Why large customers do not work with small but proud contractors
The Internet brought another KVN scenario in kindergarten: Yandex, they say, offended another contractor . And even in something robbed. Sure sure.
The essence of the conflict: the contracting company took Yandex to their word, without prepayment, made 17 variants of an expensive movie and, having broken off, did not finish the job and did not receive the money. And now it is publicly suffering.
It is not good to laugh at someone else's grief, but the case suggests itself to talk about it. I'll write it down. Maybe someone will read and a little more gracefully will flit on this rake of the second freshness.
')
For some reason, respected pros of the White Balance company decided that they were hired to produce the video. Oh, if only. Anything, but not this.
To teach a new team to make videos. Prove that the planned feature sucks. See the slogan in action and in horror to abandon it. Lure the new manager on Yandex.Video. Try on the prospect of entering the TV. To shut up the next top running across the ceiling and demanding TV spots here and now. Yes, infinitely possible to throw a believable version.
The result - he somehow himself is assumed. So what to talk about it. Not for the result gathered.
Actually, I noticed a long time ago that neither customers nor contractors point-blank want to admit the obvious, seemingly fact: they pay for not the amount of work, but for the number of iterations.
They buy at the same time, of course, all the same result, just in the extended sense: the process + what happens in the end. And the price of this result depends not on the contractor’s production skills, but solely on the customer’s corporate culture.
In particular:
Let's go back to the main point.
It would seem that in this situation the main skill of the seller is to read the production culture of the customer, and the most important skill of the manager is to get used to it with the maximum benefit for the project.
But no. We will go the other way, yeah.
Sellers are trying to sell the skills of the team. God, you are my God, but who believes in these skills. Well, look in the portfolio to insure against very much files, nothing more.
And managers are all trying to impose on the customer a way of comfortable (for them, managers) coexistence on a project. Here you are trying to solve important issues in the correspondence, and loss of contact with the client for 2-3 weeks (while the performers allegedly work on the alleged result), and the requirement to provide key information in writing, and even, which usually most cheers, drafting and signing of the project specification.
Let's return to the case. To get involved in the adventure of the contract, without asking how the delivery and acceptance procedure will take place, it must be completely blind from the shining of the brand.
Because this procedure, in such colors (and very recognizable) described by an unhappy-of-its-kind contractor, is not accidentally ugly and unpredictable. Not by chance.
I will not pretend to understand the situation entirely. But to recognize its naturalness already, in general, it would be time.
I do not know about you, but I regularly stumble upon Yandex-like monsters: from the inside they look more like a tangle of snakes with rare bunches of hares, but from the outside they give out a usable product.
And this unpleasant regularity - it kind of unobtrusively hints that the rake is more or less typified and you can somehow squeeze joy and happiness out of them.
While explaining to myself this is how. The fact is that the situation described in the case (they all prove something to each other, the requirements are constantly changing, the emotional background does not correspond to the level of the question, well, it is not comfortable at all), oddly enough, the only way leading to quality.
Well, in no way in a hierarchical system can you create a quality product from all sides . The only way to jump out of an acceptable (or even good) high-level quality level is to look at intermediate results under a collective microscope. Criticize everything from different points of view.
And this possibility of versatile criticism is not cheap: we must somehow ensure at least the potential (no real) freedom of discussion and controversy for any reason. In a company whose employees still have to work, it is difficult. So we will appreciate those firms that succeed in this venture.
An interesting point: in such a mess much can be done without prior arrangement. Just because what has been done to many is not interesting to discuss - it is visible, specifically, is always somewhat limited, which means it lands too much on the sub-dreamers dreamers. The scandals around what has been done are not perfect enough, of course, they also happen, but oh my goodness, this is scandals around what has been done !
The contractor (contractor), by the way, must be very lucky in life in order to get at least once or twice into such a snake company.
