I love to see insights such as these that have been shaped by raw experience.

Your advice to have a “thick skin” and realize you may not make a lot of friends is spot on.

One idea your comment inspired that I can’t wait to write about in the future is not to fall in love with your vendor.

Too many project managers establish such chemistry with the vendor’s on-site team and start getting too complacent in managing their vendor.

They often forget that sometimes behind the nice team working on site is a ruthless group in the corporate headquarters that will not forgive you when you mess up. This is the harsh reality a new project manager will discover when they don’t have a game plan and the discipline to execute it consistently.
Your 5-step process is the kind of framework that we can all use to better manage our vendors. I will contact you shortly and explore opportunities to bring your message to our community.

Thank you again so much.

Samad.

What surprises me is that so many organizations think that by hiring a vendor their work is done. Too many managers don’t even believe they need to assign their own project manager, when the vendor assigns their own project managers. And when they feel they have to, they allocate the smallest budget for vendor management. their logic is “hey, why do I have to pay for my own Project Manager, when I am already paying so much money for the vendor’s PM”. This is another topic I would like to cover in the future. I will look forward to your thoughts.

Thank you again for taking the time to read and comment.

Samad.

You are so right regarding the fact that there really are not many resources regarding techniques on managing vendors. I have gained a great deal of information and viable techniques through being thrown into situations and figuring out a “survival strategy”. As a consultant, it is easy to figure out what clients expect of me so I in turn have expectations from other vendors that become part of an initiative that I am responsible for.

What it really comes down to is you must have a game plan, the discipline to execute that game plan and the posture to take responsibility for its’ outcome. You also need to have a bit of a “thick skin” and realize you may not make a lot of friends. Soft skills such as clearly articulating your expectations, setting the pace for the group and professionally/respectfully holding people accountable for their deliverables are key ingredients to success.

When I consult businesses on this topic or work with manager’s one-on-one, I help them look at the vendor relationship holistically we cover a 5-step process:

1) The Vendor Management Model
2) Establishing the Selection Process
3) Documenting the Vendor Relationship
4) Ongoing Measurement and Performance Monitoring
5) Defining Partnerships for Long-Term (Mutual Success)

What am noticing is there there is not a whole lot of literature that shows new project managers how to do this right. There a lot of high level information but not so much practical advice that new project managers can apply immediately on their projects. Especially in the area of crafting robust statements of work. Let me know if you have any resources you think new project managers will find helpful.

Your insights can only come from someone who has been there and done it (many times over). so thank you for sharing your insights.

Thank you again.

Under Mindset Principles your last 2 points are huge…never hesitate to ask what you need form the vendor and make sure the expectations are clear from your customer through to the vendor.

As for the bonus, I agree with Ron. I would only pay out a bonus if the vendor delivered early or improved efficiency through their efforts.

Milestones, clear expectations, and verification of design documents/prototypes are a must-have for success. Another golden nugget in this post is to make sure your customer signs off on the vendor deliverable.

As far as offering vendors a bonus for doing what you agreed to: this is what you hired them for to begin with. Bonuses should only be offered if vendors deliver ahead of schedule or find ways to be more cost effective.

Managers of initiatives where vendors are required, don’t forget that you need to set the pace and manage the vendor. Failure to do this will create many issues for you, your staff and ultimately jeopardize the project.

I think it’s a good idea to have some form of bonus for the supplier that makes it in their interest to deliver what you want when you agreed. That way, your interests and theirs are aligned.

Another idea is to have an independent assessor monitor their work to get an independent opinion on progress.

D