As we approach the new year, many of us will reflect the past twelve months and decide
what we could have done better or change the way we do things. I thought it would be
interesting to make a laundry list of habits, attitudes or conduct which should be
avoided when performing consulting assignments. I invite all of you to make your own
contributions to a guestbook I have setup on "www.sconsig.com" addressing this topic.
Please keep your comments generic (that is, no names) and CLEAN! It should be
interesting to read as the list grows!
To start off the list, I will make my contributions based upon some of my real
life experiences to give some ideas and direction to this laundry list:
- Keep personal calls to a minimium - both outgoing and incoming. That is, why
does your family need to call you everyday and talk for 5 minutes or more during
normal business hours while you bill for your time?
Or, do you need to call your family everyday and talk for 5 minutes during billable
time? Or, maybe you should make agreeable arrangements with your client about such
issues in the case of a sick family member.
Conduct personal business on your personal time such as your lunch break, not during
billed time unless you extend your hours later in the day.
- Turn your beeper off during meetings with your current client. Why should you
subject your client to personal interruptions during a meeting for which you are
billing time for?
- Unless requested, do not "jump" into personal discussions taking place within
hearing distance of your work station.
- Long distance phone calls should be billed to your "personal" phone, not the
client, unless it is client business.
- When sick, call the client to inform them of your absence. And do not bill your
time to the client while being sick.
- Dress appropriately. When in Rome, do as the Romans do! Personal hygiene
should be monitored such as brushing your teeth everyday, combing your hair neatly,
taking a shower frequently to avoid body odors, etc.
- Don't take liquid lunches (alcoholic). And keep lunches to appropriate lengths
(set by client's standards).
- Be prompt for work and meetings.
- Corporate benefits are for corporate employees, not contractors. Example:
early dismissal for a holiday does not mean you can leave early and bill for an
entire day's work.
- When doing work offsite, bill honestly. That is, if billing is hourly do not
pad the bill with extra hours.
- When doing work at a client's site do not perform work for another client.
I invite you to add your comments to the special guestbook at the top of this
page. And maybe, you just might find a item which bothers some
people that you exhibit and never thought about it. Wishing you a better year
in 2000.
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Sincerely,
