| 1)
I have a business (or personal) project I need completed. How does
vWorker.com help me? |
| |
vWorker.com lets you plow through your excess workload, staff up
instantaneously, and get a hand with personal chores...and lets you do it
faster, better and cheaper than with traditional help.
Just post your project here and it will be distributed to
300,715 workers
around the world, who will eagerly bid to complete your project. The results are
amazingly quick: within 24 hours you will usually have
12.4 bids. You can find the
best worker by reviewing each bidder's responses, resume,
certifications and
previous work history (including comments and ratings left by
previous employers).
Once you find a worker that
you like, you can hire
them on the spot.
Unlike traditional workers, your virtual worker's work is
guaranteed.
And if your deadline is
especially tight, you can require your worker to further guarantee
on-time completion with a forfeitable deposit called the
Expert Guarantee.
And unlike
some
of our competitors we don't charge you a posting fee, service charge or
finder's fees.
So you can try it completely for free and without any obligation. Just click
"Post my project" below to give it a try.
| |
Back to top |
| 2)
What protections are there for employers? |
| |
vWorker.com has a number of features to protect you:
-
Financial
Our unique and industry-leading money-back guarantees
allows you to stop worrying about finances and concentrate on your project. Click here for more details.
-
Background research:
Choosing the right worker is crucial to the success of your project.
But with a traditional consultant, you have to rely on
resumes and work histories which are all to often
"fudged". On vWorker.com, we give you a much clearer picture of your
potential worker
with an array of tools that let you make a more educated choice:
-
Ratings/comments: Past employers
leave ratings and comments so that you know how a potential
worker actually performed in the past.
Unlike some competing sites, these ratings are protected with a
double-blind system, so you know they're accurate
and free from retaliatory ratings and rating-exchanges.
-
Certifications: A traditional consultant can claim
they took a class that they didn't, or are certified in something they
aren't. But on vWorker.com,
all certifications are conducted and verified through
ExpertRating.
You can view your potential worker's
actual score on thousands of ExpertRating tests
in hundreds of different subject areas.
-
Mediation/arbitration record: View your potential worker's
mediation/arbitration history and read detailed information from the arbitrator on the
final findings. This lets you learn more about how they behave when working on
real-life projects.
-
Posting a project:
-
Crucial deadline: The vWorker.com money-back guarantee protect your money if a worker doesn't deliver.
However, if you have a critical deadline, it may be more important to you to pick the most
committed and expert
worker in the first place...rather than having to exercise those guarantees.
If this is your
situation, then you can require your
worker to place an
Expert Guarantee. This means they put down a
forfeitable deposit. If they fully complete the
contract, they will get the deposit back, but if they don't, they will lose it.
This is a excellent tool to find a worker who
is fully committed to your project. (Click here for full details on the
Expert Guarantee).
- Trade secrets: If you need to protect trade secrets
(i.e. intellectual property or IP),
vWorker.com
offers a
non-disclosure agreement
feature
for maximum legal protection of your IP.
If you need to protect programming source-code, the
Chaperon environment will do this through creation, transport,
storage and retrieval.
- Assistance: If you have difficult choosing the best worker for your situation, a Rent
a worker
Facilitator
with experience in project management is available to assist you in choosing the
best worker for your needs.
-
When working with a worker:
-
Escrow: Rather than making a risky advance payment to your chosen
worker (and
perhaps losing your money and getting nothing in return) you
escrow the funds with vWorker.com. Then, only when you've
100% verified the deliverables/timecard, do you authorize it's release.
Click here for more details on money-back guarantees.
-
Legal:
Should you ever get into a dispute over any of the money-back guarantees,
you can enlist the help of a 3rd party, for free. Just place the bid into
arbitration with a vWorker.com
arbitrator. They will determine what has actually been delivered
(or not) and the
worker
(and yourself) have already
pre-agreed to abide by their decision.
Click here to view additional
security,
safety and reliability features.
| |
Back to top |
| 3)
What does this service cost? |
| |
There are no posting fees, service charges or finder's fees
charged to you as
an employer
(unlike some competitors).
The service is paid for by the worker, who pays a
transaction fee once the transaction is completed.
| |
Back to top |
| 4)
How do I physically pay the worker? |
| |
With a traditional contractor, you often have to make a risky advance payment
to get them to begin work (and sometimes even additional advance
payments at various milestones). Unfortunately, this can result in you
losing some of all of your money.
