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I'm team tead and working in service based IT company and I worked as a dedicated developer on one of the project which is based on middle east.

As a part of the dedicated job, I have to go through so and so requirement given by client.

At times, he is giving some task to me to implement some feature and after some days he overturned and telling me to implement in other way. I reminding him that earlier you told me to implement task in this way now you are making change in requirement but he telling that I did not told you.

It feels not good to me in this situation.

I m in jeopardy situation as I'm working as dedicated developer and timesheet is going weekly basis with ample of hours so can not deny to manager.

What should I do?

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    How is he communicating requests to you? In person? Phone? Email?
    – sf02
    Dec 12, 2018 at 17:45
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    usually in skype call
    – Softec
    Dec 12, 2018 at 17:47
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    @MageSoftech At the end of the call, tell him to submit the requests in writing so that they can be properly documented. Don't work on anything not in writing.
    – sf02
    Dec 12, 2018 at 17:59

3 Answers 3

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You should require everything in writing from your client.

  • After a phone call, write back to your client with what has been discussed and ask for confirmation before working on it.

  • If it's already written, write back to the client requiring confirmation when a task conflicts with a previous requirement. Include the previous email, with dates and some context on the previous requirement.

Ask your manager to shield you from those requests.

  • Your manager should work directly with the client and then to dispatch the tasks back to you so you can focus on development and not lose time on "client management".
  • If that's not possible, explain to your manager that the client often changes his mind and that it impacts the hours you have to work/bill. He might advise you a course of action.

Did you talk with your manager to explain the situation? It is possible that your manager doesn't care, in that case it is up to you to judge if you can keep going in that direction (your mental/physical health is important!) or if it's time for a change.

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    can not able to prepare minutes of meeting for short call. As daily 10-12 times a day have to take a call for small set of tasks. Manager does not care what I can do he told me bill should not stop in any way.
    – Softec
    Dec 12, 2018 at 17:49
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    @MageSoftech If you can spend hours working on it, you can spend five or ten minutes writing it up and sending it to the client for approval. Getting these things in writing, either by them writing them or you writing them, is vital. Dec 13, 2018 at 16:48
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ChrisR explains a good standard procedure you should make a habit of.

In your comment you said, your manager doesn't care and intends to bill the client anyways so:

DO WHATEVER YOUR CLIENT TELLS YOU.

INFORM your manager about every new request that results in hours to be billed in the invoice.
(one end of day email to your manager is sufficient and less time consuming for you - same for emails to the client)

Rinse and repeat until either the manager starts to care or the client signs off on the project final.

... enjoy the realities of dealing with clients...

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Just tell your manager the client reneged and refuses to admit it. Your only real problem here is explaining how you've used your time, primarily why you were doing something the client claims not to have wanted. Frankly, this is your manager's fight not yours. You just need to keep working towards the goal which in this case is satisfying your client. As long as you're doing that you should be fine.

You should get clients to submit everything in writing moving forward. You'll also need to change implementation to meet your client's needs.

Other than that, you need to have some f*** you money. Work towards saving a years worth of pay after taxes. If you do that, you can choose to say "f*** you" to troublesome clients by walking away and not worry about what happens when you lose your job or lose your pay from not completing their project. It's important to know how to handle the situation you're in, but it's more important to put yourself in a position where you don't have to put up with it. This will help you out a lot in the long term.

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