September 03, 2003

Thoughts on Ethical Contracting

Contracts aren't Forever

Why is it that many contractors (or consultants) do not allow for the fact that their contracts are finite? I realize that it is easier to do a job that you have than look for a new gig, but contracting is, by design, short term and very likely project based. Besides, even if you have a "lock-in" for years, you still need to make sure that you are not the only person who knows what you are doing. You could be run over by a truck!

Indispensible Worker?

Even in a small company, there should never be only one person knowing a particular subsystem or task. That's insane. While it may seem like job security, it can turn into a "no vacations, 80 hour a week" ball and chain. This applies to regular employees as well as contractors.

I've been the "indispensible person" at a job before. I couldn't even take a couple days off sick, much less a week's vacation! Needless to say, I had thought it would be really cool to be that indispensible. Boy, was I wrong! I trained a backup within three months.

Value and Integrity

But back to contracting. The whole idea behind contracting is that you provide a specialized service for money. While sometimes contractors do go regular, you shouldn't count on it. Your professional reputation (and how you get more jobs in the future) depend on the quality of your work. You need to deliver value and operate with integrity.

So how do you do that? Here are some general tips:

  • Be sure that you understand and have agreed to the scope (or type) of work.
  • Communicate honestly with the people you're working for and with. I can't stress this enough. Don't claim the emperor is wearing silk when he's wearing nothing.
  • Document your work, in ordinary paper type documents and in the code if you are programming. Nothing sucks worse than taking over some undocumented tripe cobbled together by some half baked contractor looking to be indispensible.
  • Make sure that there are people who know what you've been doing, and can take it over when your contract ends (or you decide to move on). Train your backups/successors. People remember things like this.
  • You're an expert, behave accordingly. This includes having the integrity to say "I don't know" when you're out of your depth. You can always follow with "...but I can research it and get back to you".
  • Avoid taking sides in political infighting. This can be very difficult in a long term contract. If the politics involves you, you probably can't avoid it. Remember, though, that it's OK to have your contract end if you end up a political football.
  • Conduct yourself as well or better than the regular employees. They may have political "ins". You probably don't.

There are probably more, but that's for starters. There are people who I've known as contractors who I would never refer to jobs because they violated one or more of these tenets. While I don't often get referral requests, when I do I put my reputation on line with my referral. So I'm picky.

Posted by ljl at September 3, 2003 10:43 AM | TrackBack