On vWorker.com, you do not pay the worker
directly. Instead you escrow the amount via credit card, PayPal,
postal mail check or
bank to bank
wire transfer with vWorker.com. (Note: wire transfer involves a
small surcharge
to cover our expenses). Only after the contract is
fulfilled and you sign off on the deliverables/timecard, are the
escrowed funds released to the
worker.
If the virtual worker
fails to deliver on any of the money-back
guarantees, you can immediately place the project into
arbitration, where we verify your money-back guarantee
preconditions and refund your money.
| |
Back to top |
| 5)
What is the difference between pay-for-deliverables and pay-for-time? |
| |
In pay-for-deliverables you pay the worker for the final deliverables, and
this method gives you the most protections.
In pay-for-time you pay the worker for the hours they've worked, and it's the
cheapest and most flexible way to pay.
Click here for more details on both payment types.
| |
Back to top |
| 7)
I've heard I can save 40-80% by choosing a worker from an
emerging economy. What are the pros and cons of employing this type of worker? |
| |
It's true that workers from
emerging economies are often happy to do the same work for 40-80% less than a worker in
a mature economy. These workers pay substantially less for rent, food, goods and services as people in mature
economies, so it can be a mutually beneficial economic deal for both parties.
However, these same countries
do not offer the intellectual property protections that mature economies do, which
could be important to you. Additionally, there are other factors to consider. Below
are the pros and cons of each type of worker, so you can choose the best for your situation.
Emerging economy (includes most countries. Examples: Romania, India, China, etc.)
| |
Pros:
- Cost: Price charged is often 40-80% cheaper than a
worker from a mature economy.
|
| |
Cons:
- Legal: If your project involves intellectual property (IP)
that you need to protect, the
worker's country may not
have any laws that are enforceable to protect it. As an
extreme example: an unethical
worker might try to
resell your IP to others, and you might not be able to
enforce a non-disclosure agreement, nor sue them for
damages. If this is a concern, then consult with your
attorney concerning the IP laws in the country you are
considering, before hiring them. (Note: Regardless of
the laws in a country...if the above scenario
happened, vWorker.com.com would
ban the worker
permanently from the site).
- Time Zone: The worker's time zone may not match
yours very closely. In extreme cases, it may be night for
the worker when it is your morning (and vice versa), which
can make prompt communication difficult. If this is a
concern, then ask the worker how they will deal with the
difference, before hiring them.
|
|
Mature economy (U.S., Western Europe or Australia)
| |
Pros:
- Legal: If you have intellectual property (IP) you
wish to protect, there are strong penalties that you can
enforce on someone who tried to take it. In an extreme case,
this includes the ability to enforce a non-disclosure
agreement as well as sue the other party in court.
- Time Zone: The worker's
time zone may match yours
fairly closely. If it does, you can communicate faster
and contact them quicker in the event of an emergency.
- Buying Locally: You may prefer to buy from your
own country (i.e. "Buy American" or "Buy Locally") whenever
you can.
|
| |
Cons:
- Cost: Price charged is often 200-300% more than a
worker from an emerging economy.
|
|
A final factor to consider is
the English proficiency of your worker
(which is often related to the economy type). If English is a second or third
language, you
may experience communication delays or breakdowns that affect the speed of your
project.
When you post your project, vWorker.com lets you choose your economy preference
(emerging, mature or both) and English proficiency preference (native, non-native, both).
| |
Back to top |
| 8)
What is a preferred payment method and how does it help my selected worker? |
| |
When you escrow funds via a means that is cheaper for
vWorker.com to accept and process, vWorker.com passes the savings on to the worker. If
you use either a bank to bank wire transfer or snail mail check to escrow all of
the funds for the project, the winning worker receives a
vWorker.com fee
reduction of
2.5% from the
normal fee that they would pay. This can be a great way to reward a worker
with extra money with no extra effort on your part. The preferred payment
discount began on
8/26/2004.
| |
Back to top |
| 10)
How much do wire transfers cost? |
| |
Wire transfers involve a small surcharge to cover our expenses.