After all, one or two projects in such a nice and soulful atmosphere - and you stop clinging with your ears and claws to your mega supergenic creations. Well, why shake for them, if you still have to redo it? Maybe they go there the first 17 times? Maybe the challenge is not to be accepted the first time, but to hire instead of 17 for 7 approvals, eh? And also not to talk and dream, but stupidly to do? Since there are enough dreamers without us.
Again, the skill of listening to the opinions of others is pumped with a bang. Anyone can give a practical thought - and, alas, especially often and in a particularly sharp form, people do it, from which they turn the soul on. So what, because of the form to refuse content? Spite my grandmother froze my ears, yeah.
And most importantly - you begin to realize that you work for the customer. Not to the motley crowd of coordinators, but to the Customer, whom they are so embarrassed, but diligently represent themselves (users, shareholders, and the devil in a mortar). And that in order to satisfy this Customer, you need to become stronger than the crowd. In particular, you need to be aware of every squiggle in your immortal creation. And be able to discuss it. Somewhere hard, somewhere easy and simple - but to defend, explain, confidently sell and write in someone else's picture of the world.
What is the trick here? I know only one thing: to clearly formulate the goal and propagate its wording (and at the same time, the deadlines for achievement).
But here the ways of achievement are a much more flexible thing, and holding on to them is boring - only to spoil karma.
In the case I didn’t see the wording of the goal. As well as did not notice the traces of establishing relations with the insane, insane, but still initially desired customer. Well, the personal Yandex manager was not included in the project budget, I understand.
No matter how ridiculous, Yandex in this sense is not even the worst case. For example, some Yota is worse: they also count money there.
Although, of course, the customer, who clearly understands what he needs, and who knows how to get to the result and bring the contractor there (often by the scruff), is the poet's dream. Let's be such customers.
The essence of the conflict: the contracting company took Yandex to their word, without prepayment, made 17 variants of an expensive movie and, having broken off, did not finish the job and did not receive the money. And now it is publicly suffering.
It is not good to laugh at someone else's grief, but the case suggests itself to talk about it. I'll write it down. Maybe someone will read and a little more gracefully will flit on this rake of the second freshness.
')
For some reason, respected pros of the White Balance company decided that they were hired to produce the video. Oh, if only. Anything, but not this.
To teach a new team to make videos. Prove that the planned feature sucks. See the slogan in action and in horror to abandon it. Lure the new manager on Yandex.Video. Try on the prospect of entering the TV. To shut up the next top running across the ceiling and demanding TV spots here and now. Yes, infinitely possible to throw a believable version.
The result - he somehow himself is assumed. So what to talk about it. Not for the result gathered.
Actually, I noticed a long time ago that neither customers nor contractors point-blank want to admit the obvious, seemingly fact: they pay for not the amount of work, but for the number of iterations.
They buy at the same time, of course, all the same result, just in the extended sense: the process + what happens in the end. And the price of this result depends not on the contractor’s production skills, but solely on the customer’s corporate culture.
In particular:
- Project budget == (cost per version + cost of doping + slightly) * number of approvals. In a very convenient office, this is 2-3 approvals, in a very inconvenient - it can easily be 20. A typical mistake is the underestimation of the number of approvals.
- Project calendar == approval dates. There are no approvals - wipe your bloody tears with your deadline. In a normal situation, it is good to agree on something concrete every week, but with krupnyak it needs to be done continuously (that is, yes, 24 hours a day, without dismounting from the post office and the telephone).
- Work on the project == performers "real work" + manager. For ideal customers, you can (yes, it happens!) To live without a manager. For normal customers, labor costs for management are 25% -30% of labor costs for production. For customers like Yandex - 200% of the time is spent on coordination, discussion, and other seemingly unnecessary things (in fact, very necessary, and more on that later).
Let's go back to the main point.
It would seem that in this situation the main skill of the seller is to read the production culture of the customer, and the most important skill of the manager is to get used to it with the maximum benefit for the project.
But no. We will go the other way, yeah.
Sellers are trying to sell the skills of the team. God, you are my God, but who believes in these skills. Well, look in the portfolio to insure against very much files, nothing more.
