What are some effective ways to work with suppliers as a team? (2024)

Before you engage with suppliers, you need to have a clear idea of what you want from them and why. What are your project objectives, requirements, and constraints? What are your quality standards, timelines, and budgets? How will you measure and evaluate the supplier's performance? Communicate these needs and goals to your potential suppliers and ask them to provide proposals that address them. Compare and select the supplier that best matches your criteria and offers the most value.

Once you have chosen a supplier, you need to build a trusting and respectful relationship with them. This means being honest, transparent, and consistent in your communication. It also means acknowledging and appreciating their expertise, experience, and contributions. You can use various methods to establish trust and rapport, such as regular meetings, feedback sessions, site visits, social events, or informal chats. The more you know and understand your supplier, the easier it will be to work with them as a team.

A clear division of roles and responsibilities is crucial for effective teamwork with suppliers. You need to define who is responsible for what, how decisions are made, how information is shared, and how conflicts are resolved. You also need to clarify the expectations and boundaries of each party, such as the scope of work, the deliverables, the payment terms, the change requests, and the escalation procedures. You can use tools such as contracts, agreements, or charts to document and communicate these roles and responsibilities.

Working with suppliers as a team means not only delegating tasks, but also involving them in the planning, design, and execution of the project. You can leverage the supplier's knowledge, skills, and resources to generate ideas, solve problems, and create solutions. You can also invite them to participate in brainstorming, prototyping, testing, or reviewing sessions. By collaborating and co-creating with your supplier, you can foster innovation, creativity, and ownership.

Another key aspect of working with suppliers as a team is monitoring and evaluating their performance and progress. You need to track and measure the quality, quantity, and timeliness of the supplier's deliverables, as well as their adherence to the agreed terms and conditions. You also need to provide constructive feedback, recognition, and support to the supplier, as well as address any issues or concerns that may arise. You can use tools such as reports, dashboards, or surveys to monitor and evaluate your supplier.

Finally, working with suppliers as a team means learning from each other and improving your processes and practices. You need to reflect on what worked well and what didn't, what challenges and opportunities you faced, and what lessons and insights you gained. You also need to share your learnings and best practices with your supplier, as well as solicit their feedback and suggestions. You can use tools such as debriefs, reviews, or audits to learn and improve your teamwork with suppliers.

This is a space to share examples, stories, or insights that don’t fit into any of the previous sections. What else would you like to add?

Team Facilitation

+ Follow

Thanks for your feedback

Your feedback is private. Like or react to bring the conversation to your network.