Spent $300 on a project management tool and it just made things worse...

I had this one person who kept changing their mind on every little detail. I thought a fancy online tracker would help us stay on the same page. It cost me about $300 for the year. Instead, they just used it to log more complaints at 2 AM. Now I'm stuck with it for the rest of the subscription. Has anyone else had a tool totally backfire with a difficult person?

3 comments

3 Comments

sam_cooper1d ago

So the tool basically just gave them a better weapon. Did you ever try to set rules for how to use it, or was it a free-for-all from the start?

kevinw941d ago

Ever read that thing about how bad tools in the hands of a bad process just make more noise? Your story is the perfect example. It's like giving a megaphone to someone who just wants to yell. I saw a post where someone's client used the comment history on a design tool not for feedback, but to build a list of every tiny change to argue about later. The tool gave them a perfect, time-stamped record to be difficult with. Makes you miss the days of messy email chains that people actually forgot about.

kim_mason551d ago

Forget the email chains, they were a mess too. That client would have just saved every single email reply instead. Bad clients find a way no matter what tool you give them. The real problem is working with people who want to fight over every comma. A comment history just shows their bad behavior more clearly, it doesn't create it.