| Sourcing clients generally report that the first year | | | | rampant frustration on both sides of the relationship. |
| and a half of their outsourced services relationships | | | | Create and live by an issueSupply Management |
| are a painful time. There will always be startup issues | | | | Process. Provide a clear, simple, and preferably |
| to be addressed. But, assuming you have a strong | | | | automated way for your service delivery and |
| transition plan in place, you can take a number of | | | | governance teams and the service provider teams to |
| steps to ensure that you minimize the pain and | | | | document issues that need governance attention |
| maximize success during this complex period. | | | | – and publish a promised response time. (This |
| Consider these tips for managing your outsourced | | | | process often reveals understaffing of the |
| services startup: | | | | governance function.) If teams have issues and |
| Consider rebadging or seconding your top knowledge | | | | nobody responds, there will be substandard results, |
| talent to your service provider. Most companies | | | | frustration and disappointment. Ultimately no one will |
| retain their top subject matter expert talent for fear | | | | trust the process, and issues will go unknown and |
| of losing knowledge or control. This can result in the | | | | unresolved. |
| service provider team struggling through knowledge | | | | Actively study issues to determine root causes of |
| transfer; then the retained team is frustrated | | | | Long Term Supply Chain Management issues:. Similar |
| because the provider “doesn’t get it” | | | | problem symptoms will emerge in various areas, |
| the way the retained people do. Failing to realize the | | | | especially in large engagements.The common |
| benefit of rebadging could cause you to end up | | | | underlying cause of these systemic problems should |
| letting these valuable people go later – which | | | | be addressed swiftly in the governance process. If |
| doesn’t serve the relationship, the services, your | | | | each problem is taken in isolation, time and effort will |
| company or the affected employees. | | | | be wasted in addressing it repeatedly at each |
| Ensure you have enough of the right people in | | | | occurrence, and the root problem will not be solved. |
| governance and relationship roles ? early. Most | | | | Create your governance structure early, and pattern |
| companies retain enough subject matter experts to | | | | your transition governance on it and focus on Supply |
| manage the services but often fail to retain enough | | | | Chain: Don’t create an “exceptional” |
| in the governance function to manage the | | | | process for transition management. You may meet |
| relationship. Managing a sourced service requires | | | | more often during this period, but it should be with |
| different skills than managing a retained service. | | | | the same teams and essentially the same agendas as |
| Having too few people to “catch” when | | | | for ongoing services - especially when services are |
| service delivery and relationship issues arise results in | | | | being phased in. |