I agree with you, this project structure sounds… much worse than T&M billing, but if I were going to take on a contract in this structure I would have a simple rule of “I won’t work on the next milestone, without getting approval on the prior one” (for something like this, where the milestones are pretty small, maybe I’d be willing to work one milestone ahead).
But I’d absolutely use the schedule pressure as a tool to get them to care about approvals. Because, from the described contract structure, what incentive does the client have to give timely approvals or rejections? None!
This sort of thing is why I've always kept a salaried position. I could make more, perhaps have more varied & interesting work, and maybe gain other flexibility, if I switched to contracting, but few people extolling these benefits to me ever mention the flip side when things aren't perfect – I'm more than happy to make less to avoid all that.
From the article:
> The contract never showed up.
> but if I needed more time, they would be happy to amend the contract later
No contract, no work. Work starts late because of no fault of mine, including late/no contract? Delivery is likely delayed. Want me to accept an assurance: put it in the contract or otherwise in indisputable writing now. This probably marks me as someone unsuited for contract work, or too difficult to work with as a contractor, ete, and that is fine by me!
Yes, but apparently in Mick's case your name is on the product, and your reputation gets ruined if you don't play ball. A big software company can pay lawyers much longer than you can keep food on the table without pay.
This actually makes you an ideal contractor, you just have to know how to do this tactfully.
The real issue with this situation is working as a contractor on a single project. At the point you're working for one client, full time, as a contractor...you're an employee.
If you've got no other clients, you have no ability to negotiate with the simple statement, "I have other clients I have to tend to and can't dedicate time to this work until the contract is addressed. Let me know when you're ready to resume."
I disagree. I currently work as a contractor for one company more or less fully time. Because I'm a contractor, not an employee, I get to choose my hardware and OS, my own hours, I can take vacation when I want and most importantly, the employer can't force me to work in office.
Contract renewal is coming up soon, my rate is going up, and if they don't agree to it I'll just leave (if anyone needs a senior Java dev, email in bio :)).
> If you've got no other clients, you have no ability to negotiate with the simple statement
You don't need to negotiate, you need to assert you wont do free work and then don't do it.
For some people, that will mean multiple clients. For others, it might just be self confidence or good savings.
why I try to issue invoices frequently.
Although I've found that for this to be effective, you also need to be able to cease work which means you need a sufficiently large financial cushion.
A long time ago, when I contracted, I was essentially living month to month. I invoiced frequently but clients would often pay up in a painfully slow manner. But I had no real leverage because I was unable to cease work.
Kudos to contractors who achieve what I wasn't quite able to.
Absolutely. But this happens wih pay-per-project also, which is why on-demand contract work is much more expensive than salaried.
> no real leverage
You can always look for a new job/client, even while working for the present one. A counteroffer is quite convincing.
The only downside to this approach is when salaried subordinates don't understand this dynamic and rack up billable hours with useless meetings or busywork. Oftentimes when this happens management doesn't realize it until they get sticker shock from an invoice which is why I try to issue invoices frequently.