|
|
Domestic (sent from within the United States):
$15.00 (USD
)
|
| |
|
| International
(sent from outside the United States):
$40.00 (USD
)
|
|
| |
Back to top |
| 11)
How are employer and worker disputes handled (arbitration)? |
| |
85-90% of transactions are completed harmoniously, but sometimes
an employer and worker cannot come to an agreement. If this happens
to you then you can simply
request one of the
vWorker.com
arbitrators
place the project into arbitration to determine if the contract was met or not. During
a court-like process, the arbitrator follows the rules of arbitration to determine
what has and has not been delivered, and may even test the final deliverables to
verify an employer's flaw list. (For complete details, see the complete rules
of arbitration in either the
employer
or
worker
legal agreements). To ensure fairness, all parties have already agreed
in advance to abide by the vWorker.com settlement.
| |
Back to top |
| 13)
I need help choosing a bid/worker. Can you help? |
| |
The best way of choosing a worker depends on whether or not
you have a deadline that you need your project finished by. Put another
way, the best way depends on whether you have more time than money, or money than
time:
If you have a deadline (more money than time):
The single most important criteria in evaluating a worker is his/her previous
experience on the site (followed closely by their job skills).
Narrow down your virtual workers only to ones that:
-
Have done work on the site before in your price range (click on their name to
see their work history). Don't pick a $100 a job worker to do your $10,000 job
and vice versa. Make sure the worker has received favorable ratings from
past employers. If a worker has 2 or 3 or below average ratings (below 5)
then that is a warning sign. You may wish to skip them and move on to
another.
-
Have a resume that matches your project requirements(click on their name to see
their resume). The closer their resume is to the skills required to accomplish
your current project, the better.
-
Are ExpertRating
certified in the important areas of your project.
-
(If your deadline is critical) Are
willing to guarantee completion with
an Expert Guarantee.
This is an excellent tool to identify the most committed and experts
bidders.
The #1 mistake that inexperienced employers with time frames
make is picking the cheapest worker. This generally means the worker has
no work experience or history on the site. Then, when the project is
not completed on time (or at all) by their
'discount worker', they are stuck in a
bind. (Yes the
vWorker.com
money-back guarantees protect their
money, but they can never recover the time. So, if your timeline
is important, don't make this mistake.
If you have NO deadline (more time than money):
Time is on your side and you should strongly consider taking a chance on
a worker with little or no work experience on the site.
You can generally get quite a discount this way, and you
can do it safely, since the
vWorker.com
Safe Project Escrow
protects your money should they not deliver. In the worst case you can
simply pick another worker at no charge, but in the best case you pick up your project
for substantially less money. This can result in getting the project
done for a lot less money.
Another issue that many English-speaking employers have, is
whether or not they should consider virtual workers where English is not the country's first
language. These virtual workers can be 50-75% less expensive than native-English
speakers and so this is a very good question. The answer depends on your
situation. If you have a well defined project (meaning a thorough, well-laid
out requirements document), then choosing a non-native worker can be a great way
to save a lot of money. However, if you have a less well defined project,
then you will be relying a lot on the worker to communicate with you to 'flesh' out
your deliverables. If this is your case, you may wish to consider using a
native English speaking worker. If you would still like to try a non-native-English
worker...make sure that you can understand them and that they understand you in your
correspondence.
One additional issue is that of confidential and proprietary
information. If you have a project that involves this type of information,
you should first be getting any worker you are considering, to sign a
non-disclosure agreement (NDA)
Agreement (NDA) to protect that information. However these agreements
(like any contract) have no teeth if the country the worker is from doesn't enforce
them. If the worker is from such a country and walks away with your secrets,
you may not have much recourse. So to protect yourself, after having
your attorney draw up an NDA, ask them which countries you should avoid. Generally
1st world countries have excellent intellectual property laws and agreements, but
you start to take a risk once you go to a country that is either 2nd world or a
developing country. Your lawyer can advise you of the specifics depending
on your contract, and make more specific recommendations.
Finally, if you're still lost and need some help choosing
a worker...you can always contact the
facilitator
with your project URL along with your 'short list' of virtual workers (if any) and they
can give you some advice.
| |
Back to top |
| 14)
What is a bulletin board auction and how do I post one? |
| |
The new Bulletin Board auction has more lenient posting
rules than the Project auctions. This bulletin board auction is ideal
for:
- Job position postings
- Announcements
- Requests for pre-completed projects
- Any other situations that do not fit into either of the
pay-for-deliverables or pay-for-time
payment methods.
