Coach's Corner: Worker picks up slack but not credit

QI consider myself a team player, yet feel that I get taken advantage of. Too often I pick up the slack for others, while they take the credit for work getting done. What should I do?

ARemain committed to your team's goals while also looking out for your own interests.

The inner game

Start by taking a deep look at the current situation. Make a point of setting any frustration and anger aside in order to have a realistic view. Try analyzing a recent team project in the way a neutral outsider would. Include expected tasks and the expected "doer" versus the actual one, along with communications about the projects to bosses or others. Make an unbiased assessment of how pervasive the situation is.

Intent makes a big difference, too. It's likely that there's no intention to exploit you, which then points to a communication and project management gap. If you have someone on the team who may have ill intent, that's a different management issue and should be taken up with your boss -- but carefully because you wouldn't want to make false allegations.

Finally, look close to home. To what extent have you permitted this situation to exist? If you're quietly taking on others' tasks, you may be enabling this or may have created a scenario where it is plausibly believed that this is your role. Similarly, if you're on the quiet side and others are more outspoken, style differences (and not an effort to take advantage of you) may be resulting in your sense that they're taking the credit.

With all of this reflection completed, consider your ideal team environment in terms of mutual engagement, support and acknowledgement. Look both at how others are treating you and how you are treating others.

To change the situation, actively help create the ideal team environment you've envisioned.

On the task management front, suggest more clearly defined task owners and timelines when you start the next team project (or even as a "regrouping" conversation on a current project), Often having "slack" to pick up results from incomplete planning, so this may nip it in the bud.

Then, if people are not following through, it's a more straightforward and nonemotional matter to engage the group in discussing barriers to completing the task and finding solutions to getting it done. However, you'll have to discipline yourself not to fall back into your old pattern of quietly doing the tasks that need to be done.

As far as receiving recognition for your work, you'll benefit from thinking through the messages you'd like to send about your work and the audiences you'd like to reach.

For example, if you run into your boss' boss and need to make small talk, be ready to mention the interesting project your team is working on. This sends a strong message about your engagement and contribution. And be sure that your boss knows in detail the contributions you make.

When you're stepping up, you deserve to be acknowledged. Yet it's up to you to help the team function more effectively and get recognition for your contributions.