Dear Anonymous A.,

You are definitely right: this is unprofessional behaviour! 

More to the point, Management Consulting is a client-centric industry where hundreds of hours of training and hundreds of thousands of Dollars are spent annually on guiding consultants over and over and over and over on how to maintain the highest standards of integrity and respect towards clients.

I'm not sure what firm you work at (which could explain, in some measure, why this is happening), but I can tell you that from my time at McKinsey, if colleagues had pulled that crap on clients and leadership had found out about it, likely someone would either be pulled from the engagement,  and/or placed on a probationary rating at next review, or ultimately fired. I definitely saw consultants pulling elaborate (and, often, inappropriate) pranks on other consultants, but it would be UNTHINKABLE to see clients pulled into the mix…especially in the sneaky way this seems to be going on. 

BUT, to answer your question: how should you handle this?

1) Do nothing

Do not participate on any threads/mentions/replies/reactions  (et cetera) where these client-themed screenshots take place. If possible, avoid the chat group for the rest of the day on each day that this happens. You want to create meaningful distance.

Don't be a snitch, either (gosh, I hate that I'm saying that!), but the risk in snitching is great enough for you to want to carefully re-consider if you need to be the whistle-blower here. I assure you that your snitching may not remain as confidential as you might imagine.

2) Have an Offline with the Dummy(ies)

If, and only if, you have a great personal relationship with any of the main perpetrators (these stupid things are usually initiated by the same 2 - 3 people who are hungry for attention and social validation), I would mention to them just once and very casually that such things are probably not a good idea and they should re-think their actions.

And leave it at that. 

If they're clever, they'll get the hint. If they're stupid, their actions will eventually catch-up to them. You can't save everyone from themselves.

3) Re-evaluate your contributions in the group

If this continues as a dominant theme, you might want to make your presence in the group scarce: don't participate, mute notifications, archive the thread. That way, if it does become a cause for leadership intervention, they can see who's been causing the ruckus, and, more importantly, who hasn't.

I hope that was useful for you. And, I must re-iterate how shocking I find that behaviour.

Hi there, 

Sorry to hear about that. 

My suggestion would be to have an open and honest conversation with them during the next team talk. Acknowledge that this might seem funny but it also comes across as unprofessional. Then suggest a few other ‘fun’ things that you could all do as a team instead. 

Worst case scenario they'll just ignore what you said. Best case scenario they'll appreciate you standing up for your values. 

Best,
Cristian

Hi there,

Very very tough situation indeed.

This is a very bad look for your colleagues and very dangerous for your firm. 

It is so each for one of these colleagues to accidently send a message to the client, or a disgruntled person send it, or, rather, client/boss could see the message in passing. This feels like a matter of when not if.

#1 Take all advice here with a grain of salt. And, ultimately weigh your own risks and pros/cons.

You can:

Option 1: Distance Yourself (Leave the group chat)

Pros: You're “safe”

Cons: This might “isolate” you from your colleagues

Option 2: Anonymously Report to Superiors/HR

Pros: You can address the problem without isolating yourself from the group

Cons: You still might be associated with the problem and face repurcusions (because you are in the group chat)

Option 3: Non-Anonymously Report to Superiors/HR (Schedule an in-person meeting)

Pros: You can address the issue and make sure you're not in trouble with the company

Cons: Your colleagues might find out and you will be isolated from them

Option 4: Do Nothing

Pros: You maintain relationship with colleagues

Cons: You run the personal risk of being associated with it AND you run the company risk of a huge blow-up and major client issues/lawsuits

Option 5: Talk to your colleagues

Pros: You can resolve the problem and no one gets in trouble

Cons: Your colleagues might not receive it well and might isolate you

I can't tell you what to do here. Personally, if it were me in the situation, I would do #5…but it's very important to word things properly and choose the right mode of communication

Good luck to you

I'm sorry that you're having to deal with this. This is really unprofessional and not good behaviour. 

You have three options:

1. Stick with it. As a relative newcomer you might not want to be the one to rock the boat - think about the impact that it could have on your reputation and whether you want to stick your neck out at the moment. 
2. Talk to the partner. Have a quiet conversation with the partner, they will generally have a conversation with the manger and re-set how the team is working. 
3. If all else fails, talk to HR. They will speak with the partner.

Good luck!

I would just comment that there's always the risk that at some point someone makes a mistake and the print screen ends in the wrong person's phone. 

Once in a while this happens. Usually the outcome is not positive.

After that just steer away from any conversation of the sort, as you simply don't want to have any to do with that.