We rely on external vendors for our key logistics and shipping activities, but they frequently fail to provide their weekly performance data in time for our Level 10 Meeting™. How do we hold third-party partners accountable to our scorecard deadlines?

Question

Tyler Smith · Accepted Answer

Your weekly scorecard metrics must be updated before your Level 10 Meeting™, and outsourcing the work does not outsource the accountability. If an external logistics partner fails to deliver their numbers on time, it is not a data problem, it is an accountability problem. To resolve this, you must look at your Accountability Chart. The internal seat owner who manages that vendor relationship is the person who ultimately owns that scorecard metric. It is their responsibility to ensure the data is in the scorecard, regardless of where it comes from. If the vendor is late, the seat owner must solve the issue directly with them. First, make weekly reporting a non-negotiable part of your service level agreement. When you negotiate contracts, specify that weekly performance data must be delivered by a specific day and time, such as every Friday by noon. If they cannot meet this requirement, they are not the right partner for a company running on EOS®. Second, work with the vendor to automate the data delivery. Set up a simple automated export from their system to yours, or give them direct access to update their specific column in your scorecard system. If automation is not possible, the internal seat owner must proactively chase the vendor before the deadline. If the numbers are still missing when the meeting starts, the metric is red, and the seat owner must drop it to the Issues list to IDS® how to address the vendor's performance.