I need a CUK mentor

[suityou01]

Project is now circling the plug hole. A very large and complicated data migration, on SQL Server land with lashings of SSIS and spreadsheets.

The key problem as I see it is that we have an immovable deadline, which if missed will cause immeasurable pain, reputational and financial loss, and they failed to scope, size and resource the project correctly. I have been given resources from other projects, other important projects have been put on hold to give me these resources so to be fair some stops have been pulled out. They also hired 4 contractors, 2 dev, 2 test, which is against the usual hiring policy as they are quite tight with their money.

The permies just work to rule, as there are no incentives in place to encourage them, in terms of monetary, career progression etc etc. In fact the only chance of redemption they have is an M&S voucher for getting employee of the month. This chart is on the wall.

So yours truly is coming in early and going late and generally working my ass off to try and pull this project out of the tulipter. I am tired. The permie developers check whatever they feel like into TFS and I get code with misspelled table/column names, missing commas etc that could never have been run, yet they tell us as the daily standup it's done and tested

So, I need a CUK mentor to advise me on what to do. Do I work to rule and let the project fail, or take pride in being a contractor and show them who da man?

Also I think I have learned about myself that I am terrified of failing and the consequences that will have for my already diminished sense of self worth. So do I use this as an opportunity to learn how to fail?

Please elect a mentor and advise.

[BigRed]

sounds like one I missed out on due to being extended, not Leeds is it?

Permies often have a different attitude to contractors, act as if the company owes them a living. Many sit in a similar sort of comfort zone to the long term unemployed who think the State owes them a living.

Be assured that when it's all over and you have moved on your name will be mud and they will sit on their extended coffee break and discuss how the overpaid contractor who didn't have a clue came in and cocked up the project leaving them to clean up the mess.

[mudskipper]

Just ask yourself

WWMFD?

[MarillionFan]

Just ask yourself

WWMFD?

Win!

Hth

AtW

[Cirrus]

Cometh the hour

Do I work to rule and let the project fail, or take pride in being a contractor and show them who da man?

Neither. You inform your project manager of the facts, and he will save the situation for you.

That's what he's paid for.

[DimPrawn]

Neither. You inform your project manager of the facts, and he will save the situation for you.

That's what he's paid for.

But if Suity did that, this little storm in a teacup wouldn't have all this dramatic end of the world bollox would it? Then what would poor Suity post on CUK?

@Suity - Present the facts without emotion, keep invoicing as long as you can. MTFU. AYCOTBAC?

[Wilmslow]

Similar position, although in my position instead of giving me the additional resource stops, they have allocated the planning part of my role to a caped graduate and a incredibly naïve junior project manager.

As they have chain yanked me and pass the parcel blame gaming now taking place, I am washing my hands, working to rule, knowing that I am probably out of here at the end of next week, if not before. The permies are bricking it as they have like your project totally failed to scope and plan resourcings and now in a position they are highly unlikely to have enough governance evidence to get signed-off by Sox. I am being polite and civil, no longer able to freely feedback the reality, but offering my hands to do with as they wish. If is their problem, not mine. I am off to the sunshine for a couple of months once this is all over.

Do you have the authority delegated you need to manage the resources? If so, maybe start by reassigning and task managing people to stem the obvious acquiescing that is taking place. If you have no authority for that, get it. If not an option, are you close with he or she who does have that authority?

Otherwise, just be civil, work to rule and invoice for as long as you can. Add your observations into any Risk log, which will probably get ignored anyway.

This gets me through:

God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change,
Courage to change the things I can,
And wisdom to know the difference.

[DimPrawn]

Suity and Wilmslooooooooooow swapping contractor advice.

[northernladuk]

Suity and Wilmslooooooooooow swapping contractor advice.

FTFY

[eek]

Leave at the previous renewal point when it was clear that everything was going pear shaped