For more information as well as information on posting a bulletin board auction,
please see: Bulletin Board Auction Info.
| |
Back to top |
| 15)
What is the Expert Guarantee?
|
| |
The Expert Guarantee is a useful feature, if you happen to be
an employer and...
- ...have a crucial deadline and MUST find an expert who will finish the project on time.
- ...OR...have too many "look-alike" bidders and aren't sure how to separate the experts from the amateurs.
The Expert Guarantee is also useful, if you happen to be
an expert worker, whose bids are getting crowded out by a throng of less qualified bidders.
|
|
| |
| If you fall into any of the above categories, then the
Expert Guarantee solves your problem, by quickly connecting expert workers with serious employers. Here is how it works. At the beginning of the project, the expert worker
puts their own money "on the line", to prove that they have the skill to complete the project and are also 100% committed to completing it on time. They do this by placing a deposit into escrow, which is a percentage of the bid amount (for example 10%).
|
| |
- If the expert worker completes the contract as promised (100% by the deadline), then they receive the deposit back (along with full payment for the work, as usual).
- If the expert worker does not complete the contract, then they
forfeit the deposit. The deposit is used to pay for the employer's cancellation charge, and the remainder is donated to a non-profit charity. (The money is not kept by vWorker.com nor the employer).
- If the employer is responsible for the project failing (for example: by pulling out prematurely, withholding important information, etc.) then the worker
receives back the deposit. A worker does this via the arbitration process.
|
| (Note: To reimburse vWorker.com for the cost of processing the deposit, the worker
is sometimes charged a small, non-refundable
processing fee when making their deposit. The worker
can eliminate or reduce this fee by choosing a less expensive method of payment). |
| |
| The above is merely a brief overview of the Expert Guarantee feature, and there are many additional important details that are not included here. Please DO NOT USE THIS FEATURE, until you've read and understood all of those details. Links to frequently asked questions and the detailed legal agreements are below: |
| |
|
|
| |
Back to top |
| 16)
On what types of projects can I require Expert Guarantee?
|
| |
You can require
Expert Guarantee
on any project that is large enough to justify the additional overhead, and long
enough to handle the possible delay of verification. So you can require
it on any project that is one of the following types:
- Enterprise Business Project:
$50,000.00 (USD
)+
- Very Large Business Project:
$25,000.00 (USD
)+
- Large Business Project:
$5,000.00 (USD
)+
- Medium Business Project:
$500.00 (USD
)
- Small Business Project:
$100.00 (USD
)+
- Unsure of Project Price or Beginner Assistance
...and has a minimum deadline of
3
days.
| |
Back to top |
| 17)
What are the minimum and maximum percentages I can set for
the Expert Guarantee |
| |
The
Expert Guarantee can be
from
3.5%
to
100%
of the bid. The typical percentage is
10%.
| |
Back to top |
| 18)
How long do I have to wait for the worker to make
their Expert Guarantee?
|
| |
The worker has up to
3
business days to make their
Expert Guarantee. During
that time we also send them daily email notifications to prompt them to respond. Please
do realize that the worker's circumstances may have drastically changed since the
time they initially bid (for example, they may have won additional projects in the
meantime and no longer have spare capacity). As a result they may choose
to decline your project during this time at no penalty (other than noting the incident
as a neutral item on their rating).
Once the worker escrows the
Expert Guarantee you will
both be notified and work will begin.
If for some reason, the worker neither escrows funds, nor declines the
project in
3
business days, they will receive a negative rating. If this happens,
you will be notified and can choose to switch to another worker at no charge.
