel embarrassed (or threatened) if it appears that colleagues that they're managing, may know more than them about certain things and do more or all the actual implementation of the work.  They may fear that those "below" them could at any moment take their job and manage, because they are managing themselves well or it is a matter of wanting to be recognized as an authority or in control. So to appear that they can be a contributing manager, they end up taking credit for other people's work.  

I don't know if they have or would tell someone and I understand the risks of it.  Because they are "above" them in corporate status, they can end up retaliating by giving a poor performance review, or assign work that they wouldn't want to do.  There are so many different possible scenarios.  The best case is that they realize taking credit is not respectable and then stop.  Chances are they probably won't stop right away, but we hope so.

I wonder why someone could take credit for work they don't do, and be proud of their ethics and workmanships.  I wish I had a good answer to what to do in that situation if it happens to you, but it's tricky and it depends on the situation.  You can also make it even and take credit for their work but then there's that question if you are "stooping down to their level" Occasionally stooping to their level can maybe prove your point, as they may realize how it feels to be treated that way BUT there's a chance that it can backfire as well and turn into a taking credit office war.  I think the best thing is to confront the person directly if there are no consequences. But be prepared for any retaliation to protect yourself.  Gather your evidence.

Over all, what did I learn from all these experiences?  Well, I learned to try to stick up for myself in a respectable way. I do admit that I let disappointment in others get the best of me sometimes. Next time that it happens, I hope to know that I can do something about it.

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