And managers are all trying to impose on the customer a way of comfortable (for them, managers) coexistence on a project. Here you are trying to solve important issues in the correspondence, and loss of contact with the client for 2-3 weeks (while the performers allegedly work on the alleged result), and the requirement to provide key information in writing, and even, which usually most cheers, drafting and signing of the project specification.
Let's return to the case. To get involved in the adventure of the contract, without asking how the delivery and acceptance procedure will take place, it must be completely blind from the shining of the brand.
Because this procedure, in such colors (and very recognizable) described by an unhappy-of-its-kind contractor, is not accidentally ugly and unpredictable. Not by chance.
I will not pretend to understand the situation entirely. But to recognize its naturalness already, in general, it would be time.
I do not know about you, but I regularly stumble upon Yandex-like monsters: from the inside they look more like a tangle of snakes with rare bunches of hares, but from the outside they give out a usable product.
And this unpleasant regularity - it kind of unobtrusively hints that the rake is more or less typified and you can somehow squeeze joy and happiness out of them.
While explaining to myself this is how. The fact is that the situation described in the case (they all prove something to each other, the requirements are constantly changing, the emotional background does not correspond to the level of the question, well, it is not comfortable at all), oddly enough, the only way leading to quality.
Well, in no way in a hierarchical system can you create a quality product from all sides . The only way to jump out of an acceptable (or even good) high-level quality level is to look at intermediate results under a collective microscope. Criticize everything from different points of view.
And this possibility of versatile criticism is not cheap: we must somehow ensure at least the potential (no real) freedom of discussion and controversy for any reason. In a company whose employees still have to work, it is difficult. So we will appreciate those firms that succeed in this venture.
An interesting point: in such a mess much can be done without prior arrangement. Just because what has been done to many is not interesting to discuss - it is visible, specifically, is always somewhat limited, which means it lands too much on the sub-dreamers dreamers. The scandals around what has been done are not perfect enough, of course, they also happen, but oh my goodness, this is scandals around what has been done !
The contractor (contractor), by the way, must be very lucky in life in order to get at least once or twice into such a snake company.
After all, one or two projects in such a nice and soulful atmosphere - and you stop clinging with your ears and claws to your mega supergenic creations. Well, why shake for them, if you still have to redo it? Maybe they go there the first 17 times? Maybe the challenge is not to be accepted the first time, but to hire instead of 17 for 7 approvals, eh? And also not to talk and dream, but stupidly to do? Since there are enough dreamers without us.
Again, the skill of listening to the opinions of others is pumped with a bang. Anyone can give a practical thought - and, alas, especially often and in a particularly sharp form, people do it, from which they turn the soul on. So what, because of the form to refuse content? Spite my grandmother froze my ears, yeah.
And most importantly - you begin to realize that you work for the customer. Not to the motley crowd of coordinators, but to the Customer, whom they are so embarrassed, but diligently represent themselves (users, shareholders, and the devil in a mortar). And that in order to satisfy this Customer, you need to become stronger than the crowd. In particular, you need to be aware of every squiggle in your immortal creation. And be able to discuss it. Somewhere hard, somewhere easy and simple - but to defend, explain, confidently sell and write in someone else's picture of the world.
What is the trick here? I know only one thing: to clearly formulate the goal and propagate its wording (and at the same time, the deadlines for achievement).
But here the ways of achievement are a much more flexible thing, and holding on to them is boring - only to spoil karma.
In the case I didn’t see the wording of the goal. As well as did not notice the traces of establishing relations with the insane, insane, but still initially desired customer. Well, the personal Yandex manager was not included in the project budget, I understand.
No matter how ridiculous, Yandex in this sense is not even the worst case. For example, some Yota is worse: they also count money there.
Although, of course, the customer, who clearly understands what he needs, and who knows how to get to the result and bring the contractor there (often by the scruff), is the poet's dream. Let's be such customers.
Source: https://habr.com/ru/post/148636/
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