Was this rude? (Colleague doing my work)

[PoisonIvy]

I have been working on a project for three months.  There are several other agencies involved on the project so naturally some areas will overlap.  Bit of background, it's a project that has separate people covering print media, radio, television and online - I cover the online promotion, and sometimes we overlap with print media (eg, if a newspaper has a website).

Today I was asked (via email, copied to the team) by the project manager (my client) to list my targets for the coming months, which I immediately responded to with my targets.  Five minutes later someone from the print media agency - we'll call him John - responded to one of my points saying, "Oh, sorry that target has already been done, I did it last week. I didn't know you were on the project."  Or something to that effect. 

The thing is, John should know very well that I was on the project, because I have been sending my updates to the entire team for the past several months (as is the normal practice).  However, John is a bit hapless, and has already been reprimanded for not showing up to marketing meetings - had he shown up to yesterday's marketing meeting he would have been made even more aware that I was covering the online promotion.  Often the print agencies will start targeting online media if their own reports are looking a bit slim, which is incredibly annoying because a) it makes it look like I'm not doing my job, and b) print lead times are much longer than online, which means a valuable bit of online coverage for my campaign ran several weeks too early because of this person's meddling.

So I responded to John's email, copying only the project managers (instead of the whole team - his original email was to the whole team) with the following:

"Thanks John. I think this would have had a better impact if had run a few weeks later and therefore closer to the event, but it's a great piece of coverage.  Moving forward, let's keep in touch and coordinate our efforts."

I'm wavering between thinking I was rude for showing up John in front of the project manager, but at the same time, I think I could have been more firm with him - what I really felt like saying was "Actually, it's not ok, you've just blown an important part of my campaign and I'm going to have to put double the work because you stuck your nose into an area which you clearly know nothing about."  But I know that definitely isn't polite.

I've been doing a great job on this campaign and my client is very happy with my work, but it's a relationship that was a bit shaky earlier this year -  I actually had an identical situation when another print media agency "stole" one of my targets on a different project with this exact same client (the client took the other agency's side because I erroneously believed that responding "Hey, that's my work!" would have looked catty) so I am ESPECIALLY sensitive to this sort of thing.

[MadMadge43]

I think you did just fine. You let him know what the issue was, and in a way he won't soon forget. But also sounded friendly about it.

I hate to say it, but sometimes people have to be told things in ways that it stands out. If you hadn't cc'd the client, he probably wouldn't have noticed it.

[wetblanket]

I think your response is fine.   

Madge is right, some people need things spelled out for them.

[Clara Bow]

Short of physical assault (definitely an etiquette no-no) I think you did the only thing you could do and you did it well. Some people do not get it, they're not trying to be malicious, they're just clueless. You made your point politely and well.

[Tabris]

The next time this happens, though, let him have it with both barrels.

"John: There is no reason you should not have known that I was in charge of this project. My emails from 1/4, 1/8 and 1/15--all of which were CC'd to you as well as the rest of the project team--clearly stated that I would be launching the online promotions on 2/1. Your actions have diminished the impact of our online promotion and created more work for the other departments. In the future, you will check the scheduling before randomly selecting projects for yourself."

[ShadesOfGrey]

sounds like a polite response, and anyone reading between the lines will know that he stepped on your toes.  And copying only the project managers was a great clue.  What I would be worried about, is someone NOT reading between the lines.  You didnt make it sound like he had done anything wrong, so I wouldnt be surprised if it happens again. 

Perhaps something just slightly more assertive next time would help? Something like "As per my updates, I have been working on this since XXX.  I think this would have been more effective had it run later*.  Moving forward, let's keep in touch and coordinate our efforts." Copied of course, to the project managers, like you did.  Do you see the difference?  This one let's him know he should have been paying attention, rather than thanking him for doing something that sounds like it may cause you some harm in one of your relationships.  Since this has happened before, I wouldnt hesitate to talk to a higher up if the behavior continues (not in a complaining way, but in "I think the promotions would be more effective if..." way).

* If this is too direct, add something like "but I am glad it got covered" here to soften it up a bit

good luck!

I agree with Tabris though, when she says the next time it happens you should:

The next time this happens, though, let him have it with both barrels.

"John: There is no reason you should not have known that I was in charge of this project. My emails from 1/4, 1/8 and 1/15--all of which were CC'd to you as well as the rest of the project team--clearly stated that I would be launching the online promotions on 2/1. Your actions have diminished the impact of our online promotion and created more work for the other departments. In the future, you will check the scheduling before randomly selecting projects for yourself."

[PoisonIvy]

Thanks for the responses.  John never responded to my original email so hopefully he's feeling embarrassed enough and will think twice about taking my leads again.  Incidentally, my business partner told me that she had this exact same situation with John on another project several months ago and she let him have it with both barrels.  Somehow I think this clueless individual is going to be getting the PoisonIvy treatment again ala Tabris's suggestion.

[Tabris]

It sounds as if John knows what the "fun" stuff is to do and just does it because he doesn't want to do other stuff.

Nice that he's done it to someone else. You'll have backup when you chop off his head.

Good luck!

[Alida]

I think you did fine for an email that went to the project managers.  However, I also agree with Tabris.  An email, direct to John alone (or possibly CC'd only to whomever he directly reports to), stating the facts as they stand would be far more assertive and make him think twice before undermining your authority in this project (or any other in the future) again.

[Chocolate Cake]

I'm wondering if your on-line vendors can help also?  Since YOU are their contact at your company for on-line promotions, shouldn't they be contacting you if they receive an insertion order from someone else at your company?

I know that the on-line sales reps want to sell as much time/space as possible, but if you have a personal relationship with them through months of interaction to where they understand your promotion and its goals, I would think a call from anyone else in your company would automatically raise a flag for them.