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I would be furious too. Ask for the final deliverable(s) that was sent to the client? If he/she asks why, say you want to see the structure/style so you can know what your area of focus/improvement should be and utilize client-ready examples
Good answer
How would I feel? Probably pretty damn pissed off, which I expect you are, too.
How would I handle it? Let’s assume your SM is more “professional” than “professional asshole”. I would catch them for a quick chat, something like this: “Hey, I wanted to ask you about that deliverable. I realize you said it wasn’t up to scratch for this, this and that reasons. I know you gave it to Alan to finish it; I heard from the client that they liked it, but what I saw was the same deliverable that I had put together. Did I miss something? That didn’t match up with the earlier feedback.” - and see what they have to say.
Maybe they ran out of time. Maybe they didn’t like it but couldn’t figure out how to change it to what they expected. Maybe they just suck. Lots of reasons, but for your benefit it’s important to try and close the loop and understand. Hell, it could be nepotism, but can’t hurt to ask.
No idea but I’d be furious - gl op
Same here. My blood pressure spiked just reading this!
The work product isn’t just deliverable - it’s also the delivery. Could there be an issue with your presentation or executive presence?
Probably worth a conversation with your lead to ask about that
They made it clear, SM said the deliverable is bad. Hands it off and it's the same thing.
I had that happen to me recently and I’m pretty senior. I was shocked that this happens, and that it happens to seasoned professionals. In spite of my experience I didn’t know what I could do about it. But that day I decided to leave the team and find myself something better. And I did. WAYYY better. Of course I had many reasons that led to that decision.
But I would be interested to see how other people dealt with something similar. Leaving is not always an option for everyone.
another possibility - maybe their favorite resource didn’t incorporate the SM’s feedback. or maybe the SM’s feedback wasn’t specific enough (e.g. “clean this up a bit first) and the other resource thought it was good as is.
still worth confronting the SM about and trying to get an apology from him and ensuring you get the proper credit internally at the very least.
Thank you for replies everyone, appreciate the support. Yes I'm furious. I am a good speaker, well respected at the client site and have delivered presentations several times - so no gaps in that. No deadline issues as well.
This has been after a series of other events which is making me feel time and again that I'm not a good fit for this team.
I've had several thoughts of leaving, however I have been doing well so far with the firm and I'm not sure if I should leave all the work I've done over the past few years cuz of this.
Horrible mental state to be in. Wouldn't wish it for anyone.
And you're kept out of the loop on all this. You hear about the work from the client - literally the same deliverable without a chnage.
Just a diff POV here, but what if he didn’t have enough time to make the change before it had to be presented? Regardless, I can empathise and suggest you have a chat about it. Be factual and take the emotions out. I understand it’s not easy.
And just to clarify, in my case it was not a delivery issue. The person it was handed to couldn’t explain the analysis if their life depended on it.
Definitely have the earnest conversation and document everything!
Have 1:1 convo about the situation. Then email and say thanks for the time. This is the deck “favorite consultant” did and this is the deck I did. Just wanted to highlight this.
The SM will then think, oh shit he’a building a case
Wow. And it was well received by the client? Like others have said, if the client likes it and it wasn’t changed, tell the manager you need to understand what good looks like.