I have a leader I am working with who isn't very good at (his perception of) confrontation. I think he just needs a little coaching. He manages the vendor we work with. I sure could use some help at providing him with verbiage that effectively gets his point across in a pleasant way, that we can not continue to have delays or issues and also indicates we mean business (there have been many instances with this vendor this year).
Please do share your thoughts. Thanks in advance Saving Changes...
Why candy coat matters? With a formal vendor relationship, I'd be calling my counterpart at the vendor to present the impact of the issues experienced, to ask for a remediation plan and to indicate that the situation will need to be reevaluated soon with potential impact to the contract.
Changing his approach is unlikely to happen; it's his personality. Have you talked to him about this issue? Isn't that the first step? Perhaps rather than him becoming better at confrontation, you can suggest to play that role, and as a team, effectively play the good cop, bad cop routine. That way he can stay true to his nature and maintain the relationship with the vendor, while the message gets across clearly and hopefully reduces delays. Saving Changes...
Drew CraigSr. Agile & Product Coach| VanguardPhiladelphia, Pa, United States
Keep it simple, concise, with cause & effect clearly spelled out, and the repercussions. Not saying these situations are easy, but the ultimate goal is success for both sides. Saving Changes...
Luis AssadAdvisor| Barueri City AdministrationBarueri, São Paulo, Brazil
I second Kiron on this. There shouldn´t be concerns about being gentle - which doesn´t mean you have to be rude - but it is essentially a commercial relationship. The vendor is being paid to deliver, and he/she is not holding his/her end of the bargain. Gather all the evidence of the issues and their impacts, present them to the vendor and demand - I wouldn´t be so gentle to ask - that the situation is remedied. You are the ones signing the checks, so you have all the leverage. Saving Changes...
Try to communicate with suppliers and towards the leader in a firm and amicable manner. Hope the leader can take notice. See if able to speak to colleagues or other superiors to seek advice. Also, seek to understand the leader's values and the root causes of the attitude. Saving Changes...
