Archive for the ‘outsource’ tag
Marry in haste, repent at leisure - reason #2 for poor partner relationships
Not understanding the basic fundamental activities, resources and performance criteria for an activity or function make it difficult for a potential partner to be successful. Unrealistic expectations and lack of knowledge of the procurement process can lead to a poorly executed exercise that at best means that the parties need to rework their agreements very early or at worst results in a disastrous relationship that is unwound in acrimony and sometimes with the help of the lawyers.
Understanding and allowing the time to go through a proper selection process increases the chances that the resulting relationship will be successful for many years. Organizations have different methods and processes that they undertake to search for, find and then contract with a partner. Most successful ones contain the steps of
- pre-qualification
- document preparation
- out to bid
- returning of bids
- placement of an order
- starting work in one form or another.
Under pressure to achieve a quick result, the temptation is there to short circuit the process or negotiate with a single party. Unfortunately, the absence of clearly defined steps and milestones that can be monitored and measured can result in a long and drawn out process that is ultimately unsatisfactory to all concerned.
