Reply to: Blame game

[mrv]

How do you handle blame game. The permies never leave an opprtunity to blame contractors. I understand may be common. But it hurts sometime.

I let them talk whatever they want and blame me all they want - as long as they sign my timesheet and I get paid. People in charge know what's realy going on and who's worth what most of the time, I cannot be bothered to learn all that underwater office politics.

[Project Monkey]

How do you handle blame game. The permies never leave an opprtunity to blame contractors. I understand may be common. But it hurts sometime.

The truth does indeed hurt.

[kmge]

How do you handle blame game. The permies never leave an opprtunity to blame contractors. I understand may be common. But it hurts sometime.

Smile and Invoice.

[SueEllen]

Most contractors would have buggered off before the blame falls, thus ensuring that anyone still at ClientCo will blame the guy who left but you won't care

This^^^

If you are getting blamed you have either been at the client too long, or have contractor habits that p*ss the permies off.

[SimonMac]

Most contractors would have buggered off before the blame falls, thus ensuring that anyone still at ClientCo will blame the guy who left but you won't care

[DieScum]

It's not just a contractor, permie thing. I think it's a combination of silo'ing (give your side the benefit of the doubt, blame others for everything) and bad risk management.

I've worked places where I've seen contractors get walked for making mistakes. Ran wrong script -> downtime ensued -> contract terminated. It's ridiculous.

I think the best way to handle the inevitable things that go wrong with complexity is something like the blameless post mortem.

Honestly, though to go from a culture of blame to one of decent risk management isn't a shift any of us will be pushing through. It's best to just get out.

[I just need to test it]

Blame game

I've been contracting for very nearly 20 years and never experienced this. And it's not because I'm God's Gift.

The things I see permies get wound up about are contractors' lack of professionalism - rocking up late, long lunches, leaving scandalously early, sitting on the web for hours, using their mobile phone to excess. I'm not sure I've ever observed gripes about their work.

Ironically the ability to appear professional (the bit most likely to get you booted out if you get it wrong) is the easy bit. Give me a complicated program to write and I'm in big trouble, but getting in at a decent time, being nice to the permies, muting my phone - piece of cake.

[pauldee]

I would actually take this more seriously. You are a company, and someone is defaming that company. If they are doing this directly to your client, that is surely a case for legal action. If someone defamed my work to a valuable client they would be getting a formal looking letter requesting them to stop and retract anything they had said.

Of course, this assumes there is no basis in wheat they are saying

[BlasterBates]

You imply I feel guilty - I just blame someone else!

I can see you have the hang of it

[TheFaQQer]

This is where even doing a good job won't help because when your change has screwed up the sytem, you'll "feel bad" i.e. "why didn't you think of that"....

You imply I feel guilty - I just blame someone else!

[psychocandy]

You can never win when this happens IMHO. If the permies are blaming you then its no good arguing with them. If you're good enough at your job 'most' client managers will ignore their own whinging permies and keep you there. If they don't, stuff 'em - move on.

I had it a few years ago. Permies were total nobheads. Kept all the interesting stuff for themselves, and were constantly on the look out to blame contractors for something. I'm sure some of them kept a log of what times the contractors came and left, and if they EVER saw something like the bbc website on your screen they'd be straight to dob you in. (even though they'd sit there for ages huddled together watching funny youtube videos all the time.).

I had a few extensions here despite this. And they offered me another. The bad vibe was too much though and I got something else in the end though.

But, over the years, I'd say 80-90% of permies are good as gold. They dont care. Best clients IMHO (and yes I know its IR35 uncool) are the ones where you're just another person and accepted.

[BlasterBates]

This.

The best way to avoid the blame game is to be very good at your role.

Simple.

Unfortunately in a badly organised company with spaghetti code it's almost impossible to write a bit of code without some nasty side effect, which you can be legimitately blamed for.

This is where even doing a good job won't help because when your change has screwed up the sytem, you'll "feel bad" i.e. "why didn't you think of that"....

Of course if you're good at your job you know it wasn't your fault, but it still hurts.

A bit like driving a car where from time to time bits fall off and you smash into people and they shout at you.

The only recipe when the system is like that is to know it inside out or close your ears and keep invoicing. In the end you won't be the only one screwing up the system.

[TheFaQQer]

Never had that thankfully.

In what form does it come? Do you only hear about you getting the blame second hand?

If someone tried to blame me for something that wasn't my fault in earshot, they'd be getting politely put straight in front of everyone.

This.

The best way to avoid the blame game is to be very good at your role.

Simple.

[FatLazyContractor]

How do you handle blame game. The permies never leave an opprtunity to blame contractors. I understand may be common. But it hurts sometime.

As long as you have evidence / logic / reason in your favour, I don't see a reason to feel hurt.

In other words, as NLUK puts it, AYCOTBAC?

[TheLordDave]

I'm happy to be blamed, the hour they spend kicking off to management puts another 60 quid in my bank account