Client Frustration

So in the real world I'm a computer programmer/consultant. I picked up a new project a little over a month ago which is why I've been very inactive here for a while. This particular client is very micro-managy - to the point where I've had to write daily status updates.

I just received an e-mail from them asking me to outline everything I've done. Apparently the daily status updates aren't enough. And this in order for them to get my invoice approved. They want me to detail every bug I've fixed, every enhancement I've implemented, and every meeting I attended. They gave me bugs and enhancements from a spreadsheet, from photocopies they handed to me, in passing conversations, and then there are those that I identified all on my own and had no repository like bugzilla or test director to place them in until a week before last friday - when they had me direct 100% of my efforts towards resolving non-existant performance problems.

So I can compile the information, but I'm really irritated. Now I have to build a spreadsheet of 500+ things I've accomplished in the last month and all so that one person can spend 15 minutes looking at it and saying "Wow, that's a lot of shit. We should pay this guy."

This company has enough work for me to latch on to the project for another 12 months, but right now I'm thinking about walking away. I really hate being micro-managed, and it's absolutely intolerable in an environment with unreasonable deadlines.

 

Charge them for the time of writing the report, obviously. But, the next step I'd take is raise your rates in general. Before you just walk away, try on a rate raise to see if that makes the job feel better.

 

That's not a bad idea. I haven't raised my rates in four years and traveling has gotten a lot more expensive. With what I'm making now, I don't think there's a rate that will make this client worth it. But raising my rates in general is a good idea. I've turned down two projects in the last month, so I bet the market could sustain an extra 300 or 400 bucks a day. Green rep for you!

 

Thanks! I should be getting my second green dot soon.

 

Also you might want to be clearer in the future with clients as to what they can expect in terms of feedback and reporting from you. That way everything is clear, and if anything extra is needed they have to pay for it.

 

I do have a set of deliverables contractually, but that goes out the window on 90% of my projects. I could force the issue with them, but the result will be that I'll just wait longer before I get paid. Software development is a bit of a strange beast, especially when you factor in the fact that I generally fix/enhance existing software. Clients generally bid out a set of changes to their systems, but internally they expect more than what is contracted. I'll win a bid to make 10 changes, but then get to the site and they have 100+ changes that they need to get implemented and the 10 on the contract either get prioritized or dropped. From a business standpoint the smart thing to do would be to require a change to the contract, but from a real world standpoint that kind of a thing would push out the development past deadlines.

I'm usually pretty reasonable if the client is reasonable and I set out to exceed expectations on every project. Micromanagement gets in the way. I don't mind shifting gears or changing focus - that's the nature of the business. Working 15 hour days for a month and then getting the "What exactly have you done?" email is just plain offensive.

In this instance, I let the client take me outside the box, and I had assumed that daily status updates were enough to keep them informed of my accomplishments. Apparently, I was wrong. I'll still get paid. They'll still have their software. In the end, I'll have a bitter taste in my mouth and for the first time in a long time I'm going to regret taking on a customer with deep pockets. There's nothing to do but find a place to vent.

 

I agree. Charge them for your time. I really dislike working in conditions like that. Good luck!

 

I know exactly what you mean. By day I am webmaster at an advertising agency and by night I am an internet publisher. I absolutely hate my day job. Clients will be the death of me. I probably won't last much longer. Luckily I make more at this point as a publisher than I make at my day job so leaving won't be too hard.

I have concluded that being an internet publisher is the ultimate job. No boss. No clients. Work my own schedule. Cash checks. That's a job I can handle