First day on new gig

[Zippy]

As someone else suggested - take the initiative! You have to protect your reputation first.
Any idea what he told the other contractor?

Get a meeting sorted with the PM, if no machine on site use your own - at home if necessary.
Slopey shoulders required methinks.

[milanbenes]

Troll is right,

for the PM to phone the agent on your first day and ask the agent to give you a kick up the backside,

well, nobody can deny, that is pretty bad

as ever in life, there are two sides to every story

it would be very nice to hear the PM's account of your first days

to conclude though, for the PM to call the agent and ask the agent to tell you to get on with your work, well, that's pretty bad

are you sure contracting is for you ?

Milan.

[Peter Loew]

What kind of role do you have?

Be proactive and go talk to people. You don't need permission to do that. Find out what's going on and who the right people are to speak to.

But be careful, it seems like you might be getting set up.

P

[Troll]

What I would have done: (bearing in mind I do not know the specifics of the project nor your role)

Grabbed a yellow highlighter & A4 pad from stationary cupboard

Highlighted everything remotely useful on the 3 documents from a business or technical perspective

Created list(s) from highlighted documents onto A4 paper

Contacted everyone down as reviewer / approver on the 3 documents and asked if they had or knew where I could find more detailed documentation

Contacted other contractor & suggested a meet for lunch - sniff out what he is up to

Contacted the PO, explained the situation & asked for any Project background info

Any further documentation found - read , highlighted and listed out onto A4 pad - gives you a bigger veiw of the project

All potential bolloxs but at least when the PM came round at 17:00 you will have maybe had some useful question(s) for him to clarfy and he could see from the pad / highlighted documents that you had used your initiative & been busy.
You could always have used the list and said - "we need to clarify the scope of what you expect me to do"

You have to create the illusion of working even if it's meaningless... doing nothing imho is not an option

Interesting to hear what the others would do in the same situation

[milanbenes]

Troll,

seconded

these kids today eh

Milan.

[Troll]

Troll,

seconded

these kids today eh

Milan.

Pearls before swine?

[King Cnvt]

What I would have done: (bearing in mind I do not know the specifics of the project nor your role)

Grabbed a yellow highlighter & A4 pad from stationary cupboard

Highlighted everything remotely useful on the 3 documents from a business or technical perspective

Created list(s) from highlighted documents onto A4 paper

Contacted everyone down as reviewer / approver on the 3 documents and asked if they had or knew where I could find more detailed documentation

Contacted other contractor & suggested a meet for lunch - sniff out what he is up to

Contacted the PO, explained the situation & asked for any Project background info

Any further documentation found - read , highlighted and listed out onto A4 pad - gives you a bigger veiw of the project

All potential bolloxs but at least when the PM came round at 17:00 you will have maybe had some useful question(s) for him to clarfy and he could see from the pad / highlighted documents that you had used your initiative & been busy.
You could always have used the list and said - "we need to clarify the scope of what you expect me to do"

You have to create the illusion of working even if it's meaningless... doing nothing imho is not an option

Interesting to hear what the others would do in the same situation

Create a database. Every project has a database. Oh, and lots of Excel spreadsheets with plenty of tabs and colours.

HTH

[Xenophon]

Oh, and lots of Excel spreadsheets with plenty of tabs and colours.

Indeed.

Whenever I use Plum-coloured boxes the client knows I mean business.

[Troll]

Create a database. Every project has a database. Oh, and lots of Excel spreadsheets with plenty of tabs and colours.

HTH

You not paying attention at the back.. - no PC access so can't use spreddies / databases - but I do agree creating spreadsheets is a wonderful way to create work

[Francko]

You have to create the illusion of working even if it's meaningless...

Seconded. Milan has been doing that for the last 20 years and it's never been a problem.