10/03/2023
Managing vendor relationships is never as simple as signing a contract. An effective partnership starts with clear expectations for outcomes, communication, and reporting. But maintaining that partnership can’t happen without intentional oversight. It’s rare for an organization to have the resources or staff available to provide extensive contractor supervision. Instead, organizations need to prioritize smart management practices.
Five Keys to Managing Vendor Relationships
1. Allow for a reasonable learning curve. Plan to review work more frequently at the beginning of the project. This helps not only validate quality along the way, but also allows the vendor to learn your standards and ways of doing business. Once the learning curve has passed, you can shorten the level of oversight and switch to a more efficient monitoring model. This is ideal for organizations who utilize contract labor for long periods of time over multiple projects.
2. Enforce quality expectations and safety standards. Your contractors were hired to provide a specific skill or product. After you’ve agreed on the outcome of the project, it’s important to enforce the quality of the work. Poor quality can ultimately build resentment, instead of healthy trust. In order to create a strong long-term partnership, it is in everyone’s best interest to lead with honesty and clarity.
Safety standards are another aspect of the vendor partnership that can’t be ignored. Whether it’s physical safety standards or cybersecurity policies, your contractors should be aware of your company’s best practices. In order to mitigate risk, communicate these best practices early and often.
