Subcontractor Ps & Qs

 

Most articles on the subject of subcontractors are aimed at helping people avoid associated pitfalls. Rife with warnings and woeful tales, these articles address the concerns of the contracting organization. However, working as the subcontractor has its own set of challenges worth exploring. While being subcontracted to work on a project can be a boon to business--business acquisition costs may be low or virtually nothing--providing your typical standard of excellent service will probably become more complex.

A typical barrier you may encounter when subcontracted on a project is no direct access to the client or end users. Since work is often subcontracted to a firm with specific expertise in an area that does not exist within the contracting group, conflicting goals and a lack of understanding--or worse, unrealistic expectations--about your work process may also present challenges. Finally, you have the added stress of needing to make two parties happy, the contractor and the client (not to mention the end users).

My most recent experience in this area is within the context of a subcontracting arrangement somewhat typical in Web development. Our technical design and development focused organization was hired by a Web design company that focuses on content and "look and feel." While they would provide the html and content, we would provide the back-end functionality, …

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