Due to the delay usually required for a worker to complete the escrowing
of the
Expert Guarantee, it
is not recommended to use
Expert Guarantee
on a project with a very short deadline.
| |
Back to top |
| 19)
If I choose to extend the deadline for the worker, how does that affect
the Expert Guarantee?
|
| |
If you extend the deadline, then the old deadline is discarded
and the newest one is enforced. As long as the worker completes the work
100% by the newest deadline, they will receive back their
Expert Guarantee.
| |
Back to top |
| 20)
Why are forfeited
Expert Guarantees donated to
charity?
|
| |
After covering the employer's cancellation charge, the remainder
of the
Expert Guarantee
is donated to charity. We do not keep the funds, so as to avoid even
the appearance of a conflict of interest during the arbitration process.
| |
Back to top |
| 21)
What if I don't know how much to set my maximum bid to?
|
| |
If you are unsure of how much your project or problem is
worth, you can leave the bid blank and workers
will suggest different bid amounts
to you.
| |
Back to top |
| 22)
How can I accept more than one bid/worker on my project?
|
| |
To choose more than one, go to the "messages summary" section
of the project. Then click on "Accept More than One Bidder's Bid"
and follow the prompts.
| |
Back to top |
| 23)
How long do I have to accept a bid?
|
| |
You have until your self-specified bidding expiration date
to accept a bid (which you can modify at any time). After this, the site
will give you an additional week to further decide on a worker. If you
still haven't selected a worker at that point, the system will close out your
project so as not to clutter up the site with 'dead' projects. If
this happens, and you change your mind and want to reopen the project,
you can click on "Reactivate this project" in your
project control panel to reopen it.
| |
Back to top |
| 24)
I've hidden one or more bidders, but now want to review them again. How can I view or restore a bidder I've hidden?
|
| |
To view or restore a bidder you've hidden from your project
page, do the following: First go to your project page, and
click on the "Show bidders I've hidden" checkbox.
The hidden bidders will show up in grey with the heading "This bidder was hidden
by you". To restore them, click on the hide/unhide check box to the right
of the bidder and then click on the hide/unhide button.
| |
Back to top |
| 25)
Can I setup milestones and/or negotiate partial payments for milestones?
|
| |
Yes. Simply negotiate these with your worker before
beginning work. When you accept work at each milestone completion, you
can use the 'accept work' feature to accept a percentage of the entire payment rather
than 100%.
| |
Back to top |
| 27)
Is contact information allowed in projects and bids? How
about in projects > $500?
|
| |
To protect our fee, contact information is never allowed
in any bid, no matter what the project amount. However, to facilitate
the requirements gathering stage of larger projects, the site "Information Release"
system allows the worker to release information to you without having to post contact
information. For complete information click here
| |
Back to top |
| 28)
What information in my project and bids is private and what isn't?
|
| |
|
The Worker and Employer may exchange one or more bids and
replies on the project. Exhedra wishes to make clear in this section
exactly what is shown and what is not shown to other people on the site
regarding projects and bidding. |
| |
| Profiles: |
| |
Both employer and worker profiles are publicly available. Profiles are
viewable by clicking on the person's name at various places on the site,
including bids, projects and ratings. 3rd party search engines
outside of the control of Exhedra (such as Google) may index and show these
profiles on their sites. If you wish to keep your identity private,
you are advised to use the 'Screen Name' feature of the site and use a name
different than you real name or company. |
Open Auctions (with no NDA):
|
Project Details: (description, etc.)
|
Project details are viewable by the public.
|
Bids/Replies:
|
While the bidding is open, the auction is conducted as a 'closed
auction' and bidders cannot see the bids placed by other bidders.
Once a winning bidder is chosen, the accepted bid (made by the winning bidder),
and the last bids (made by losing bidders) are made public and are viewable by
the general public... to show that a fair and honest auction was
conducted. This does include the screennames and site links of the bidders.
Everything else remains private...including the text and attachments of all
comments made. The project page itself is removed from general public
access on the site's search system. However, the general public can view the
title of the project on the winning bidder's resume. Clicking on the link
will allow a person from the general public to view the project itself and
the information stated above. Additionally, 3rd party search engines outside of
the control of Exhedra (such as Google) may index and show this information on
their sites.
If an employer wishes to hide the details of their open project from the general public,
they may choose to 'privatize' the open project once a worker is chosen.
This converts it into a private auction (see below) which, as the name implies, is much more hidden.
Click here for instructions on how to do this.
|
Open Auctions (with NDA):
|
Project Details: (description, etc.)
|
Project details are viewable only by those Workers whom the Employer
approves for viewing by accepting their NDA. The general
public or those rejected may only view the "Pre NDA" message that the
Employer posts for the public.
|
Bids/Replies:
|
While the bidding is open, the auction is conducted as a 'closed
auction' and bidders cannot see the bids placed by other bidders.
