Hi, am after a bit of advice re a new contract I started a few weeks ago. The role was supposed to be in my core skillset area, however after joining it became clear that client was expecting me to deliver a whole bunch of stuff that is totally outside of my experience and not something I would ever have applied for/signed up to. Stupidly I didn't push back on this from day 1 (I know I know!) and agreed to have a go at the other stuff too. Fast forward to now and it's really not going well at all, I'm not going to be able to deliver the work to a standard I'm comfortable with and have had to now raise this with the client and push back with a suggestion that we should part ways if the new scope is to stand. They want me to stay on and revert back to doing just the original scope of work, but I'm finding it quite an uncomfortable position as I know I've not made a good impression on many of my stakeholders with the balls up I've made of the other area (fortunately it's not gone far enough to actually impact the project yet) - any suggestions on how to recover things? Possibly I'm overthinking it but I'm not used to having anything other than an excellent reputation for the quality of my work so this feels quite stressful to me!
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New Contract gone wrong
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The market is crap. Keep working, learning and invoicing.The greatest trick the devil ever pulled was convincing the world that he didn't exist -
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they're happy to keep you on, and use the skills you do have.
Sounds like it turned out way better than it could have.
Use it as a learning experience (raise things earlier, but also learn some new tech stuff)Comment
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Well done things don't look too bad. It is fairly common to be completely out of your depth. 70% of projects fail, so you are bound to be on a failing project at some point.
Keep invoicing.
I'm alright JackComment
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If the client wants you to stay is because they like you. Take as a new challenge and the opportunity the gain more skills.
Originally posted by skipsurfer View PostHi, am after a bit of advice re a new contract I started a few weeks ago. The role was supposed to be in my core skillset area, however after joining it became clear that client was expecting me to deliver a whole bunch of stuff that is totally outside of my experience and not something I would ever have applied for/signed up to. Stupidly I didn't push back on this from day 1 (I know I know!) and agreed to have a go at the other stuff too. Fast forward to now and it's really not going well at all, I'm not going to be able to deliver the work to a standard I'm comfortable with and have had to now raise this with the client and push back with a suggestion that we should part ways if the new scope is to stand. They want me to stay on and revert back to doing just the original scope of work, but I'm finding it quite an uncomfortable position as I know I've not made a good impression on many of my stakeholders with the balls up I've made of the other area (fortunately it's not gone far enough to actually impact the project yet) - any suggestions on how to recover things? Possibly I'm overthinking it but I'm not used to having anything other than an excellent reputation for the quality of my work so this feels quite stressful to me!Comment
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You gave it a try, flagged it when it was clear it wasn't working, and the client has been mature about it. Sounds pretty good to me. Get your head down, deliver strongly on the part you do know, and seek to impress the client and other stakeholders that way.Comment
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Ok so:
- Client asked you to do something not in your skill set
- You made a hash of it
- Client said ok, do what you were meant to do
- Project isn't impacted
- You kept your contract
I don't see the problem hereComment
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