Most clients and employers only think about 1-2 days ahead of the project. They want it done now.

“Take shortcuts”, “Fix it later” seem to be their war cry. They fail to remember that they change their minds at least 10 times during the development process. Those shortcuts they made us take, the ones they insisted we take to save a half a days work, they just added 2 - 3 days work of going through dirty code that wasn’t cleaned up or refactored. Let’s go ahead and multiply the time it adds if another developer must be the one to work on it.

Is this the Client’s fault? Partially. We should take some blame here too. We should have an answer or rebuttal why they should not take these shortcuts. We need to be able to convincingly give an argument that supports proper code architecture and design. Why taking the time to create something right is beneficial in the long run.

This is easier said than done. A lot of programmers just aren’t confrontational people, especially with their boss. A lot of bosses are. The boss generally mows them down with phrases like, “it needs to be done yesterday”, and, “We’re losing money by not having this right now”. Unknowingly, they probably put the project behind by not having a plan and enforcing a rush from step to step in the project.

Should you stand up for yourself?

I say, “Absolutely!”. If the man (or woman) in charge is any kind of reasonable, then they will respect your opinions. After all, this is what they hired and continue to pay you for. You will have to sell the reason why you do something, especially when at first glance it seems to take longer than rushing through the project. If you don’t and the project takes too long from you caving in to the pressure of your client, they will only blame you. You will not have any excuses, because theirs will be, “I thought you knew what you were doing”, or, “Why didn’t you tell me that was the wrong way”.

How to avoid being misinterpreted and being looked at like a person who just thrives on arguments.

I don’t know if I can be much help here. I’m always being misinterpreted as I shoot from the hip, rather crudely sometimes. In my old age I’m starting to be a little more manipulative considerate and helping others understand me better. I’m starting to reflect more on what I can do to ultimately get the job done. This means being able to identify the feature and benefits of proper development procedures. Identify how it will either make life easier or make the person more money. This can be by cutting future development costs (future can be within the same project when the client changes his mind) or by creating a better product due to the extra time you’ll have not sorting through the undocumented spaghetti code you wrote just 3 weeks ago.

Unfortunately, sometimes standing up for yourself or telling the client no will ultimately lead to a dismissal of your services. Whether it be an employer or a client, these things can happen. You need to decide what your limit is, and whether it’s for the best. I’ve always felt that most clients must be saved from their ignorance.