I recently watched a video of National Geographic photographer Brian Skerry’s efforts to document what has been happening to undersea creatures over the past several years because of people overfishing the oceans. This and other actions we’ve taken that are harmful to marine life have led to a global fish crisis where many species are now critically endangered; some species have lost 90 percent of their stock as a consequence of our actions.  

Ninety percent is a really high number – so is the number of outsourcing relationships that fail these days even after decades of learnings about outsourcing’s keys to success. Too many deals don’t survive, and many others don’t capture the anticipated value, mostly because of actions of one or both parties in the relationship. 

Science has proved time and again that for every action there is a reaction, or consequence. 

Skerry’s photographs, for instance, reveal what happens from the action man takes in a favored method for catching shrimp. The fishermen use a bottom trawler (a large net with two steel doors on either end), dragging it on the bottom of the ocean to catch shrimp.

But it catches everything else it encounters too, plus it destroys the sponges and corals – critical habitat for animals – along the way. He showed the shocking consequence of typical fishermen’s actions. After towing nets for one hour, some fisherman hoisted their trawler net and had a handful of seven or eight shrimp but also had an 8-10-pound heap of other fish they didn’t value, which died and the fishermen tossed back into the ocean as garbage. 

Attention – continual attention – to the aspect of communication in an outsourcing relationship is crucial to survival. 

Here’s what happens if the parties in an outsourcing relationship communicate in a way that is unclear, infrequent, not proactive, not open and honest. It leads to a situation much like the shrimp fishermen’s bottom trawler – only a small amount of value and a lot of garbage. This kind of communication leads to the parties not trusting each other and also not knowing each other’s expectations and needs.

In turn, this leads to an adversarial mentality, which then leads to confrontation and finger-pointing when something goes wrong, which then causes a lack of cooperation and collaboration.

It also leads to looking at contractual clauses to manage the relationship and taking a dollars-and-cents approach to unanticipated changes instead of an approach that ensures both parties’ interests are aligned. This then leads to the parties escalating issues to senior levels or to external mediators, and a troubled or failed relationship. 

In contrast, here’s what happens when both parties’ communication actions are clear, frequent, proactive, open, and honest. It leads to no surprises from each other, which helps build mutual trust. Trust enables candid talk about what’s working well and how to fix what’s not, which then leads to better decision-making data and facts-based management.

This leads to a common understanding, which then facilitates cooperation and efforts to find the middle ground when issues arise (which leads to aligned interests). It also facilitates brainstorming and collaboration, which facilitate problem resolution and responding to opportunities that arise to create more value. 

Every action has a reaction. Fishing for value in outsourcing requires that both parties ensure their communication behaviors will lead to the desired outcomes. They can’t depend entirely on the governance framework to structure their communication. Communicating effectively is a personal responsibility at all levels. It often occurs informally, outside a governance framework. 

What have you found to be a successful way to build effective communication in an outsourcing relationship at the outset?  And when you get off track, how do you reestablish communication patterns that benefit both parties?

Since 1998, freelance writer Kathleen Goolsby has studied outsourcing relationships’ successes, failures, trends, and best practices. She has interviewed more than 860 executives at buyer and service provider companies and is the author of “Critical Requirements for Building and Sustaining a Successful Outsourcing Relationship,” a chapter in Global Outsourcing Strategies: An International Reference on Effective Outsourcing Relationships (December 2006, Gower Publishing). As a freelancer, she also currently serves as the Senior Writer for Outsourcing Center (whose parent company is sourcing advisory firm, Alsbridge) and has authored dozens of articles as well as white papers. In a past role, she was editor of Outsourcing Venture (a former print publication). You can contact Kathleen at ksgoolsby@gmail.com.

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