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Need advice on dealing with my bosses

Started by Ilici Mar 28, 2008 at 8:40 AM 9 replies 1.9k views

Original Post

205

Mar 28, 2008 at 8:40 AM

I work for a small company which does contracting, so now we've got to develop a product which includes a web site. So I've estimated the cost for the programming part which I'll be doing and the cost for the design which would be done by someone else. They gave me one of the programmers working at the company to do the design and I've asked him to get me a mock-up of a page in one week. He did it and it looked terrible so I've asked the boss to get a 3rd party designer to work on it since the customers wouldn't be too happy with a crappy design. The 3rd party designer would be given an offer within the estimated cost. At this point they flat-out lied to me and said they sent the cost estimation excluding the price of the design part to the customers, thinking they would use this guy which is payed from a different source. I know they lied since I saw the contract. A week later, with a little help from me, the guy produced a decent mock-up. So now, I've asked for the guy to make some changes the design and to do the design for the other pages and I got refused, with my bosses saying that he's got other things to do and that I should lower my standards on the design part. I replied that I was expecting the guy to be allowed time to work on the design for 3 to 4 hours a day, as reflected in the cost estimation i gave them initially. So, how should i go about this? I'm a little angry since I have a hard time bringing myself to do a crappy job and having to tweak the design myself to make it work for the other pages on the site. I'm not sure whether to just accept things as they are and just get the design done myself, get my money and keep quiet or to call their bluff and take it up with them that I can't do my job properly with the resources they give me.

speciesUnknown

138

speciesUnknown

Mar 28, 2008 at 8:45 AM

Well, it sounds like you're between a rock and a hard place. you cant serve up a crappy product, but on the other hand you cant get it done without taking up extra resources. I would take whatever is given to me and work overtime to get it up to standard. However, you may have obligations outside of work that prevent you from doing this. If all else fails, ask your boss exactly what he wants you do do and do that.

ChurchSkiz

126

ChurchSkiz

Mar 28, 2008 at 10:12 AM

I think you've done everything right so far. You've made it clear to them what you need to do a good job, the costs and time associated with it, and the risks associated with not getting the tools you need. If your company acknowledges the final product and does not have a problem with delivering a tainted product to their customer, I don't think you should hold yourself responsible for that. I definitely don't think you should do the work on your time, especially if you are contract labor.

It sucks for the customer but they get what they paid for. If you want to use it on your resume, I would submit the programming that you've done and not the design (since that is what you were responsible for anyway).

j_smith4

Mar 28, 2008 at 12:03 PM

Quote:
Original post by ChurchSkiz
I think you've done everything right so far. You've made it clear to them what you need to do a good job, the costs and time associated with it, and the risks associated with not getting the tools you need. If your company acknowledges the final product and does not have a problem with delivering a tainted product to their customer, I don't think you should hold yourself responsible for that. I definitely don't think you should do the work on your time, especially if you are contract labor.

It sucks for the customer but they get what they paid for. If you want to use it on your resume, I would submit the programming that you've done and not the design (since that is what you were responsible for anyway).

I agree, I don't think you should put yourself out for (unpaid?) overtime if the company doesn't want to give you the resouces to produce the program to your specs.

Rydinare

Mar 28, 2008 at 1:01 PM

I hear you on this. Been there before. It sucks being between a rock and a hard place: we can work on a crappy inflexible system because the powers that be don't fully understand the ramifications, or we can make it such a big deal that the assume that the developer is being difficult.

I wish I had some good advice, other than simply saying hang in there. If you figure out a good solution to this catch-22, let us know. :)

leiavoia

129

leiavoia

Mar 30, 2008 at 12:46 AM

Warning: if you attempt to swallow the workload and "keep quiet," this kind of behavior will probably be expected of you in the future.

Think about which option you would not regret taking in six months from now and take that one.

If it were me (and it isn't), i would clearly outline their options to them. If they want the crappy website option, give them the crappy website. If that makes you feel bad about the work you do, do it anyway and look for a company with a better work ethic immediately afterwards.

I'll tell you this: if you explain to someone on a job interview that you didn't like your previous employer's work ethic or standards, and that you want to work for someone with higher standards, that will go far.

glassflakes

Mar 31, 2008 at 11:04 AM

I know you didn't ask for this but, what kind of changes you need made to the design? I can manage to pull a few hours to help you this week. Would they be ok with you getting help from your own contacts?

edit: This may not be a solution in the long run, they might require that you use your own contacts for fixes in the following projects but it might help you get through this particular one.

d000hg

443

d000hg

Mar 31, 2008 at 11:16 AM

Quote:
Original post by leiavoia
I'll tell you this: if you explain to someone on a job interview that you didn't like your previous employer's work ethic or standards, and that you want to work for someone with higher standards, that will go far.

Or it could backfire and make you sound like someone who is a pain to work with. You'd certainly have to phrase it carefully, because criticising your previous/current employer doesn't look professional to many people - especially if you're not in a senior position.

glassflakes

Mar 31, 2008 at 11:22 AM

Quote:
Original post by d000hg
Quote:
Original post by leiavoia
I'll tell you this: if you explain to someone on a job interview that you didn't like your previous employer's work ethic or standards, and that you want to work for someone with higher standards, that will go far.
Or it could backfire and make you sound like someone who is a pain to work with. You'd certainly have to phrase it carefully, because criticising your previous/current employer doesn't look professional to many people - especially if you're not in a senior position.

I agree, they might even think that, you are a pain to work with AND you will probably complain about their company after quitting after a year in your next job interview.

Ilici

Author

205

Ilici

Mar 31, 2008 at 1:19 PM

Quote:
Original post by glassflakes
I know you didn't ask for this but, what kind of changes you need made to the design? I can manage to pull a few hours to help you this week. Would they be ok with you getting help from your own contacts?

edit: This may not be a solution in the long run, they might require that you use your own contacts for fixes in the following projects but it might help you get through this particular one.

Thanks for the offer, but I got a few tips from a designer friend so it looks like we're going to get something that's at least decent.

The poor quality of the product would be my secondary concern (though I still care very much about it), but my first one would be that they lied to me. I'd have taken it a lot better if they said 'we're sorry but the company needs the money for something else'. But instead it feels like they're saying: 'we didn't have the balls to price our services higher to make a decent profit, but here's an opportunity to save some money by shipping out something shitty'.

I guess I'm a little naive in thinking that they care about whether or not I trust them.

I don't know whether this would be a good thing to say on a future interview. I guess I could word it in a more diplomatic manner: decreasing levels of trust in relationships with management due to poor allocation of resources with respect to demands.

stimarco

113

stimarco

Mar 31, 2008 at 5:18 PM

Quote:
Original post by Ilici

The poor quality of the product would be my secondary concern (though I still care very much about it), but my first one would be that they lied to me. I'd have taken it a lot better if they said 'we're sorry but the company needs the money for something else'. But instead it feels like they're saying: 'we didn't have the balls to price our services higher to make a decent profit, but here's an opportunity to save some money by shipping out something shitty'.

Honesty and integrity are fundamental cornerstones of good management, regardless of the industry. If he can't even get that right, he's not worth the effort.

If I can't trust a member of my own team to pass on information without corrupting it, I'd sack him. If he were my superior, I'd tell him, quite bluntly, exactly what I think of his actions. If he has a problem with that, I have no problem looking for work elsewhere.

Always have backup plans, regardless of your current situation.

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