Playing Hardball (was: Client Wants to Charge ...)

["M. Dannenberg" <midannen -at- SI -dot- BOSCH -dot- DE>]

It's probably quite common that the "bean counters" come up with all
kinds of marvellous ideas to save the company some money. These often
turn out to be completely counterproductive, i.e. cost the compnay far
more than they save, the difference being that the money saved shows up
in some balance sheet, whereas the money lost is usually in intangibles,
such as staff morale, productivity etc.

The main thing the person in that situation should find out is, how much
clout the bean counters have in the organisation. If the direct
supervisor of her project thinks the equipment rental is a good idea, or
says there's nothing he/she can do about it, it's time to head for the
door. That may be rather tough, considering she's just given up her job
to get this contract. However, if they managed to screw her once they're
damn sure going to do it again and again and again. If, on the other
hand she manages to stick it out and get her way, things should get
easier in the future.

Mike

--
Mike Dannenberg
ETAS GmbH & Co.KG
midannen -at- si -dot- bosch -dot- de

 TECHWR-L (Technical Communication) List Information: To send a message
to 2500+ readers, e-mail to TECHWR-L -at- LISTSERV -dot- OKSTATE -dot- EDU -dot-  Send commands
   to LISTSERV -at- LISTSERV -dot- OKSTATE -dot- EDU (e.g. HELP or SIGNOFF TECHWR-L).
  Search the archives at http://www.documentation.com/  or search and
browse the archives at http://listserv.okstate.edu/archives/techwr-l.html