Dear Anonymous,
Regarding what can I as a PM do when a vendor fails to comply with the contract... To keep the project on track, there are a number of actions that might be a good idea to take based upon the specifics of your situation such as your existing and desired future relationship with the vendor, the vendor commitments that were made to your company both legally and otherwise, the overall importance of the project and impact of the vendor's failure to comply with the contract, etc. Five actions and techniques that come to mind are:
- Critical Path Analysis (even for just the 30 days you have left)
- Risk Mitigation
- Project Communications (your management and the vendor management)
- Vendor Negotiating
- Project Schedule Update and Change Request (if it comes to that)
One would need to know the details to elaborate further, but as an example let's assume the vendor is late in meeting their project deliverables. Based upon the critical path, is there an opportunity to keep the project on track by having the vendor apply more resources or have the existing resources work overtime? If the critical path analysis shows you a way to mitigate the risk, then plan the appropriate mitigation strategy (preferably jointly with the vendor) and present the solution to management (yours and theirs) for approval and adoption.
If this vendor wants future business with you, they will likely participate in keeping the project on track and in taking whatever measures they can to meet their obligations. If there is no solution to the problem despite best efforts of all involved, then you will likely need to initiate a project schedule update and change request. Also, if you do business with this vendor often and they habitually fail to comply with the contract, you should update your Historical Estimating Database or Log, so that project managers managing future projects with this vendor can best plan the project vis a vis scheduling and risk mitigation planning. Great post. Good luck with the project and vendor!
Mark Perry
VP of Customer Care
BOT International
