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Team building is an essential part of any IT project. Schedules cannot be met nor quality software built, if the development personnel are not working as a cohesive unit. Writing in his popular book "Rapid Development," Steve McConnell reports that the best teams are four times more productive than the worst, and that team cohesiveness contributes more to productivity than individual capabilities or experience. Contractors should not be surprised by this. Anecdotally we know that poor team dynamics results in unfocussed and demoralised workers. So why is it that companies utilising mixed teams of contractors and permanent staff often insist on destroying morale from the outset by discriminating against contractors in many social aspects of the job? Kurt Ramman, veteran designer and programmer, is largely amused by companies ineptitude at team building, "One of the first places I worked insisted we pay for every phone call, which considering the extra hours we put in on the project, was petty." The pettiness is irritating, especially when contractors are first through the door in the morning and are the ones to switch the lights out at night. Ramman tells how, after months of long hours and weekend work, he was refused time off over Easter by a boss who openly stated it would be okay had he been permanent. And he points to one reason companies treat contractors badly: "[to] keep the anti-contractor employees happy as they see it as a 'serves you right' for being paid more." Now you might be tempted to think of this as "poor contractor" syndrome, but contractors are not all anorak-wearing, Doom-playing robots. While they respond to good pay and difficult technical challenges, they also want to be part of an efficient team; they want the project to work. Good teamwork is a critical goal for project success to the extent that bad feeling may illicit less than professional responses. One contractor, who declined to be named for obvious reasons, admits hiding a secret code in an investment banking application while contracting for a particularly hateful team. When triggered, the splash screen was replaced by the classic Spectrum platform game "Jet Set Willy." Certainly enough to make any Chief Security Officer go purple and probably explode with fury. Do companies really risk this damaging bad feeling just for the sake of a bit of team building and a few quid spent feeding turkey to contractors at the Christmas party? Well according to Ben Doherty, solicitor at law firm Pinsent Masons, there is more at stake. He says the question of the Christmas party may well be one of the factors used by an employment tribunal to determine the real employment status. Companies are afraid the reality of their relationship with contractors – regardless of the contractual relationship set out on paper – could mean they are in breach of employment law and therefore liable to pay a complaining contractor the benefits usually provided to permanent staff. Not integrating contractors with employees helps prevent the jurisdiction of the Employment Tribunal stretching over disputes, says Doherty. A company may be liable to pay maternity leave, unfair dismissal or sick pay if a contractor is integrated to the extent they are considered the same as a normal employee. And contractors themselves may not wish to be integrated with a team. The taxman is also interested in testing the reality of a contract, and integration with permanent workers may be enough to trigger IR35. Subsidised meals can look rather more expensive when faced with a Revenue investigation. But where does this leave team building? Is it just a case of the legal department not talking to the project team? Surely, the slight risk of paying out for an aggrieved contractor is more than outweighed by the risk of failed, badly-run projects. Is it beyond reason for companies to indemnify contractors against IR35 for the sake of attracting the best people and building exceptional teams? Even a week's delay can cost hundreds of thousands of pounds, and according to McConnell, a poorly integrated team may take three or four times longer to finish a project. However, for a project leader intent on building an outstanding team despite legal and bureaucratic red tap there is a possible way out, "Luckily we used to have a manager that referred to us as 'Valued Independent Personnel' or VIP's," says Ramman. "He would make sure, one way or another, that money would not be the issue that stopped people going to a works function. It certainly worked in terms of team spirit." William Knight Sep 7, 2005 Email this article Printer friendly page Previous Page
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