> Consultants usually earn more money the longer a project takes, and their income is not tied to the yields of the project.
Well... that seems oversimplification. When I consult, I ask the price roughly based on the estimation of how much time I'm going to take, but ultimately it is the matter that how much value the client sees in the outcome. Note that the expected outcome and the price are agreed beforehand---if I bump into an unforeseen obstacle and take twice time as my estimation, I can't ask them twice price; basically the more I work, the less I make per hour.
So (1) I have a very strong incentive to make sure my part works in time, and (2) There's less incentive to finish the work earlier than the initial estimation. Thus I tend to put effort to write tests and debugging aids within the time frame (or, in other words, I try to negotiate initial time frame including those tests).
Certainly there's a different pressure on employees; they may adjust priorities and time frames more frequently.
So, it is true that consultants make more money the longer the project takes, but the incentive is in making sure it won't take longer than expected, rather than making it take longer deliberately. (After all, if the consultant is doing ok, there are projects in waiting list so it's not much point to taking one project longer than necessary.)
Comments
> Consultants usually earn more money the longer a project takes, and their income is not tied to the yields of the project.
Well... that seems oversimplification. When I consult, I ask the price roughly based on the estimation of how much time I'm going to take, but ultimately it is the matter that how much value the client sees in the outcome. Note that the expected outcome and the price are agreed beforehand---if I bump into an unforeseen obstacle and take twice time as my estimation, I can't ask them twice price; basically the more I work, the less I make per hour.
So (1) I have a very strong incentive to make sure my part works in time, and (2) There's less incentive to finish the work earlier than the initial estimation. Thus I tend to put effort to write tests and debugging aids within the time frame (or, in other words, I try to negotiate initial time frame including those tests).
Certainly there's a different pressure on employees; they may adjust priorities and time frames more frequently.
So, it is true that consultants make more money the longer the project takes, but the incentive is in making sure it won't take longer than expected, rather than making it take longer deliberately. (After all, if the consultant is doing ok, there are projects in waiting list so it's not much point to taking one project longer than necessary.)