Once a winning bidder is chosen, the accepted bid (made by the winning
bidder), and the last bids (made by losing bidders) are made viewable by those Workers who had their NDA
approved by the Employer...to show that a fair and honest auction was conducted. This does include the screennames and site links of the bidders. Everything
else remains private...including the text and attachments of all comments made.
The project page itself
is removed from general public access on the site's search system.
However, the general public can view the title of the project on the
winning bidder's resume. Clicking on the link, however, does not
allow a person from the general public to view the project itself.
|
Private and One-on-one auctions
|
Project Details: (description, etc.)
|
Project details are viewable only by those Workers whom the Employer
invites to the auction. The general public may not view the project
details.
|
Bids/Replies:
|
While the bidding is open, the auction is conducted as a 'closed
auction' and bidders cannot see the bids placed by other bidders.
Once a winning bidder is chosen, the accepted bid (made by the winning
bidder), and the last bids (made by losing bidders) are made viewable only to those Workers whom the Employer
invited to the auction...to show that a fair and honest auction was conducted. This does include the screennames and site links of the bidders. Everything
else remains private...including the text and attachments of all comments made. The project page itself
is removed from general public access on the site's search system.
However, the general public can view the title of the project on the
winning bidder's resume. Clicking on the link, however, does not
allow a person from the general public to view the project itself.
|
| |
Back to top |
| 29)
Why would I want to privatize my project?
|
| |
In order to demonstrate to the public (or the invited workers in a private auction, or your approved workers on an NDA auction) that auctions are being conducted in a fair and open manner, the top-level bids made by workers on certain auction types are made viewable to them after a final worker is selected. (IMPORTANT: This applies ONLY to the top-level bids made by the workers. The private low-level/private bids made by you and/or the worker are NEVER shown. For a more complete explanation please see the open project privacy explanation section of your Employer Agreement).
In addition to top-level bid information, other parties may be able to see your project by clicking on the worker's ratings (again please see the agreement as there are major exceptions. The public may see project details on open auctions, but private auctions are more restricted, and NDA auctions do not allow any viewing of the project).When the public can see the project details, 3rd party search engines beyond the control of Exhedra (such as Google) may index your project page and show it in their search engine.
Some employers may not wish to have this information known. If you wish to hide the details of your project from the public, you can do so by 'privatizing' your project. This changes your auction from an open project to a private project to better protect you, while still allowing your selected worker and yourself full access. This can be done on a project by project basis, or you can set a setting in your profile to automatically privatize every future project, the moment you choose the worker
| |
Back to top |
| 30)
How do I privatize my project?
|
| |
You can privatize individual projects from the control
panel of your project. Or you can choose to auto-privatize all future
projects that you choose worker's on, using the
auto-privatize feature
| |
Back to top |
| 31)
How does auto-privatize work?
|
| |
Auto privatize automatically converts your open auctions
into private auctions after you select a worker. It's a handy feature
that combines the flexibility of an open project during bidding, and the privacy
of a private project once you select your worker. It works like this:
- Before you select a worker, your auction is open to the public, so that virtual workers can
bid (this is necessary because you don't yet know which worker you wish
to pick, and normal private auctions require you to provide an invitation list of
authorized virtual workers...which you cannot yet create).
- Once you select a worker, the
site automatically converts the auction to a private auction and auto-invites your
selected worker. This enables only you and the worker to access the
project from this point on.
You can activate auto-privatize by checking the box in 'My alerts/other'
in the Employers menu, under 'My account'. It's important
to understand that when you first activate this feature, it can only convert new
auctions (when #2, above, occurs). Any old auctions where you've already
chosen a worker will not be converted. However, you can privatize individually,
as described above.
| |
Back to top |
| 33)
What is ExpertRating Certification and how does it work?
|
| |
Click here
for full details on the ExpertRating certification program.
| |
Back to top |
| 34)
The workers
I hired keep
missing deadlines. What can I do to stop this?
|
| |
Calculating a Realistic Delivery Date from a Worker's Estimate:
|
Do you have a good worker, whose only problem is that they can't seem to deliver on time?
This is actually very typical in many industries.
For example, the Standish Group found that there is a 75% chance that
any software project will not be delivered in the time estimated, and
other industries are similar.
