I need a CUK mentor

[LondonManc]

If I'd been landed into your situation as a new contractor to rescue the situation, first thing I'd do is sort a RAID log out with your project manager and escalate it.
Risk - things that might hit if actions aren't taken
Assumptions - assumptions you've made in stating why things can happen (but probably aren't)
Issues - risk that have now hit, poor/untested code, etc.
Dependencies - things that you have no influence over.
If nothing happens, go 9-5 and look for a perm job.

[DimPrawn]

If you wanted a CUK mental there would be loads to choose from.....

[FatLazyContractor]

So who is my assigned CUK mentor?

Discussions are ongoing with sasguru. Give us 10 more minutes please...

[MarillionFan]

Discussions are ongoing with sasguru. Give us 10 more minutes please...

He asked for a 'mentor'.


Not 'mentalist'

[Cirrus]

Nowhere in this thread has it come across that you are responsible for the success of the project.

You are responsible for doing the technical things you were hired to do. One assumes you are doing a good job at that. Any shortcomings you see I'm sure you are relaying to Management.

The job of making the project succeed is the Project Manager.

He should realise what you don't seem to understand. You seem to be saying "If I had more people and the permies worked harder everything would be alright". In fact when a project needs saving, adding resource is not the best route. If you want to become a project manager then you need to read The Mythical Man Month. Actually the best strategy is to reduce the scope. People will of course always say things like "We have no option but to do X, Y Z etc" but that is never true.

If your Project Manager doesn't care and the permies don't care then you are just fighting an artificial battle.

Massive amounts of research have led to the unsurprising fact that the majority of projects are targeted with insufficient real time ie to hit the declared deadlines you would have to have unrealistically good teams having unrealistically good luck.

Thus a big part of project management is managing the inevitable 'failure'. It's dirty work and something I suggest you don't really want to get involved in. A lot of us do it but that's because we've got no marketable skills so we have no option.

Essentially you have two options. A good one - especially for a contractor - is the deathmarch: just keep going whistling a happy song until the whole thing implodes. Every day is another entry on your timesheet. The second option is to start 'socializing' the problem and proposing options to minimize or possibly avoid the upcoming crash. Many of us have tried that one but it's surprising how so many people are violently averse to other people telling the truth. So don't hold out too much hope on that one.

Working harder and harder, and trying to get others to work harder, is just not a valid approach.

[Bee]

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.

I sounds like a good chalenge to me. As a consultant I love to take a messed project and fix it, at the end is like an orgasm.

My option is: Show who da man.

[FatLazyContractor]

I sounds like a good chalenge to me. As a consultant I love to take a messed project and fix it, at the end is like an orgasm.

My option is: Show who da man.

[DimPrawn]

Nowhere in this thread has it come across that you are responsible for the success of the project.

You are responsible for doing the technical things you were hired to do. One assumes you are doing a good job at that. Any shortcomings you see I'm sure you are relaying to Management.

The job of making the project succeed is the Project Manager.

He should realise what you don't seem to understand. You seem to be saying "If I had more people and the permies worked harder everything would be alright". In fact when a project needs saving, adding resource is not the best route. If you want to become a project manager then you need to read The Mythical Man Month. Actually the best strategy is to reduce the scope. People will of course always say things like "We have no option but to do X, Y Z etc" but that is never true.

If your Project Manager doesn't care and the permies don't care then you are just fighting an artificial battle.

Massive amounts of research have led to the unsurprising fact that the majority of projects are targeted with insufficient real time ie to hit the declared deadlines you would have to have unrealistically good teams having unrealistically good luck.

Thus a big part of project management is managing the inevitable 'failure'. It's dirty work and something I suggest you don't really want to get involved in. A lot of us do it but that's because we've got no marketable skills so we have no option.

Essentially you have two options. A good one - especially for a contractor - is the deathmarch: just keep going whistling a happy song until the whole thing implodes. Every day is another entry on your timesheet. The second option is to start 'socializing' the problem and proposing options to minimize or possibly avoid the upcoming crash. Many of us have tried that one but it's surprising how so many people are violently averse to other people telling the truth. So don't hold out too much hope on that one.

Working harder and harder, and trying to get others to work harder, is just not a valid approach.

Very good. I will summarise if I may.

MTFU or STFU. Choose one and stick to it.

HTH BIDI

[OwlHoot]

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. ...

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.

SY01 and now Wilmslow in unison. It's like the chorus of some Greek tragedy

[TheFaQQer]

SY01 and now Wilmslow in unison. It's like the chorus of some Geek tragedy

FTFY