Should we, can we, terminate this over-budget, over-schedule project?

[unexploded]

Hi folks, long time stalker, first time poster.

Would you mind giving me your opinions and advice on a job that my company is involved with please? I’ll give you a brief overview of us, the client and the job in hand.

We’re a small web and graphic design agency, been going for many years, always have plenty of work and have a good reputation. It’s a very small team and we take on just the right amount of projects and schedule them accordingly so we can all make a decent living and at the same time not stress the hell out of us all; generally we cope pretty well with the load.

A company approached us to redesign their existing ecommerce website (it’s theme plus some new functions) and also deliver a fairly simple app which reproduces the shopping system along with some static pages served as information. We’re well versed in ecommerce, apps are new to us but I have an understanding of how they are built, and really fancied the challenge.

A couple of months in, the MD of the company informed us that they are looking at using a different system for their ecommerce. This was a big upset for us as it would have unravelled the work done up to this point. We spent some time researching how we could port the existing work to this potential other system, a system which we have no experience with. In the end, we offered an ultimatum that we couldn’t continue if they chose to use a new system. They decided against this, and the gig stayed on.

Anyway, months on, and months over schedule - admittedly some of it our fault, plenty of it their fault (with moving goalposts on more than one occasion, extra feature requests that weren’t part of the remit), I was informed that the design of the website home page that was signed off is now being redesigned by another design agency. This was never discussed at any point prior, so that was a bit of a shock to us. We now have to spend more time to implement this, and would be charged for. (Probably worth saying at this point, during this period I’ve also had phonecalls from the MD, one saying our work is a piece of sh** and other expletives, and then I get another call congratulating me on a job well done. Go figure that one out.)

A couple of weeks on, I’ve still not seen this redesign, so I’ve no idea how long it would take for us to implement. And now it's just got even worse - I recently received a phone call letting me know there’s also a rebrand under way, so I’m assuming a new logo, colour scheme etc.

The reason I talked above about how our company works is because we are really out of time on this project now. I estimated the time we’d need, scheduled it, and quoted based on that. This customer is happy to pay for the extra time, but we don’t want to deal with this extra work. I expect some extras but this is crazy. We’re busy enough as it is with other work scheduled in from very patient, paying customers who deserve our attention.

With a rebrand, that would potentially mean stripping the visual elements of the app, reskinning it, redoing all the icons and screenshots for the appropriate stores. If anyone has ever submitted an app before you’ll know how long this can take.

For a pretty chilled guy I’m at the end of my tether with this now. I’m now thinking the only way forward with this project is to terminate it. Hand over the files, let them take it elsewhere. If I knew from the start that another party would be involved with a redesign near completion plus rebrand, I’d have not taken the work on, or the contract would have reflected this. We don’t have the time to make these extra changes and I don’t see any reason why we’re obliged to do so.

The website, I’d say, is 90% complete, the app 80%. The payment schedule is split, two thirds of which have been paid for already. There’s a fairly simple contract in place which says who’s responsible for what. The changes constantly being made or asking for are hindering the wrapping up our end of the bargain.

In this situation what would you do? As I say, I'm now thinking this can only be resolved through stopping this project. It’s been a weird, up and down working relationship that isn’t healthy. Would love to hear your thoughts, and any legal issues to consider if there are any.


Thanks.

 

[Raw Rob]

Or just tell them that any extra work will be scheduled to be completed in the future when you have time, schedule it like any new job. (At this point they may terminate the contract, but better for them to do it than you, if you do it, it could cause upset/more problems.)

 

[ethical PR]

I believe in only working with clients that add value to your business and that you enjoy working with. On this basis I wouldn't continue to work with this client.

I would complete work on the project that you were initially commissioned to do, ensure you get paid for it and let them know unfortunately you aren't available in the foreseeable future for further work.

 

[Matthew Nathan Hargreaves]

I would agree with the above comment that you should really be working with clients that add value to your business and who you enjoy working with. I would complete the work that you were contracted to do which sounds as though you mostly have, this I feel makes it difficult for them to come back that you are being difficult or add further strain to the relationship.

If there was any possibility that you were willing to continue working on this project I would stress that you only want to be dealing with one main project manager, or point of contacts it appears that you have been given contradicting feedback which hasn't helped and has obviously brought you to your last tether along with all the other major changes they have requested. You could then also adjust terms of your contract with them at this point requesting further work is discussed and to keep you updated with changes they are going through.

If you are really at a point where you feel you can't continue on, then I would do this as amicably as possible as you never know you may be able to work with them in the future again or be a possible recommendation.

 

[Chris Ashdown]

Actually i would take legal advice on the matter with a commercial lawyer and if they (the lawyer) agree you can part from the contract, get them to write the letter giving the reasons.

That way you stand a good chance of being done for breach of contract and any consequential damages, if you just walked away it could open up a minefield

Nothing is guaranteed but your best chance is to use a expert

 

[unexploded]

Thank you all for your input.

