Where does one stand in this situation

[lukemg]

Not doubting you were put in a tough situation here but you may need to toughen up a bit. I always expect to be dropped into a bad situation (ignore what they say in the interview) with annoying people and anything better than this is a bonus.
You will need to develop ways to cope with these situations. Depending on what I am faced with I will absorb large amounts of grief, place all responsibility for workload/prioritisation with the client, have a quiet word with the main protagonist (or tell him to foff), speak to senior managers or people on the project (interviewing manager is sometimes good as they endorsed you), I can also be very sarcastic and if someone gets in my face and it isn’t justified they get both barrels !
BUT, I make sure they do not have any justification for the abuse and that I am squeaky clean in all other respects AND I would not be moaning about everything, they need a contractor because it is in such a mess !
I would not walk off unless I had other options or reasons e.g. it was working away/rubbish money/I never wanted to go back, because I would not give them the satisfaction, I would rather stay and use the 100 ways I know to smile and frustrate the hell out of them, while appearing to help out (think fletch in porridge).
In your case, dust off, learn from it and move on.

[firehawk]

The wierd thing is this:

I had a quick chat with the "senior implementor" of the project and I told him these problems about no project plan was given, no timelines or anything and he said "ah, that is a problem. we are in the middle of trying to do something about it and realise its not good for you"

I then told him that it should be done in this way, that way etc... etc.... and 2 people in that room both went "ah, now that makes sense"

:-/

?!

[alreadypacked]

lol

thanks folks. really appreciate this. yes, ive been contracting for quite sometime and know all about this and what makes a good project/management but this other guy..he has a little more experience but its not about the years, its about the intensity and mindset i guess. but still either way, there is no need to insult or give jabs. they want a task done, i can do it but i need to consult and when i consult, i get jabs.

its their loss. they expect any new comer to just "get it". litrally, but it doesnt work like that.

Early on I did always look at how things were effecting me. Now I try to put myself in their shoes. Why is this person like this, what can I do to help them?

I was on one project, the PM wanted his mate on the project, but could not get him on as the PM manager didn't like him. I was brought in, I had done C++ on Unix, the role C++ on Borland which had not been installed correctly. No libraries etc. I only lasted 3 months. His mate was then hired to "Save" the project. I found out the back story after I left from someone still on the project.

Learn something from this, what would you do differently next time. How would you go about getting the full picture.

[NotAllThere]

It's odd that this happens. My experience was that it always took time and effort to recruit good contractors, so I'd have been heavily pissed off if one was forced out by some git. OTOH, I tended to keep an eye on my teams' working environment, so I'd probably have found the troublemaker and booted him out (or up, or sideways) early on.

How many years have you been contracting? If quite a few, when the pimp calls, you can take the "In all my years of contracting ...." stance. No plan, no tools, no courtesy, no leadership. Take comfort in the knowledge they will get found out. They always do. I've seen it done. The drums of the management consultants will be beating louder and louder. Then one day they will turn up to "audit" said project. That bunch of cowboys will get tulipcanned quicker than you can say yeeeehaaaaaw.

You logged on as the sockie there. That post made sense!

[firehawk]

its almost 10:15am and no call from either the client or agency.

WOW.

[Moscow Mule]

WTF? Sensible replies in general? Get a grip board.

firehawk - you should have taken the bolshy programmer out the back and smacked him in the mouth. Problem solved.

[Troll]

thanks.
im a very professional person,

I'm not sure that walking out can ever be described as professional

[suityou01]

I'm not sure that walking out can ever be described as professional

Even the most professional people can wake up to the fact they are wasting their time.

[firehawk]

oh I think it does with what happened and how things have been since week #1 and the things I put up with. i dont shout or be abusive or anything, that is being polite and respectful and just leave it at the end of the working day.

[threaded]

I'm not sure that walking out can ever be described as professional

Of course it is.

What if you contract a football player to play football, and then ask them to be a ballet dancer?

Same thing, you ask a programmer to program, and then ask them to work on a rat colony...