Timeline for How to handle a client telling you about future plans and asking you to (temporarily) keep them secret from your hierarchy?
Current License: CC BY-SA 4.0
9 events
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| Jan 8, 2023 at 1:35 | comment | added | TheDemonLord | @O.R.Mapper - exactly - I mean, the example I used was the absolute extreme - but that was merely to highlight the very real situation of info getting out of hand. In addition - some people may wish to relay information in favorable manner for career advancement, omitting the caveats and nuance in the original discussion. | |
| Jan 8, 2023 at 0:56 | comment | added | O. R. Mapper | @IlmariKaronen: I do not say I support the concrete advice given here, but I think the assumption the OP's bosses must be "idiots" for the concern uttered here to be reasonable is very harsh. It's a common situation that information about possible future events is relayed to colleagues who are 1) somewhat far from "domain specifics" and 2) not present in the original discussion. Time and again, I've experienced that this information can sometimes "spiral a bit out of control", in the sense that preliminary ideas end up being listed as "definitive next steps" or similar. | |
| Jan 6, 2023 at 19:42 | comment | added | DonQuiKong | So basically you don't tell your managers because everyone above you is an idiot anyways? Dude ... | |
| Jan 6, 2023 at 19:26 | comment | added | Ilmari Karonen | (OK, maybe you can know that, if there's an established process that you know well enough to predict exactly what they'll do, or if you're involved enough in the process to keep dropping veiled hints that it's a bad idea right now or something. But it still seems like a very risky approach: you're basically trying to get your company to do something involving the client, but without telling the client, and without telling your company why they shouldn't tell the client.) | |
| Jan 6, 2023 at 19:26 | comment | added | Ilmari Karonen | But if you don't tell your colleagues involved in the process about the fact that the client talked to you in confidence, how can you be sure that they won't go ahead and give the client a call? | |
| Jan 6, 2023 at 19:18 | comment | added | TheDemonLord | @IlmariKaronen - hence why I said 'internally on your side' - because yes - calling the client would raise suspicion. | |
| Jan 6, 2023 at 17:41 | comment | added | Ilmari Karonen | … Also, if the OP does as you suggest at the end, and their employer ends up calling the client with a retention offer just after the client "confidentially" told the OP they were thinking about leaving, the client will put two and two together and assume the OP broke their confidence. And while the OP's colleagues could perhaps handle the situation in a way that makes it seem more like just a plausible coincidence, they won't know that they should do that because the OP never told them. | |
| Jan 6, 2023 at 17:36 | comment | added | Ilmari Karonen | This answer seems to be basically predicated on the assumption that the OP's bosses are idiots and don't understand the concept of "possibility" as described in your answer. If that is indeed the case, and they're as prone to take any random rumor they hear as gospel as you seem to assume, then yes, the OP probably shouldn't tell them anything that isn't 100% certain to be true. But if the OP's bosses are that stupid, the OP should probably also consider finding new employment elsewhere. | |
| Jan 6, 2023 at 0:46 | history | answered | TheDemonLord | CC BY-SA 4.0 |