How do you tell nicely tell someone their requests are not in scope? • Hacker News Board

Re: How do you tell nicely tell someone their requests are not in scope?

#11

Post by swalkergibson » Fri, May 06, 2011, 2:03 AM UTC

This is a terribly common refrain. Perhaps all freelance developers in a given area should collaborate (read: collude) and come up with an agreed upon, open source scope of work document framework? That way, setting aside variables like price, feature requests, and time estimates, there can at least be a common structure that developers in a particular geography can rally around to at least attempt to minimize the impact of this type of problem.

This is the precise reason why I am trying my best to come up with my next start up idea, client work is a drain...

Re: How do you tell nicely tell someone their requests are not in scope?

#12

Post by AmberShah » Fri, May 06, 2011, 2:58 AM UTC

arctangent wrote: post #10

I suggest that your client's apparent anger is nothing more than a negotiation tactic - whether they are consciously aware of this or not. If you have agreed a list of requirements and a price, and you have this written down and signed off by both parties, then you should stick to your guns. Giving in to your client's demands will most likely lead to them asking for more and more things not in the original list. They…

This is sort of what happened when they asked for the new features, we responded with estimates for that work and explained why it wasn't included ... they got pretty upset. Implied WE were the ones playing a game or something, when of course, from our end this is just totally straightforward.

Re: How do you tell nicely tell someone their requests are not in scope?

#13

Post by triviatise » Fri, May 06, 2011, 3:32 AM UTC

i would try to cut scope on other items or at least compare the value of this item to other items. To do this you need a deep understanding of the core value of the app and how each feature contributes to the value.

Ultimately tell him your bid is based on hours and you are fine to switch things around.

Re: How do you tell nicely tell someone their requests are not in scope?

#14

Post by LilValleyBigEgo » Fri, May 06, 2011, 4:48 AM UTC

You should take a class in project management.

Seriously. It will help a lot with this type of situation.