The good news is that there
are ways to manage this. By completing the
vWorker.com
requirements wizard, you can greatly increase the chances of on-time delivery. But
even this is not enough, because a competent worker can still estimate incorrectly
despite this.
To avoid an unpleasant surprise, we highly recommend that you
take the delivery date that your worker estimated and calculate a realistic delivery
date. That date will be either 5x or 2x longer than the
worker estimated. You will not reveal this date to the worker, nor will
you enter it into the site as an official date (since that would defeat the purpose).
Instead, if the worker misses a milestone deadline and is still doing a good job,
you will dole out some of the extra slack time that you have. And if they
are not doing a good job, then you can still hold them accountable to the original
date, and take the project into arbitration for a refund
(via your money-back guarantee). This puts you in
the driver seat.
Why are competent workers so bad at estimating?
There are a number of reasons. The main ones are:
|
Only 25% of projects are completed on time. 50% are late/over budget and 25%
never get delivered at all.
|
- Unforeseeable problems:
Many of the problems that come up during development are unforeseeable.
If you have ever started a "simple" home improvement project and later found it
was much more complicated than you realized, then you know first hand how programming
can be...even for the experts.
- Misunderstood/unclear requirements:
When the requirements are unclear, the worker usually underestimates what it
takes to build your project. To
use an analogy, they may estimate your project as if you wanted a
comfortable house. Only mid-project do they
realize that you were expecting the Taj Mahal, and realize that
they under estimated.
So, how do I handle this?
With a few simple but innovative management techniques, you can handle this problem so that it doesn't derail your project:
- The Realistic Estimate:
Take the worker's estimate and secretly calculate a more realistic
estimate by multiplying their estimated time by 5. If the worker has given
you the estimate after all of the requirements have been fully documented in a formal
document (and/or prototype) and finalized, then you only need to multiply it by
2. (Click here to learn where
these numbers come from.) Then, use this realistic estimate in your planning,
rather than the worker's estimate.
It's important that you NEVER share your realistic
estimate with the worker. If they feel they have too time to spare, they
will not work as hard on your project and it will defeat the whole purpose of this
technique. Do NOT enter the date into the vWorker.com web site or put it
anywhere where the worker might learn about it. Instead keep it like a secret in
your "back pocket".
- Managing a missed deadline:
Managing missed deadlines properly actually begins
before the worker starts your
project.
If you wait until the end of your project to start managing them, your options will
be much more limited than if you did it earlier. To do this, tell
the worker that before they start,
they must list out all of the
tasks in the project and how long they will take to reach each milestone.
Each task length should be 2 days or less. If it comes out to be more, then
they should split into smaller sub tasks that are 2 days or less. This method
has been
proven to produce more accurate estimates.
Then let them start the work and have them report to you when each
task is complete. If they finish every task as planned, then that is great.
But if they don't (which is more likely), then the minute they miss one, tell them
to re-estimate it (and the remaining items, as described below). Remember,
the slippage won't cause you a problem, because you will have accounted for it in
your realistic estimate.
- How a worker should re-estimate tasks:
It's important that the worker re-estimate properly. First,
to ensure that they are doing a good job, require them to increase their commitment
to your project (see "commitment
terms" for more details"). Once they do, then tell them to re-estimate
the time for the current task. Software estimation experts have found that
if a milestones was missed by an amount (say 20%), then the worker should add
at least 20% to all other milestones as well. Workers
are often tempted to gloss over this, but you should insist on them doing this.
- Stay in the driver's seat:
It's important to understand that as long as you DO NOT reveal your
secret delivery date to the worker, you are in the driver's seat. You
can decide to dole them more time from your secret estimate. Or you can decide
not to and take them to arbitration for a refund. However if you make the
mistake of telling the worker that your realistic deadline is their "real" deadline,
then you no longer have that option, and MUST give them ALL of that time.
So it is always better to keep it hidden "in your back pocket".
Where do we get these numbers from?
These numbers (and some of the techniques as well)
are taken from the book "Software Estimation:
Demystifying the Black Art" by guru Steve McConnell. McConnell
graphed the inaccuracy of estimates on tens of thousands of projects that were done
by expert estimators and found some interesting patterns. At the beginning
of the project, their estimates were off by as much as 4x. When the formal requirements
were complete, it was reduced to 1.5x. However, since most workers are
not experts in estimation, we recommend using 5x and 2x instead.
