Reply to: I hate office politics!!!

[swamp]

As a contractor you are missing a trick if you are not involved in office politics.

You should be listening for gossip and playing people off each other, not in the way a premie would do but just with delicate suggestion "Oh, I heard from Steve your stuff is not going well" or "I heard bob and jim talking about your project, how is it going?"

If you think you can wander about the IT contract world like a Jedi night with a shield of IT knowledge then you are mistaken as it's not going to get you as far as being a sneaky wee tulipe.

WHS.

On the outside be the diligent contractor, well dressed (but no tie), trustworthy and with a constant professional aloofness. In reality, however, you are a conniving and sneaky bastard, ready to undermine anyone and anything to get your way.

[minestrone]

As a contractor you are missing a trick if you are not involved in office politics.

You should be listening for gossip and playing people off each other, not in the way a premie would do but just with delicate suggestion "Oh, I heard from Steve your stuff is not going well" or "I heard bob and jim talking about your project, how is it going?"

If you think you can wander about the IT contract world like a Jedi night with a shield of IT knowledge then you are mistaken as it's not going to get you as far as being a sneaky wee tulipe.

[Zippy]

It pains me to say it, but I agree with BolshieBastard

[BolshieBastard]

I wonder how many people will be thinking 'contractor............not involved with office politics like a permie......'

Only its bulltulip! As a contractor, you are just as much involved in office politics as a permie. OK, it may be a different type of office politics but its still there.

I've been asked to tell another contractor to 'watch it' or they wont get extended, seen other contractor play solitaire on the office pc for hours a day then start to put in an 'appearance' when its contract renewal times, seen contractors not renewed when other total waste of space contractors have etc,etc, etc.

You just got to live with it.

[jmo21]

Your are SuitsYou01 and I claim my Fast Show dvd!

[Mich the Tester]

I know this shouldn't bother me being a contractor but it does... Why can't managers do what they are paid to do and manage!!

People who are good at managing work for themselves and build succesful businesses, charities, sports teams etc

People who are crap at managing sit around in large businesses and protect their cushy positions by sacking anyone who looks a bit too competent.

F**k them all and send an invoice.

[darrenb]

Isn't it a classic wind-up to leave a private email up on a screen, or a CONFIDENTIAL letter on a desk, and wait for the target to read it?

Most likely you were intended to see this email. Managers do think they are very clever about this sort of thing, and they can always say they did it for increased efficiency.

[norrahe]

doth the sockie protest

[utrinqueparatus]

I can assure you I am not though it is getting increasing harder to tell the difference with the amount on here...

[norrahe]

sockpuppet methinks?

[dang65]

Isn't it a classic wind-up to leave a private email up on a screen, or a CONFIDENTIAL letter on a desk, and wait for the target to read it?

[utrinqueparatus]

Ok so thats the black and white of it but...

If you are paying someone to build you an extension on your house and you don't like the way he is approaching it do you get rid of him without a word or do you say "I want you to do it differently".

I am doing my job and all the work required of me but there is no way of them gauging that as it is such a vast project.

The way they have laid the contract out is so that I DO report and take instruction from the manager as an employee, so therefore I believe that this should be reciprocated.

[Spacecadet]

No, the point of contractors is that they shouldn't have to be managed. They should know what they are doing, and get on and do it. He's not your manager, he's your customer and you should be taking problems off him, not giving him new ones to sort out. He's there to manage his staff, not his consultants.

If you're not up to scratch, his job is to give you the boot in a contract-honouring way, not to spend his company's time fixing you.

All well said, however is it too much to ask for a short word along the lines of... you're expensive and we're not getting value for money

[thunderlizard]

I know this shouldn't bother me being a contractor but it does... Why can't managers do what they are paid to do and manage!! If there is a problem with my work or I am not doing something I should be why aren't I being pulled up on it?

No, the point of contractors is that they shouldn't have to be managed. They should know what they are doing, and get on and do it. He's not your manager, he's your customer and you should be taking problems off him, not giving him new ones to sort out. He's there to manage his staff, not his consultants.

If you're not up to scratch, his job is to give you the boot in a contract-honouring way, not to spend his company's time fixing you.

[utrinqueparatus]

Gunman: You may just be onto something there.....

I could do with less than a 2 hour commute every day!!!