Week 81: How Do You Let Someone Go?

Hello gorgeous people, I hope everyone is having a splendid time. I wish I could say the same for myself. I have to get something off my chest. It is with deep regret that this week I may be making one of my biggest decisions to date. The decision between keeping or letting someone go? It's a biggie for me as I'm such a softy. But if truth be told, keeping this person on board will be detrimental for the project. I know I’m not alone, nor will I be the first person going through this. People often say; if someone has caused a loss or made big mistakes, kick their backside onto the curb, that should do it etc. Really?? We’re dealing with people and it is not as clear cut as that. Amongst the black and white there are a lot of grey’s. So without further ado I can declare that we have a problematic Project Manager (PM) on our hands.

It was agreed that he would manage the build side of things to ensure the project runs smoothly on time and within budgets. None of which have materialised. If it was one or the other you could’ve worked something out but how do you ignore the omission of both these areas? I am not happy with the way he has managed the project to date and because of this we are in deep waters. I get that it's Covid but he has taken the concept of remote working to another level. During the early days there was a lot of structural work going on on-site and that he didn't need to be there often. But fast forward a few months he’s still hardly ever there. None of the neighbours have seen him (they know us very well). Sub-contractors can only recall seeing him thrice and that too with us. 

There was a period of 5 odd weeks just after Christmas where he completely went off the grid. I gave him the benefit of doubt thinking that things generally quieten down in January. This wasted time has now come to bite us as the project deadline is on the horizon, could've really done with the extra few weeks. We are now having to deal with the lender's constant push as they fear we will not complete on time and not give us any scope to move forward. All this quite frankly because he’s not pulling his weight. 

Also, a major gross misconduct as far as I'm concerned is the budget. Our PM had wrongly calculated that the renovation will cost around £76,000 and in reality the figures are looking more like £110,000 and this is me being conservative. We have sat and contacted all the subcontractors to give us an estimate of what's outstanding and what's left to purchase. All in all another £40,000 worth of work to do. Stage one spend was £39,279, stage two £32,697 and stage three £39,700 giving a total of £110,000 and not the £76k that he had budgeted for. The Bridger’s are adamant that they will not give us a single penny over the £76k so how/where do we go from here? How on earth will we manage this shortfall? Under no circumstances can I afford to have the house repossessed or stop work as it still costs me to keep an unfinished house. 

I can see exactly what happened and why we are in this mess. This so-called PM was way too ambitious for his own good and this overconfidence coupled with ‘I am invincible’ persona’ (in his head) has led to our demise. He had many projects going on as well as ours. But my question to him is, why take this many jobs in the first place if you are unable to stay on top of it? As a result he is so disorderly, forever running around like a headless chicken. But he should've said no (to us), when do you draw the line? 

Finally, last but not least; he had his eyes on the garden and got all carried away thinking he could construct a new-build on that plot. Yes the garden was enormous and did show some potential. Although, there were too many factors to consider. He ought to have known better. He shouldn't have taken a gamble at our expense. As a client of his, there was a certain duty of care that was expected from someone of his caliber.  The primary project should always be work regardless of what proposal you may have in mind for the future. Is this something you can relate to? How would you contain your anger and bring this to his attention in a diplomatic and amicable way?