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Default Jun 05, 2019 at 06:40 PM
  #1
Both my colleague and I worked on an article together for a client. However, he did his portion incorrectly, which I realized long after the fact because I didn't think I would have to double check his work. The article got published on our client's website already.

My colleague did the keyword research, and I "optimized" the article to get it to rank in the search engines and "be found" for the keywords he chose.

Well, it turns out he chose the wrong keywords to target, and even though I optimized the article to rank well for those target keywords, it will never rank and therefore, will never gain any traffic or sales, most importantly.

Now, this colleague is above me. He was just promoted to a more senior role, though he is NOT my boss. He is also in charge of content (blog/article) creation for this client of ours. It's really HIS baby, but I helped with it.

So my question:

How do I (a) cover myself (CYA) and let it be known that it wasn't my own screw up? (b) do this diplomatically without stepping on his toes???

Thanks!!!

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Default Jun 06, 2019 at 02:48 AM
  #2
Man that is so tough. You do not want to look like a tattle tale but you do not want to be blamed for bad work. Did you receive any feedback yet? Would it be possible to see your boss and say something like " do you have any feedback on that project I worked on with mr x?" and then wait and see what you hear? But even then it would still probably sound like you were just trying to dime someone out. Personally I would wait until something is said to you. If nothing is said move on. If something is said be careful how you word things. Make sure to "own" some part of it even if it really isn't yours to own because all bosses feel like employees have some part to play in a screw up. But you can own something without taking the fall as well.

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Default Jun 06, 2019 at 03:25 AM
  #3
I'm no expert on business diplomacy but my own take on this would be to drop him a very neutral e-mail. Depending on your relationship and on his personality. "I noticed that the keywords were not 100% effective on this job. Is it too late to review?"

How would that sit with you? He will probably ignore the comment but you can feel that you've covered your responsibility and put the ball firmly in his court. Then you let it go, get on with your life, and act surprised if he raises it in future. "oh that job? I'd forgotten about it already but do let me know if I can be of any help in future".

I'm not confident enough about successful diplomacy to put this forward as general "advice" but I've been in some similar situations and work relations exist in the context of long term relationships in my experience. Therefore I behave as I feel comfortable, which is to step back in my own driven personality and keep potential conflict to a minimum.

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Default Jun 06, 2019 at 03:48 AM
  #4
PS my 2nd thought about this after coffee - and this would be my "advice" to younger self. You get a foot in an organisation by attention to detail, then you move on by cultivating bigger stuff. Obviously this colleague's eye for the "bigger stuff" is better than his attention to detail - so tell yourself this is a chance to study for yourself the bigger dynamics. That might just help you to step back from putting across an attitude of criticism. Say to your inner critic that you are now studying Human Relations, so quiet on the details.

Hope that helps. I'm a perfectionist at work because it's a habitual attempt to control and stay safe. But losing one client is less important than upsetting someone in your team in the long run, so check your internal turmoil before launching out. "only a website, not WW3!". Calm wins!

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Last edited by saidso; Jun 06, 2019 at 04:55 AM..
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Default Jun 06, 2019 at 05:00 AM
  #5
Quote:
Originally Posted by saidso View Post
I'm no expert on business diplomacy but my own take on this would be to drop him a very neutral e-mail. Depending on your relationship and on his personality. "I noticed that the keywords were not 100% effective on this job. Is it too late to review?"

How would that sit with you? He will probably ignore the comment but you can feel that you've covered your responsibility and put the ball firmly in his court. Then you let it go, get on with your life, and act surprised if he raises it in future. "oh that job? I'd forgotten about it already but do let me know if I can be of any help in future".

I'm not confident enough about successful diplomacy to put this forward as general "advice" but I've been in some similar situations and work relations exist in the context of long term relationships in my experience. Therefore I behave as I feel comfortable, which is to step back in my own driven personality and keep potential conflict to a minimum.
You could also send an email saying "I noticed our keywords aren't ranking as high as we expected. I had some ideas to adjust them and wanted to get your thoughts on this, since this was something we worked on together. What would you think about x,y,z?"

That way it's not about someone's fault but about figuring out a solution together.

I'm sure you already have some paper trail that he determined the original keywords, so just save those emails and you're CYA. You could also say to your boss, but not in a blaming way, and privately, like you're asking for feedback "I noticed that the keywords X gave me for the site aren't really gaining the traction. I was going to suggest to him that we adjust them to X. Would that be appropriate for me to suggest to him?" Then it's like you want to make sure you aren't crossing boundaries, but also your boss would be aware that it was the other guy's job. Then when you go to the coworker with the above statement, you're kosher with your boss, and it's not coming off as fault or blame, but that you had an idea to improve something, not that it's wrong to begin with.

Proving fault or blame may be satisfying to our egos, but in terms of effectiveness, efficiency, and productiveness, it doesn't get the job done, which you know. If the goal is to get your ideas implemented, then you're spot on that diplomacy is required. I just caution to make sure that it's not about your ego and really about the work being done well and the client satisfied otherwise it will not come off as diplomatic. I'm not suggesting that it is about your ego, but I know you've felt insulted a few times by coworkers and so you wouldn't want this to come off as some kind of payback (I know it's not, just saying in case).

In general, start off by presenting an improvement/solution, versus a problem/blame/fault, and it should be fine.

Hope this helps. Good luck! Let us know how it goes.

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Default Jun 06, 2019 at 05:54 AM
  #6
Thank you, everyone! I really appreciate your help with this!

@seesaw, thank you, and I like your suggestions. It's definitely not about ego at all.... it's about the fact that the client will most likely ask, and we will have to respond to why the article isn't ranking or gaining traffic or sales even. So I did some searches already and saw that it isn't ranking when it should be.

I think I have some time until I need to bring this to anyone's attention. I can give it a full week so I can think more on this until after the weekend.

I like the thought of emailing him directly as well. I also like the thought of me taking some amount of ownership too and sharing in the responsibility.

What I am trying to avoid is having HIM blame ME somehow for it not ranking and in front of the client, hence the CYA. I don't know what he's capable of.... and he's been insulting towards me twice now.

If anyone has additional thoughts, please feel free to share them! I am thinking on this.... thank you!!!
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