What do you do if your colleagues are undermining your chances of a promotion in GIS?

If you're concerned about your colleagues undermining you with a promotion, here are some signs to watch out for: Keep an eye out if colleagues are taking credit for your work or downplaying your accomplishments in meetings. Are you being excluded from important projects or opportunities? And lastly, be wary of receiving negative feedback that seems unfounded. These could be signs of colleagues trying to diminish your contributions. Your friends in office will take credit of your work, they will downplay your accomplishments and cheat with you, they will try to isolate you from opportunities or gaining something like a bonus or salary hike, they will always give or provide a negative feedback about you and your accomplishments.

If you believe that a co-worker is actively trying to undermine your promotion, collect your thoughts and document specific instances of the occurrences. Rather than writing, document specifics. “During the meeting, like someone presented a similar idea, not mentioning any previous work or input that I had had on the topic,” would be more thorough. Dates, times, and details are often important so be sure to include those. Stick with objective observations, not interpretations. Save copies of emails, or reports or presentations that include your contributions. If there are witnesses, write down who, what and when.

First and foremost, document the evidence. The more specifics you can recall about what happened each time, the better. But, even as you’re documenting, don’t immediately take this information to the confrontation stage. If you choose to address it with them directly, I would approach it very calmly. So, if you have a private moment and bring up to say, “I very much would like a promotion internally,” you might be able to mention that if you were the manager you’d “want to know what the perception is.” You’d then want to say whether they realize it or not.

Getting support is always a strong play, so reach out. Whether it’s a colleague, a mentor, or just someone who’s not directly involved in your promotion, confide in someone whose word you trust. It should be someone who understands office dynamics and can give you objective advice. Tell them what’s been going on and why you’re concerned. Be specific: “My boss said this on that date and when I tried to clarify, that’s when she said this.” Their perspective will help you see what you might be missing and what the most reasonable course of action should be.

Long one, but I could really use some help! I've been feeling burned out lately trying to meet unreasonable expectations from my supervisors who have no GIS background. I want to explain that I'm being stretched thin, and while I'm working as hard as I can to meet their timeline expectations, it's just not always possible. I want to do this without coming off as condescending. I don't plan on coming in saying something about how they just don't understand the software or requirements of database maintenance. They don't, but it's not like I think they aren't capable professionals (and I actually like them as people). They just aren't able to concretely grasp the requirements and challenges of the work.

Siempre es bueno enfocar las energías en lo importante y no desgastarse. Si realmente te estás enfocando en las metas y tus colegas en tratar de hacer que tú falles en el mediano y largo plazo esto por si solo repercutirá en su rendimiento.

When it comes to difficult colleagues, focus on your work and your goals. This enables you to control what you can: your contributions and your performance. Your work speaks volumes around your ethic and the results you deliver consistently. When you focus on where you need to go, you also reduce your stress and frustration, helping you to deal as you navigate with a clear head.