£90K net on inside IR35 stressful interim role - should I go back to permie?

[PM Runner]

One option would be to hold a monthly or bi-weekly retro session with your team and all those working regularly with the team. Set up a whiteboard and pin on "what went well" and "what went badly". That way dissatistfied team members can vent their frustrations and you can come up with ideas to improve things.

Thanks for the reference - I like the idea of a monthly or fortnightly Retro session to work through what worked well and what could've worked better. I'm going to get my PM to host fortnightly initially, then maybe moving to monthly if things get better. I'm also looking to try to move away from fire-fighting into more of a steady state mode, but sometimes again that's easier said than done.

Thanks for your thoughts, really helpful

[Bluenose]

It seems that going permanent will mean an effective halving of my net take home

From your post it seems that money is not the only factor, one of the main reasons for being a contractor is the ability to walk away.

If you cant walk away because there is no pipeline for work then you should consider going perm as the money you are getting will be used up if you have to sit on the bench for 6 months. The fact that this is 90k rather than what you want is moot, if you have no pipeline of work then youll end up taking the 90k role anway once you have burnt through all your money.

If the pipeline of work is good, exercise your right as an interim and get another role, get the contract signed and then hand in your notice/run your current contract down.

[Fraidycat]

Hi All
I've considered resigning about 3 times since I've been there, for various reasons: bullying, people questioning my authority..

Within the next 6 months or so, I'm looking to start fertility treatment to hopefully start a family

Sounds very toxic, i would have quit long ago.
You could quit just before you start your treatment. Milk it for another six months.
Stress from work wont help you conceive.

[malvolio]

Thanks for the reference - I like the idea of a monthly or fortnightly Retro session to work through what worked well and what could've worked better. I'm going to get my PM to host fortnightly initially, then maybe moving to monthly if things get better. I'm also looking to try to move away from fire-fighting into more of a steady state mode, but sometimes again that's easier said than done.

Thanks for your thoughts, really helpful

If you're going to do that, frame it as a SPOT analysis (Strengths, Problems, Opportunities, Threats). It sounds all very management-speak (and will need a whiteboard, post-its and a team willing to listen!) but it does work and it does focus everyone's mind on where they are in the delivery. I've always found it far more effective that the usual PM milestone chasing and risks analyses.