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Workplace collaboration gets complicated when helping the team also means surrendering control over something you created alone.

An employee’s unfinished personal project suddenly became a coworker’s proposed centerpiece for an important presentation to management.

Instead of handing it over, the creator set a boundary that left several colleagues questioning whether ambition had outweighed teamwork.

Check out how it all went down.

AITA for refusing to let my coworker use my personal project to impress our boss?

I (25M) work in a mid-sized company where most of us are pretty chill.

But we’re all under pressure to show initiative because there’s talk of promotions soon.

Over the last couple months, I’ve been working on a side project at home.

It’s basically a dashboard tool that organizes some of our team’s data way faster than the clunky software we’re stuck with.

This man casually mentioned his side project to his team at lunch one day.

I never promised it to the company.

It was more of a “for fun/learning” project that I happened to mention casually at lunch one day.

One of my coworkers (29F) immediately lit up.

She asked if she could demo it during her upcoming presentation to our boss.

She said it would “look good for the whole team” and might “open doors for both of us.”

He doesn’t feel comfortable presenting it to his boss.

Here’s the thing: I don’t feel comfortable with that.

The tool isn’t fully finished. I’m not ready to share it.

And honestly, it feels wrong that she wants to put her name on something I spent my nights and weekends building.

I told her I’d rather not have it shown around yet.

His coworker got annoyed and called him selfish.

She got visibly annoyed and said I was being selfish and holding back the team.

A couple other coworkers gave me side eyes like I was hoarding credit.

Now I feel weird, like maybe I am making it about me when it could help everyone.

But at the same time… it’s my project.

Nobody asked me to do it. Nobody offered to help build it.

Now, he’s wondering if what he did was right.

If I just hand it over, won’t that set the precedent that my work is free for anyone to use for their own shine?

So, AITA for not letting her present something I made outside of work hours?

Even if it might’ve benefited the team?

Let’s find out what others have to say about this.

This person offers some useful advice.

This one shares their personal thoughts.

They wanted to steal the credit, says this one.

Finally, short and simple.

OP declined to let a coworker showcase an unfinished tool built independently during nights and weekends.

She could have offered proper credit or a joint presentation instead of expecting access and calling its creator selfish.

Nothing says “team initiative” quite like volunteering someone else’s unpaid project to make yourself look promotion-ready.