Was it rude to defend my work to my boss?

[Warwithin]

Hey all,

I'm a 4th year Marketing student in University and have a Marketing internship this summer. Part of my job is handling proofreading for a majority of the documents that go out for printing. This was a big issue for the company as the team before I was hired on was not very good at finding typos / grammatical / formatting issues and they had several embarrassing reprints under their belt.

So my boss sent me a document that the CEO had already pointed out a typo on (which was very humiliating for my boss) and said to comb the shit out it and look for any typos. I do 5-6 reads over of the document and only found one place where (subjectively) a phrasing change could be made. My boss agreed with the phrasing change, sent it to another Marketing intern to make the change, then off to printing. (To clarify: It's done in Illustrator or Photoshop or something - a platform I have no experience with. The other intern handles all the actual executions of changes; I simply point them out.)

So my boss emails me this morning (well, emailed the entire marketing team) that she found yet another typo in the document I was told to review with scrutiny and that we all need to take ownership of our roles within the company. I was a bit confused because I didn't see any typo in the document when I reviewed it. So I reply to my boss, asking her what the typo was simply out of curiosity (because I was at a loss as to what typo I could have missed after so many reviews).

She replies with a typo that was pretty obvious. Again, I was confused how I could have missed such an egregious typo so I go back and check the document I was asked to review. The one that was sent to me didn't have that typo. Apparently, the other intern who had to make the easy change of one phrasing to the other managed to fit a really bad typo into a very easy job.

So I replied to my boss, with a screenshot of the document I was sent to review, that "The typo in question wasn't on the document I was sent to review; not that I'm pointing fingers, but I simply wanted to defend my work." I wanted to add in "I can't catch a mistake that hasn't been made yet", but didn't want to sound like a dick.

She just replied to me "I know.... we just want to make sure we get everything done right in our department." It's hard to read between the lines and know how she felt about my response, but, since I'm fairly new to this position, I didn't want to sound like a dick. Was it rude to defend my work the way I did? I just wanted to cover my bases and make sure that, if blame comes down, it doesn't come down on me.

Thoughts?

[Theodon]

Not rude at all. Defending your work is needed when accountability falls on you for a mistake someone else makes. I would simply point out that the mistake wasn't yours and let the job of finding out who did make the mistake fall to your boss. You keep your integrity in that case without compromising your relationship with the other workers.

I think adding the last part would have been a mistake as it's overly defensive. It's the boss that is made to look bad in this case and he/she would more than likely consider it as somewhat aggressive.

[Deleted]

You will either get a reputation for being argumentative and defiant, or a reputation being incompetent. You did the right thing, don't be a door mat for other people.

[slime]

A boss being a boss. they are not used to people defending themselves... usually they just bend over if they see the boss coming. I think you did well, you are just lucky that you have a boss that cares... many, even if you were in the right, would piss all over you anyway.

[psyquest]

You will either get a reputation for being argumentative and defiant, or a reputation being incompetent. You did the right thing, don't be a door mat for other people.

This a thousand times.

A mistake was made, not yours. People in your company want accountability and your manager is trying to deflect anything coming her way; she is trying to cover her ass.

Thread lightly, she might be the kind to let go of people to save herself. After 14 years working with sharks, I can only advise caution.

[Yunru]

Bosses or those under them will always put a finger on the newcomers. Fight it!

If you tell them its your mistake (wich 100% time is not) its pretty much a thing that can get you fired later.

[Warwithin]

This a thousand times.

A mistake was made, not yours. People in your company want accountability and your manager is trying to deflect anything coming her way; she is trying to cover her ass.

Thread lightly, she might be the kind to let go of people to save herself. After 14 years working with sharks, I can only advise caution.

Even if she tried to push for getting me fired, I'd still push back with a paper trail that leads to it not being my fault. Or I'll write a book about corporate responsibility and make $$$

[Auloria]

She's getting her ass chewed out and wants to make sure everyone in the department is taking shit seriously.

Your reaction is fine, it shows that you want to make sure your own work is high quality especially in a time like this.

[Starsinn]

I would have done the same. Nothing pisses me off more than someone passing the buck. If i make a mistake i will take responsibility and fix it. But if the mistake is not mine then dont you dare try to pin it on me. Standing up for yourself and conducting your work with integrity and ownership wins you more respect from people than you would think. Even if your boss didnt like being shown where the errorvwas made it shows them that you are paying attention and know whats going on.

The world needs more people like you.

[Méd]

Eventho I hate to admit, a little bit cruelty is really needed in when it comes to conflitcs like this. You did nothing wrong in my opinion. And by cruelty, I mean to point out any mistakes that affects your position or credibility. Sadly, everyone is on their own when it comes to work and being truthful always works better in long run, even if it means hurting other people. Also please remember that I am specifically talking about this situation.

[Sunseeker]

I don't think it was rude. Your document did not have the typo. The typo was made by the other intern. The document should have been reviewed a final time to ensure that the changes were made correctly and did not result in more errors(which happens).

[Grummgug]

Was it rude to defend my work the way I did? I just wanted to cover my bases and make sure that, if blame comes down, it doesn't come down on me.

Thoughts?

No. I have been in the working world for quite some time and have to do it myself. It is generally accepted that EVERYONE makes mistakes, from the workers, to those who check their work to those who check the work of those who check, and so on and so forth up the ladder.

