Does anyone have any tips for managing a vendor relationship without a contract.? Our projects are small and we don't have formal contracts with vendors, but rely on them for testing. I outline expectations at the beginning of the project, but invariably, the vendor does not hold up on their end. I've tried building in weekly status calls. This helps minimally.
Eventually things get done, but it's on their time schedule. Saving Changes...
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Hans RobbersSenior Director| SalesforceVlissingen, Netherlands
Ana
Interesting question. My suggestion is you set up an overall contract with all terms and conditions. One of the things to be arranged in the contract is the fee structure.
This offer you the opportunity to influence their behaviour in the projects by creating a reward structure.
If they deliver on time or earlier there will be a bonus of x % on the work done for that project, if they deliver over a week late or so there will be penalty of y%.
This will most likely create new problems since they will now rush to complete the work so the quality needs to be addressed and monitored as well.
The only other option is to have an executive meeting and share your worries and obtain a understanding why they are always late. Based on the outcome of the meeting you might be able to change the relationship or determien to go for another vendor
Many small projects may not require formal contracts. The vendors selected form part of the Stakeholder Management, these people need to be engaged in an active way participating in your meetings, they need to be visible from the start on your projects to clearly understand the business requirements and expectations. Building good working relationships with external vendors halves the battle. A usual business practice is for the organisation to formally select the preferred Suppliers with Agreements in place, such as the SLA - Service Level Agreements - these are formal documents agreed between Vendors and your company they are binding.
Vasoula Saving Changes...
arlene trimbleAssistant IT Director| Local GovernmentAlamo, Ca, United States
At the minimum, there needs to be a Statement of work for each contract so that the vendors would know their scope of responsibilities and deliverables. Your contract can always be amended. You can then reiterate these responsibilities in your project charter and during the kickoff. Saving Changes...