I completely agree with what you have said regarding working with clients that add value, and selecting work that is enjoyable. We've been doing this a while now. When we were greener and younger we'd take any work that came - now we can pick and choose, and to be honest this looked like an interesting, valuable project. How wrong were we.

There is no way I could work on another project in the future with this client if I'm to work by the above mantra. That said, we don't burn bridges so this needs to be resolved amicably as you say Matthew.

Chris, thanks for the idea there. This may be our next step.

I'll continue to finish one of the larger components remaining, await the redesign/rebrand and take it from there.

 

[ethical PR]

Chris I agree they need to look at the terms of their contract, schedule of work etc However, it sounds like the client is now changing the brief.

When I worked agency side we always had clauses in our contracts to cover issues like delays to project schedules and substantial changes to the brief.

 

[The Byre]

Companies and government departments alike are very fond of commissioning software and after the scope and price have been agreed, then starting to ask for additional features, some of which they really do need (but forgot to think of) and some of which are completely unnecessary, will never be used and cost vast amounts to implement, particularly as they have to be integrated long after the basic building blocks of the software have been constructed.

This continuous and gratuitous expansion for no real benefit is usually called ‘feature creep’ or ‘scope creep’ and can condemn a project to complete and utter failure through lack of focus and run-away costs. It is not for nothing, that such idiotic and futile exercises in creating a useless monster (that any intelligent, informed member of staff can see is destined to fail, but are nevertheless forced to complete by their deluded superiors) is sometimes called a ‘death march.’

Definitely on the ‘death march’ list, an honourable mention must be given to the Great British National Health Service IT project, that became so convoluted, so muddled and ill-defined, that an original sticker price of no less than £2.3bn escalated into about ten times that amount. Thus, at over £20bn, it became not only the largest IT project in the World, but also a near total disaster, as only small parts of the wreckage were ever turned into more modest and functioning systems.

The Public Accounts Committee of the House of Commons issued a damning 175-page report stating “This is the biggest IT project in the world and it is turning into the biggest disaster.”

Being involved in such a ‘death march’ can kill your company or just kill your career stone dead. If you are in a position to do so, it is always a good idea to have a ‘no changes’ clause written into the contract for a large project. And if you find yourself heading towards such a death march, think long and hard about all your options and who gets the blame when it all ends in tears!

 

[unexploded]

The Byre, a very well written contribution. This project is no where near the scale of those you mentioned but certainly relates. I call it mission creep and this project has had a lot of that.

I am in the process of getting legal advice.

 

[Nochexman]

Or just tell them that any extra work will be scheduled to be completed in the future when you have time, schedule it like any new job. (At this point they may terminate the contract, but better for them to do it than you, if you do it, it could cause upset/more problems.)

Agree with Raw Rob. Put your own feelings to one side and close out the original project before you start expressing your feelings about the client or telling them that you don't want to work with them. These things get very messy and the really important thing is that you can draw a line under what you finally agreed to do, which clearly isn't what you originally agreed to do. Take legal advice by all means, but don't do anything to prejudice the resolution of the work you have already committed to doing!

 

[altwebdesign]

Sounds like a terrible case of Scope Creep!

You have a bit of a bonus here.... if I read that correctly then you have a client happy to pay for changes...! Which in my experience is not very common!

I would suggest completing the initial job agreed.... It sounds like you will have to negoitate your way around this as potentially now with a rebrand they could kick up a fuss saying that they cant use the app in its original branding as they have now rebranded.... Could end up being a case of them paying for you to implement the new designs and branding and you calling it quits with the project in its agreed state but with the new branding in place.

Legal wise... all depends on the contract.... I hope you are also insured as standard against this type of thing, should a client take action against yourself. If not I highly recommend Hiscox.

I hope that helps you out a little.

 

[Norman Bailey]

A change in specification invalidates any original agreement and it's up to you if you want to go with it.

Think of it like you own a garage and are selling a car. The customer tells you what he wants and you agree to supply it. He then rings you up a couple of weeks later and says he now wants a blue one and not a red one. At that point in time you can simply say no. And at each and every change from the original agreement you can also say no.

The answer of course is at every change to ask for more money and an extension to the finishing date. And put everything on paper.

 

[woodss]

I'd be interested to hear how this was resolved.

For my part, I will bend over backwards to help anyone, but not at the expense of my own sanity and my other clients. Been there, done it and it doesn't work long term for anyone.

If you were to terminate the relationship with this client, especially since they've also brought a 3rd party (the other agency) into matters, you would have my complete understanding - there's a lot to be said for mutual respect in business and underhand tactics like that are not conducive to a healthy working relationship.

Having said that - perhaps you could come to an agreement with them that the project as it was originally needs to be wrapped up because the scope is now so wildly different. Then, open up a new agreement for any further work (preferably with additional clauses to stop this sort of stuff from happening in the future).

Best of luck.

 

[Richard Moore]

I've been in similar situations to this in the past. The only solution is to gracefully extract yourself from the situation as soon as possible.

Good to hear you're getting legal advice.