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From: Reed Hopkins (no email)
Date: Tue Aug 17 1999 - 16:07:15 EDT
As a project manager whose function is to coordinate technicians and/or
trade and craftspeople and their customers, I've found that a "Memo of
Understanding (MOU)" regarding the project provides a multi-faceted service
that addresses many of the problems people are worried about here.
Projects usually fail to unfold as desired because either (a) the person
doing the job doesn't realize just what their customer wants and does it
"wrong," or (b) the contractor simply fails to deliver the services or
materials agreed on.
In my experience, the first reason is by far the more prevalent of the two,
especially if, as is often the case on the docks, craftspeople are referred
by word of mouth, in which case they've usually proven their ability to
deliver. An MOU serves to define the project without the "weight" of a
legal document, and provides a hindsight reference when people's memories
inevitably change about what was negotiated. The infamous "he keeps
changing the specs!" is, IMHO, simply a subset of reason (a). Write into
your MOU a loose process for changing the specs to address those inevitable
issues that come up mid-project, things can stay flexible, and everyone
will stay happy.
Operate in good faith, assume others want to do the same (and accept you
WILL be wrong sometimes) and you'll find that things work out nicely.
People who do cheesy work reap their own rewards, beyond what you can
inflict on them in court, one of which is that they're rarely referred by
responsible owners.
Reed Hopkins
If a pig loses its voice, is it disgruntled?
+-------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Reed Hopkins | Good judgement comes from |
| | Experience. Experience comes from |
| http://www.best.com/~reed | bad judgement. |
+-------------------------------------------------------------------+
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