Training Your Team to Govern Vendors

When only one person knows how to challenge the supplier, you are one sick day away from losing control. Capability building is about sharing the load so your business stays protected.

Signs you need to upskill

• Status meetings stop when the project lead is on leave
• Only the vendor understands the technical slide deck
• Decisions rely on gut feel because nobody trusts the data presented

A practical training sprint

1. Kick-off workshop (2 hours) – Explain the contract, the governance rhythm, and the KPIs in plain language.
2. Toolkit handover – Give the team templates for meeting notes, decision logs, risk registers, and change requests.
3. Shadow & switch – For two weeks, rotate who runs the vendor stand-up. Coach them before and after the meeting.
4. Check-in – Review what went well, refine scripts, and agree on a rota so skills stick.

Cheat sheets your team needs

• Questions to ask when metrics look off (“What changed since last week? Show me the evidence.”)
• Steps to escalate a risk (“Log it, assign owner, set review date, inform sponsor.”)
• How to say “no” to scope creep politely (“Let’s log this as a change request so we can see impact.”)

What we do

We coach your team live, join their calls, and provide feedback in real time. After three to four sessions they have the confidence—and the scripts—to run governance without us. You gain resilience and your suppliers know you are paying attention.