I remember last year, I was working for this small company on the side as a second job. We were working on some documents, and I had a question on a procedure. I asked my supervisor, and got one answer. The supervisor was COMPELTELY CONFIDENT in their response. It didn't sound right to me, so I went to the main supervisor and got a a completely different answer. This supervisor was ALSO completely confident in their answer. It still didn't sound right to me, so I went to the owner of the company (its a small company) and he looked at me and told me none of my supervisors had ANY idea what they were doing and gave me a completely different answer. But he wasn't sure and had to check himself.

That's kinda how the working world goes. Supervisors tend to act as confident as possible, especially when they don't know what they are doing, to avoid questions and just move on with their day. The owner of the company knew what to do, and actually expressed it through lack of confidence.

Be very suspicious of confident behavior from people. Your supervisors throwing out comments like "oh this typo is OBVIOUS stop bothering me!" sets off ALL my alarms.

[Reg]

Nothing wrong with defending your work in a reasonable and professional manner. As a boss, that is why I have a team of people under me. Just don't rub it in anyone's face.

[Deleted]

Agree with the others. Defending yourself is totally fine. Just be polite while doing so and refrain from using any snarky remarks while explaining that you indeed are willing to do your best. Which btw. was a reason why you went back to recheck whether it was indeed your mistake or not. You cared for your work and wanted to ensure that you're doing it well. Other people wouldn't have bothered and this is probably how that typo slipped by in the first place.

However sometimes it takes a bit of learning and careful diplomacy to master the art form of delicate phrasings in these kind of things. So don't be discouraged if sometimes there is indeed a misunderstanding of your wording or someone simply overreacting/acting like a jerk towards you.

Oh and something else: you as an employee are never ever in the wrong for guarding your own back. Keep mails and conversations of transactions and orders around. Keep documents around that proof that you're doing your job right (sorta like you did in this case). Because sooner or later you will meet somebody who'll either try to blame you, put his workload on you or simply talks out of his ass while being a nasty piece of shit. And if you're able to put down evidence in these kind of situations ... you can avoid a big load of ugly.

[FathomFear]

She just replied to me "I know.... we just want to make sure we get everything done right in our department."

This is the key statement here. She's emphasizing the point that it's a team performance. Whether or not it's your mistake is incidental. A mistake happened, and you and your other coworkers need to band together and find ways of mitigating it from happening in the future. You need to walk the line between defending your work while also living the "Live and die by the team" mantra.

[Mackeyser]

The manager was irresponsible in firing out an email to the entire team when by your account the fault lies totally with the other intern.

The manager had a direct line to the mistake and easy remedies. If she needed another firewall, then she could always have you RECHECK the change to verify no new mistakes are entered into the process.

This happens in engineering all the time. Every new change will put a process back through Q&A which often will lead to things NOT being changed until the next revision in order to meet a deadline, for example.

Defending your work in a professional and civil manner is crucial. Too often bosses will conflate worker errors into "subordinate errors" and "departmental errors" and that can negatively affect your ability to earn a paying (not sure if this internship is a paid position) or full time position.

I know when I was a manager with hiring responsibility, I took responsibility for my team including putting my job on the line for two of my employees when one of the higher-ups violated out Computer Usage Policy, didn't properly utilize the company server resources and lost tons of very valuable corporate data. She wanted my guys fired for doing their jobs and I put my job on the line rather than fire them for doing their jobs properly as I'd trained them.

Very few bosses will stand up for employees. That's why it's so important for employees to stand up for themselves in the proper manner; professionally, civilly and with evidence such as the screenshots as were provided. Never be snarky, sarcastic or caustic.

Frankly, I think you did exceptional in the face of poor management.

A good follow up might be to suggest workflow alterations that might prevent such a problem from happening again. I mean, since clearly the manager is looking for interns to do her job.

Yeah... I have little patience for managers who don't take responsibility. Asking an intern to be as responsible as a manager isn't motivational or inspirational or being a "team member"... it's passing the buck.

You did great, OP. Eventually, your work will speak loudly enough for you that your work will be more than enough defense. In the mean time, good on ya.

[Damsbo]

You did the right thing.
Thats pretty much it . Good wind!

[Deleted]

Defending your work is entirely correct.

As long as you dont come over as an arse trying to backstab someone else or drop them in the shit. Someone like that is worse than the person who made a probably innocent mistake.

[OzoAndIndi]

So I replied to my boss, with a screenshot of the document I was sent to review, that "The typo in question wasn't on the document I was sent to review; not that I'm pointing fingers, but I simply wanted to defend my work."

Where it me, I think I would have kept it a bit shorter and right to the point, that I simply wanted to clarify that that typo was not there when it left my hands.

But I don't personally find that wrong to simply clarify that it did not come from you, as long as you don't come across wrong in doing it.

She just replied to me "I know.... we just want to make sure we get everything done right in our department." It's hard to read between the lines and know how she felt about my response, but, since I'm fairly new to this position, I didn't want to sound like a dick. Was it rude to defend my work the way I did? I just wanted to cover my bases and make sure that, if blame comes down, it doesn't come down on me.

To me, this reads that she may know it wasn't you (or knows now) and, assuming everyone got that email including the other intern, was just trying to make a clear point without having to directly make that intern feel singled out.

[Powerogue]

You pointed out that you weren't to blame, with evidence. You treaded carefully to not sound arrogant. I can't think of anything you could have done better.