Re: How the mighty has fallen
 

This reminds me of the Waldorf Salad episode of Fawlty Towers, in which the aggressive American guest tells Fawlty to get in there and bust his ass.

So, bust their asses, Morecambe!

Re: How the mighty has fallen
 

I have had to hire in extra help as my skillset doesn't cover some of the areas involved. A friend of mine recommended the team to me, as he has worked with them before and he too is ragged off with their attitude.
If they were local, I would take them out for a beer or two and have a motivational ra ra session but unfortunately they are too far away.
Other people in the industry I have spoken to tell me they have the same problem even with local teams.
I don't blame Facebook for this because even without it the same people would be spending some of their working time searching for holidays or playing Candy Crush etc.

Re: How the mighty has fallen
 

A beer or two?
A 'ra ra' session?
Are they the only motivating tools you have available? How about ' If you foul this up and we don't get paid you won't get paid- and we'll put the word out'?
If I'd had to use a 'beer or two and a ra ra session' to motivate 400+ people I'd have been permanently sozzled and broke- and fairly quickly sacked.
If that's the best modern management can do thank Heavens I'm retired.

Re: How the mighty has fallen
 

The threat of non payment was made very early on in the process
You don't mention what you were motivating the 400 people to achieve but can I assume that they were in full view of management during their working hours and had measurable achievement levels?
I have never had such problems with teams working in the same office but this remote working is a situation I am in no rush to repeat.

Re: How the mighty has fallen
 

I wish my bosses had given me a beer or two and a ra-ra session when I used to work. They'd have got more out of me.

My bosses tended to be too old school and straight laced.

Re: How the mighty has fallen
 

Perhaps the Project Management programme being used is not suitable for your particular project. With an appropriate programme and a flexible flow chart, management can easily identify problem areas/personnel and take steps at a very early stage to rectify any problems that arise, and in many cases, depending upon the complexity of the project, even predict where a problem is going to occur.
Problems are not necessarily caused by incompetent staff, management can also be the culprit.

Re: How the mighty has fallen
 

Luckily you have two choices!
You're between a rock and a hard place.
So you can wait for the rock to fall on you or fall onto the hard place.;)

Re: How the mighty has fallen
 

Check out their Lancs League Cricket news, from last season....

Re: How the mighty has fallen
 

That sounds like a paragraph from one of those self help books that network marketing love so much.

I am used to working with people who deliver what they promise. In this case, I hired a team of supposedly competent programmers to create a module to integrate an application I had created with a software package they themselves created.

They gave me a time scale regarding how long it would take them and we are now well past that. They have offered no explanation as to why the job wasn't done yet they still have plenty of time to chat and post on social media.

I believe that no amount of motivational BS, project management programs and flow charts would make up for the fact that they have simply not delivered the result they promised by the agreed deadline.

Re: How the mighty has fallen
 

I have always been up front and honest with my client over this and we are having a discussion about it tomorrow. He knows the situation and rather than throwing toys out of the pram, we are looking for a workable solution.

Re: How the mighty has fallen
 

You're in luck, I hope it goes well tomorrow.
I can imagine it's very difficult working with a team of young IT guys at a distance.
'This is boring! Let's go and play'.

Re: How the mighty has fallen
 

To be honest, each post you put on seems more desperate than the last, are you really sticking to the script?
It used to be about how bad the Obbo was doing not some individuals mismanagement????

Re: How the mighty has fallen
 

A pefectly legitimate thread-wander, is it not Less, bearing in mind the title of the thread especially??!

Re: How the mighty has fallen
 

Could well be, I just hope he survives this mishap, I certainly hope his boss has a backup plan.

Re: How the mighty has fallen
 

Back now to an earlier thread-wander: I have read through this thread a number of times and have reflected hard before deciding to comment - still not sure if it's a good idea but well... here goes.

I was the first person who Garinda invited onto Hyndburn Chat when he decided to start up the group on Facebook. It doesn't sound such a bad name to me, a place on Facebook for people connected to the Hyndburn area to chat and air their views on anything connected to the Borough of Hyndburn (Accrington and District - for those who want to split hairs), past or present...
I have co-administrated the group with him from the start, on his invitition, and later Carol was invited as a 3rd administrator when the group became too large for just 2 people to manage. We have invested a lot of time, effort and love (yes - the L word) into getting it off the ground and building it up into quite a successful space for people to log into and participate on, over 2 and half years on. No poaching, no invites but as a closed group you have to be accepted into it, at our discretion, and follow some fairly simple behaviour guide-lines in order to avoid unpleasantness. There is enough of that in the world and the concept of a relaxing place where one can spend a few words and engage with others who have similar interests, without feeling threatened or mobbed, is fundamental to the aim of the group. "Come in, sit down and have a brew and a chat..." rather like neighbours used to do...
There are a number of locally connected groups on Facebook and other websites on the internet besides AW - I think each one has it's own validity and space/user-base eg Shutterfly for Ossy, Rishton-web, 50 shades of Accrington etc., I personally consult them all. They are all run by dedicated people who spend time and energy to keep them going. I don't think any of them was set up to be some form of threat or competition to AW.
It is not surprising that Morecambe Ex-pat (initials KW - I think...) did not last long in the group as his comments were found to be off-hand, critical and not in the spirit of exchange that is typical of HC - but then he set out to be displeased and did not give himself the time to settle, have a look around and take part genuinely - his loss I'm afraid. I was off-line when his exchanges took place and the others decided to block his intervention as a number of members complained about his comments, hence the ban. They informed me and I read through the relevant thread and picked up that the argument had been discussed here.
I still participate on AW when family commitments permit - mainly on DaveMac's great photo thread - and hope to continue doing so in the future. It is always nice to see some familiar names on both groups and have exchange with folk from my home-town.
By the way, robust discussion and exchange of opinion is encouraged on HC - particularly seen when politics is the topic for discussion - as long as it does not descend into personal insults and is reasoned. We do not discriminate against people on any grounds and hopefully have a wide range of members who reflect the whole area of Hyndburn. AW is always mentioned fondly as a member of the family would be...