Re: Contractor Question

[Pete Praetorius <ppraeto -at- HUBCAP -dot- CLEMSON -dot- EDU>]

Thanks to all who responded to my question regarding employees sharing
negative views toward management with contract writers.  Most of those who
responded to my question advised me to keep my distance, and not get
involved in company disputes nor let employees waste my time.  I think
this is sound advice, but I must admit, the relationship that developed
between the engineers that I worked with and I turned out to be very good.
I think in part this relationship developed because I took the time to
listen to the gripes that the engineers wanted to tell me.  I believe
that this good relationship made it easier for me to get the information
that I needed, and helped me in the end to produce documents that met the
management's expectations.



(original message)
Hello, I am a graduate student at Clemson University, and I am writing
about a subject that may be familiar to any of you who have experience
working as privet contractor/consultants.  Last year while working as a
contractor for a small engineering firm, I became increasingly included in
conversations that were critical of the company's management.  From my
initial assessment of the company, I thought that it was the ideal
workplace, and one were all the employees were very happy.  But after
working for this company a while (I generally came in about once or twice
a week), I became kind of a sounding board for a few of the engineers
problems.  I am working through several ideas as to why this whole
scenario occurred, and I would be interested in hearing from and talking
to others who have had similar experiences.

Pete

____________________
Pete Praetorius
ppraeto -at- hubcap -dot- clemson -dot- edu
ppraeto -at- clemson -dot- edu