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Obvious answer: Tiny companies/Individual contractors (aka temporary workers/consultants/etc) terminate their contracts immediately. For larger companies you l

by opless 12y ago

Obvious answer: Tiny companies/Individual contractors (aka temporary workers/consultants/etc) terminate their contracts immediately. For larger companies you lawyer up and negotiate restitution as per the contract with them. Longer answer: You generally get contractors in when you are resource-poor but have the budget for it. The obvious solution is take the development in-house. In real life the answer apparently to get contractors in and deal with the fallout later. TLDR: Don't be a nice person, you're in business to get a defined goal completed. "Being Nice" doesn't come into it. "Being Fair" is a different matter though.

tzm 12y ago
I think "being nice" can go farther than you think.
- opless 12y ago
  Being nice and being fair are two different things that often get mixed up. Often being nice is seen as weakness, and attracts people who expects that kind of niceness which warps expectations, and you might as well tear up that contract because of it. Being fair, ensures that both parties are getting what they asked for within the limitations of said contract.
hmottestad 12y ago
We pretty much have to work with them (our contractors/vendors), can't just jump ship. I want to be nice to them, even when I don't like what they are delivering. Being nice should be for everyones good, to inspire them and to make them feel better and to help me feel better. And with regards to lawyering up, that's probably just going to make things worse. Our contracts aren't good enough to withstand that kind of trashing, and it's not going to help the projects I'm working on to get completed within the time-frame anyway.
- opless 12y ago
  As I was trying to get over, you need to be fair. Not nice. You'll have to (probably?) step outside your comfort zone and be assertive so your vendors deliver what you ask of them in a timely manner. You're their customer, you're not there to help them feel better or inspire them. If you're the one that signs off their timesheets/customer acceptance reports/etc then you're the guy/gal that sets the expectation for them. Be consistent with them and be firm about behaviour you don't like. Of course reward occasionally but appropriately (ie outstanding work, etc). But at the end of the day their reward is a paid invoice. As for the lawyering up, sometimes you need to, often you don't ... lawyers are there generally to avoid litigation (expensive/messy) not cause it.

by opless 12y ago

tzm 12y ago

I think "being nice" can go farther than you think.

opless 12y ago
Being nice and being fair are two different things that often get mixed up. Often being nice is seen as weakness, and attracts people who expects that kind of niceness which warps expectations, and you might as well tear up that contract because of it. Being fair, ensures that both parties are getting what they asked for within the limitations of said contract.

hmottestad 12y ago

We pretty much have to work with them (our contractors/vendors), can't just jump ship. I want to be nice to them, even when I don't like what they are delivering. Being nice should be for everyones good, to inspire them and to make them feel better and to help me feel better. And with regards to lawyering up, that's probably just going to make things worse. Our contracts aren't good enough to withstand that kind of trashing, and it's not going to help the projects I'm working on to get completed within the time-frame anyway.

opless 12y ago
As I was trying to get over, you need to be fair. Not nice. You'll have to (probably?) step outside your comfort zone and be assertive so your vendors deliver what you ask of them in a timely manner. You're their customer, you're not there to help them feel better or inspire them. If you're the one that signs off their timesheets/customer acceptance reports/etc then you're the guy/gal that sets the expectation for them. Be consistent with them and be firm about behaviour you don't like. Of course reward occasionally but appropriately (ie outstanding work, etc). But at the end of the day their reward is a paid invoice. As for the lawyering up, sometimes you need to, often you don't ... lawyers are there generally to avoid litigation (expensive/messy) not cause it.