If you are interested in learning more about this concept, a good synopsis is at: http://www.construx.com/Page.aspx?hid=1648 |
| |
Back to top |
| 35)
How is my financial and personal information kept safe?
|
| |
All sensitive information is protected via the highest level
of SSL encryption (128 bit) to prevent it from being intercepted by unauthorized
parties. Once the information arrives at our data center, it is password-protected
in a datastore. The data store is additionally fortified by an ICSA Certified
firewall that blocks out intrusion attempts. Additionally, we subscribe
to vendor security notification lists, and install new vendor patches as promptly
as possible...most often with 24 hours. Finally, 3rd party security experts
go through all of our systems on a routine basis looking for holes, and anything
they find is promptly sealed and documented.
The above is just a partial list of security features. For more information, click here.
| |
Back to top |
| 36)
How can I protect my trade secrets/confidential information?
|
| |
|
The vWorker.com 'Non-disclosure Agreement Protection' feature allows you to safe-guard any trade secrets you might have, by requiring virtual workers who wish to bid on your project to sign a legally binding non-disclosure agreement before you reveal any confidential information about your project to them.
|
| |
| Here's how the NDA process works:
|
| |
- You select that you want your project protected by the 'NDA Protection' feature.
(see screenshot...)
- The only information made initially public to the worker, is the project title, bidding type,
project type, category(ies) and a pre-NDA public message of your choice.
(see screenshot...)
- Workers who are interested in learning more, must first download your NDA, sign it, scan it back in and re-upload it.
(see screenshot...)
- Upon receipt of their signed
NDA, vWorker.com will notify you via email (see screenshot...). You can then review that worker's background and choose to approve or reject them for further access to your confidential information...all from your project page. (see screenshot...)
- Once the worker is approved, they receive an email informing them of your approval (or not)(see screenshot...). If approved, they are given a link where they can see the full project information that you have setup including the project description, deliverables, platform, etc.
|
| You are in control of the release of confidential information at all times, ensuring you the safest experience possible.
|
Click here for more information on non-disclosure agreements (NDAs).
| |
Back to top |
| 40)
What protections are there in the rating system?
|
| |
The rating system is a crucial tool for you to determine who you want to work with, and it's
vital that it be as accurate as possible.
To give you the most information possible, we encourage parties to rate
each other based on the following project
details:
But while this is helpful, it is not enough. In a typical
unprotected rating system (like
many
competitors use),
it's dangerous to
rate another party poorly because they will retaliate and do the same. That's why vWorker.com
protects all ratings with a double-blind system. The other party cannot see what you rated them
until they have already rated you (and vice versa). This protects you from
retaliatory ratings and also prevents two parties from swapping
inflated ratings too.
In addition to the double-blind protection, you'll also notice vWorker.com
arbitrator ratings on many peoples' accounts. If we uncover
anything that another party has a right to know, while we are doing an arbitration, we document it
publicly on the rating (including who
won the arbitration and why). This gives you complete information when deciding whether to work with
that person or not.
For complete details, see the complete rules of arbitration in either the
employer or
worker legal agreements.
| |
Back to top |
| 41)
I'm getting a warning about my Internet Explorer browser being old and possibly buggy. What is this all about? |
| |
You are running an old internet browser (Internet Explorer
v5.x) that Microsoft has found a number of bugs in. These bugs will not
only cause problems for you on some of the advanced features of vWorker.com (like
posting bids and attachments), but also exposes you to security risks on all sites
on the Internet.
Microsoft provides new and upgraded versions of its software
for no charge via download from the Internet, or via CD for a nominal charge. You
are highly recommended to take advantage of all the latest bug fixes and security
advances by downloading the free newest version of Internet Explorer. To
learn more click here.
| |
Back to top |
| 42)
I'm a U.S. employer. Do I have to mail a yearly Internal Revenue Service (IRS) 1099 form to all
the workers I hire? |
| |
No you don't. Yes, your workers are independent contractors, and if you had hired them in the
offline world,
then you would have to fill out this time consuming tax form for each one of them.
However, on
vWorker.com
we handle this thankless task for you for free, so you can focus on your projects. Per
IRS rules, we
automatically
issue all U.S. virtual workers who made $600 or more in the past year an IRS 1099 form
at
the proper time of the year.
| |
Back to top |
|