|
|
| OT somewhat: What do you wish clients understood about contracting/ |
Message List
|
From esther@... Fri Jul 27 12:57:55 2007
Return-Path: <esther@...>
X-Sender: esther@...
X-Apparently-To: agile-testing@yahoogroups.com
Received: (qmail 2008 invoked from network); 27 Jul 2007 19:57:55 -0000
Received: from unknown (66.218.67.33)
by m48.grp.scd.yahoo.com with QMQP; 27 Jul 2007 19:57:55 -0000
Received: from unknown (HELO n33a.bullet.sp1.yahoo.com) (209.131.38.214)
by mta7.grp.scd.yahoo.com with SMTP; 27 Jul 2007 19:57:55 -0000
Received: from [216.252.122.216] by n33.bullet.sp1.yahoo.com with NNFMP; 27 Jul 2007 19:57:54 -0000
Received: from [66.218.69.5] by t1.bullet.sp1.yahoo.com with NNFMP; 27 Jul 2007 19:57:54 -0000
Received: from [66.218.66.83] by t5.bullet.scd.yahoo.com with NNFMP; 27 Jul 2007 19:57:54 -0000
Date: Fri, 27 Jul 2007 19:57:53 -0000
To: agile-testing@yahoogroups.com
Message-ID: <f8dio1+mnrd@eGroups.com>
User-Agent: eGroups-EW/0.82
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="ISO-8859-1"
Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable
X-Mailer: Yahoo Groups Message Poster
X-Yahoo-Newman-Property: groups-compose
X-Originating-IP: 209.131.38.214
X-eGroups-Msg-Info: 1:6:0:0
X-Yahoo-Post-IP: 68.14.236.102
From: "estherschindler" <esther@...>
Subject: OT somewhat: What do you wish clients understood about contracting/consulting?
X-Yahoo-Group-Post: member; u=2449560; y=gBl18bR3EzXRoiqy1DgKT5-tLpSzgvCzG0rgFP87SS-Tv4mdR4BXX8U1
X-Yahoo-Profile: estherschindler
Sorry for the OT post but I'm positive that several people here are consult=
ants... or work=20
with them.
I'm writing another article in my "5 Things the CIO should know..." series,=
which includes=20
"7 things the CIO should know about telecommuting" (http://www.cio.com/arti=
cle/
108501), "5 things the CIO should know about software requirements" (http:/=
/
www.cio.com/article/29903), and "...about fighting spam" (http://www.cio.co=
m/article/
28830).
This time, I'm asking contractors and consultants about their experiences w=
ith clients --=20
in particular, with the upper management at the client company. I'd love to=
include your=20
input.
There's just one question to answer: If you could get the (client) boss(es)=
to understand=20
JUST ONE THING about computer consulting and contracting, what would it be?
Or, to put the same question another way: If you were given a single wish o=
f something to=20
change (about a current or past client) what would it be?
If you're an active consultant or IT contractor, I'm sure you have more tha=
n one response.=20
But by asking you to give me only ONE answer, I can prioritize the issues t=
hat matter most=20
to consultants and contractors. (I spent several years in that role myself,=
so believe me... I=20
have my own list!) I'll turn the responses into a list of the top items, an=
d -- since this is for=20
CIO.com -- in this case the upper management at your client might actually =
read it. If I do=20
my job well, he or she might actually learn from it.
If you aren't a consultant, that's okay -- I'll still be happy for your inp=
ut. Because there are=20
plenty of problems that consulting and contracting causes for IT staff. (I'=
d give a few=20
examples here but I don't want to make suggestions that cause you to say, "=
Yeah, just like=20
that!")
In either case, your "just ONE thing" can be something tiny and annoying, o=
r a wide=20
generality. This is about what gets *your* shorts twisted in a knot; you do=
n't have to worry=20
about whether it bugs other people too.
Anecdotes are wonderful. Please, share horror stories.
Two important requests:
* PLEASE do not make your single answer a rant about outsourcing overseas. =
We have=20
plenty of material on that subject already and it's entirely predictable. I=
'm much more=20
interested in writing this article with specific advice that's more, well, =
close to home.
* Remember that I'm writing an article and I need to quote my sources. I ge=
nerally can't get=20
away with anonymous quotes. So please *please* give me your name, company n=
ame ("self=20
employed consultant" is fine though your company name is better), some idea=
of your=20
company size (that is, a solo developer may have different perspective from=
a larger=20
consulting firm), your personal role (i.e. "a consultant who specializes in=
web=20
development" or "a Java programmer on staff"), number of years consulting, =
and location.=20
If you refer to a client, supply some kind of description for credibility (=
i.e. "a large=20
insurance company in the midwest" if you don't feel comfortable saying, "Wh=
en I was a=20
consultant at State Farm..."). At a minimum, send me a private e-mail messa=
ge at esther at=20
bitranch dot com. The point is that I need to provide references, or the ar=
ticle lacks=20
credibility.
I'll check back here -- because I'm sure this will be a fun topic for the c=
ommunity to=20
discuss -- but I'd also be happy to hear from you privately.
I'll collect input until, oh, sometime next week. Say, the end of July. The=
n I'll collate the=20
responses and turn them into something (arguably) brilliant to which you ca=
n point=20
prospective clients.
Esther Schindler
Senior Online Editor, CIO.com
http://advice.cio.com/blogs/youre_the_boss=20
|
"estherschindler" <esther@...>
estherschindler
 Offline
 Send Email
|
|
Having problems with message search?
Fill out this form to ensure your group is one of the first to be migrated to the new message search system.
