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The ethics of collaboration… what would you do?

Thursday 10 March, 2022
by Anonymous

You have been working on a proposal with a colleague who is in the same team and junior to you. You’ve both put in a significant amount of work and you can see that your colleague is really extending themselves.

It was to be a joint presentation but due to the quality of the presentation you’ve been told by your manager that there is an unusual opportunity to present directly to the client and she has asked you to make the presentation.  

What would you do?

Do you have any duty or obligation to your colleague? To your manager? To the client?

We encourage you to post your answers in the comments so we can create a healthy discussion, with the aim of learning from our peers, becoming aware of differing perspectives and challenging our own biases.

Please share your ethical dilemmas with us - we can post them anonymously. You can email your dilemmas to dilemma@bfso.org

This dilemma was originally published in September 2019. 

Photo by KOBU Agency on Unsplash

 

 

Comments

There are 4 comments for The ethics of collaboration… what would you do? .

Re: The ethics of collaboration… what would you do?

Tuesday 8 December, 2020
by Josie
This is such a great dilemma... to demonstrate leadership and speak up about fairness I would insist my colleague also be invited to present at least part of the presentation. 1. so that she can be acknowledged by the client for the work and also ensure our manager recognises the effort she has put in. If I was the more junior member of my team I would be extremely disappointed if I was not supported in this way and question the values of the organisation. Some empathy is required.
Reply

Re: The ethics of collaboration… what would you do?

Tuesday 8 December, 2020
by Josie
This is such a great dilemma... to demonstrate leadership and speak up about fairness I would insist my colleague also be invited to present at least part of the presentation. 1. so that she can be acknowledged by the client for the work and also ensure our manager recognises the effort she has put in. If I was the more junior member of my team I would be extremely disappointed if I was not supported in this way and question the values of the organisation. Some empathy is required.
Reply

Re: The ethics of collaboration… what would you do?

Thursday 17 March, 2022
by Indira
I have come across similar situations at work.

In this situation I would speak up for my colleague, let the Manager know that in my opinion, my colleague has done great job. I would request to share the presentation with that person. Being junior has no impact on me. Both are working for the same organisation.

My conscience should be clear at the end of the day, that I did the right thing.
Reply

Three actions

Thursday 20 October, 2022
by Jo
I would do three things:
* Ensure I acknowledge my junior colleague's contribution at the beginning and throughout the presentation
* Ask my manager if it wasn't possible for me to still lead the presentation but have it done jointly.
* Failing that, find out if it is possible for the junior to join the meeting and be involved in Q&A
Reply

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