I am the first female developer in the IT department of a business with a very strong culture in taking care of each other and working together: members are quick to help each other, acknowledge successes, and willing to give a hand. I've been here for one year, and have always been treated well when seeking guidance on a task.
Since I've started, I've been a part of 2 major system developments: System A (the one I have dedicated more time, and the one I was intended to assist), and System B (a larger project but with no intention to develop again for the foreseeable future).
We have one very large build planned for the rest of the year, of which I have performed roughly 80% of the development work. My manager informed me a few weeks ago that he would like me to prepare to help with a related project next year and to pass off my build responsibilities to John (a coworker) when this happens.
He then asked if I felt like John could take over the year end build instead of waiting for the next build to begin his training. I responded with the following:
John has had very minimal involvement with this build up until this point. Given that this is an abnormally large build for System A, and that I am responsible for 80% of the issues being addressed as part of this build, I would feel more comfortable being the one who finishes it. However, I’d be happy to invite John to sit with me while I perform these responsibilities, and to help instruct John on taking over fully once this build is finished.
My manager was fine with this, and I did invite John to sit in with me. I've even let him perform a few of the responsibilities, with my supervision. However, I’m starting to feel as though John is over-extending this invitation. Today in our team meeting for System A, we were discussing our final testing procedures (pre-deployment), to which John stated:
I was hoping I could perform these steps and you could just sit with me and make sure I do it correctly.
Due to the combination of being put on the spot in front of the team, plus the strong culture of helping one another, in hand with John having seniority at the company (but not on the system), I agreed.
However, I anticipate John will also assume that he will be the one to run the production deployment procedures, and that is what I need help addressing.
Is it unreasonable for me to tell John that I would like to be the one to do the final production deployment? If so, what is the most respectful way to phrase this, as John and I will obviously continue to work together in the future and I don't want him to feel insulted.