Wednesday Wisdom: How do I know the ROI when working with vendors?

Today's Wednesday Wisdom is brought to you by Indra Books of Agility for All. Do you have a question? Post it in the comments.  

How do I know if I am getting my return on investment when I hire a vendor or consultant? I seem to be spending money, but not always seeing the value, which is a bit concerning. 

A vendor or consultant is hired because the organization doesn't have the skillset to complete the desired work. They either don't have a need to hire people full-time in-house or they don't know how to manage this type of work because it lies outside the expertise. But how do you ensure that you are hiring the right people and maintaining the responsibility for the results when it is something you aren't an expert in yourself? 

We at Agility for All recently published seven steps that an organization can take to lead, drive the results and own the outcome of work even without the technical or operational expertise that the third party provides. While I can't go through these seven steps in detail. I will share this. Bringing in an outside consultant or vendor to do work requires that you know why you are bringing them in and you make intentional decisions about that relationship. 

You cannot abdicate responsibility for the results to someone else. While they may provide the expertise you are lacking, they do not, at the end of the day, make decisions for your organization. So by creating an intentional process for ensuring that every project or product is positioned for success and that you maintain responsibility for the outcomes, you change the nature of the relationship with the vendor and won't be left wondering what is happening and when you will see results.

  And that is today's Wednesday wisdom. Don't forget if you have a question post it in the comments. Tune in next week for our next segment.

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