Am I being taken advantage of?

[Sparkle1984]

In my spare time I help out with running a Facebook page and its accompanying website/blog. I have been wondering for a while whether I should quit, as there has been a couple of times where I've disagreed with one of the other people running the page. In the most recent incident, the page owner was rather dismissive of my concerns. (Please see my other thread today if you are interested in knowing more about this).

Also - and this is the main concern - I'm worried they might be taking advantage of me. I helped to build the website and I've also written several posts for the blog. The owner said that we would eventually be paid for our contributions, but so far, after several weeks there is no sign of a penny! I don't know the financials as the owner doesn't really talk about that very much, but secretly I have my doubts about whether the website is, or will ever become, financially sustainable or bring in anything more than pocket money. So I'm wondering if I should leave and concentrate more on other things. But I want to leave on good terms.

What would you do in this situation?

[Annie0904]

If it was causing me more stress I would tell them that due to other commitments I was unable to help with it anymore.

[MyNameIsTerry]

It's impossible to say based on what you've explained.

From a financial point of view, if there is no contract for work then you will struggle arguing a case unless the owner agrees to pay. This sounds more informal (favours, volunteering) so even if you are all very happy with each other - he still may not pay up.

If this is a start up, when is the money going to be there? A few weeks is nothing. If you were under a contract, you have some rights to payment in a timely manner. An informal arrangement, in the owners mind, might mean them breaking even before considering paying anyone. That could be much longer. Consider it like a SME start up and how they don't claim their own salaries for some time yet still pay their staff - because there is a legal obligation to do so.

In terms of decision making, if this was a works situation how would you deal with it? There are many times where bosses still do what they believe is best and at the end of the day it's only their decision. This guy pays the bills, so he takes the lions share of any risk. If he wants to develop the site a certain way, at odds with any Admin/Mod/Development people, it's really only his decision that matters.

That may sound harsh but it's just the reality. As a former BA there have been times where I've had to just let a stakeholder get on with, make a pigs ear of it and then hide my thoughts when they come running back for a solution. Morally I can always choose to quit but that doesn't pay the bills. In a voluntary scenario, morals can be more important since their is no financial consideration.

If you think it's not going in your direction, you may wish to consider whether it clashes with your beliefs? Otherwise, it could just be a question of letting them do what they want, raising your concerns, accepting it's their call and letting what happens, happen. If it's annoying customer, he may be more inclined to listen to you all once the complaints start coming in that back up what you said.

From his point of view, he has listened but still decided. If someone continues to raise the issue, he may get frustrated about that. Could that explain why he is now dismissive about it?

However, he's getting freebies at the moment so there should be some effort to keep everyone happy. Maybe a chat will iron it all out? Obviously though, you have to accept his decisions but you can smooth it over. Even with paid employees you have to keep relations good so people work better & harder.