Unreliable People, But We Need Them.
Posted on December 23rd, 2007 by Admin in the General Updates section
Not done a worthwhile read in a while, so I’ve managed to take a little time out and write a nice little article on Unreliable People. Recently, I have been speaking with a few people and they have been telling me some really sad news and when I mean sad news, its relating to them being so hyped for a new project but its only for a certain person to basically knacker it for them.
Basically, I was chatting to a friend of mine like you do and we were discussing our projects. He asked about mine and I told and him and when I went to tell him he didn’t really seem up for chatting about it. He eventually came around and told me that his coder had basically taken far too long to do the job and was being petty and unreliable at finishing it, which then resulted in him putting his project up for sale.
So why should good projects go to waste because of the ‘reliable’ people we need to make it happen? Thats what I’m here to discuss today. So say your a designer and you’ve designed your website design for a hyped project of yours, but your not a coder so thats were youhave to go next… to find a coder. Finding a coder nowadays isn’t so hard, there are the use of forums, blogs and even the personal websites of these coders.
So what should you look for when trying to find the ‘perfect’ coder? Well there isn’t such a thing as perfect but lets use the word ‘reliable’ again. Firstly, you’d obviously want a portfolio of their work, just basically the same case if it was a coder looking for a ‘reliable’ designer. Secondly you’d probably ask the coder how experienced they are at what they do and then ask for a quote on how much your design or whatever it is that you want coded.
During all this its best to kind of take in how the coder is responding and imagine it as if you were chatting to them in a real life situation. For example you wouldn’t want someone who is dull and boring and replying with one or two word answers, you’d want someone who is cheery, inviting and enthusiastic at what their objective is to do. But if they are like that does that make them ‘reliable’? The coder in which my friend had been let down by has had many reviews from people in which I have personally spoken with. I also know the coder aswell and have had trouble in the past with him… but lets not get into that.
The last and final question that you would ask the coder would be, what is your turnaround time. Now this is a key question to ask and its upto the coder/designer themselves to anticipate and give an estimated time on how long they think they can dedicate to the job and how long they need to complete it. Some of the factors in which the coder/designer would need to take into consideration would be the complexity of the job and covering every aspect of the brief or job to the fullest.
Long Term Relationships
I’ve worked with many people over my time as being a freelancer and I can safely say that long term relationships are so helpful. If you do find the right man for the job, why not stay in touch and start chatting regularly. There are so many advantages of long term relationships and here are some below:
- Simple jobs in which some people might charge $10 for you could ask your long term partner to do for free as a favour. Just think of it this way, all they $10 add up!
- If you have a project lined up and your looking for someone to implement something to it which might cost you a bit of money, again ask your partner for a favour.
It really is down to how well you get along with people and building a strong relationship. I’ve worked with two people over the past year who I stay in touch with and they have done so many favours for me in the past that overall adds up to easily over $xxx.
I have been unreliable…
I personally will admit at times I have been unreliable, but no matter the situation its always good to repay the client somehow. Doing so by offering them my services for a discounted price or even a freebie, this will always help in getting your relationship with a client back on track.
So have you been in a situation were you thought someone was reliable to do the job, but in the end disaster struck? Why don’t you tell me about it, I’d love to hear some of your storys!
Merry Christmas.