Before you replace your agency, identify what’s actually stuck

When a project stops moving, replacing the agency can feel like the decisive option. Sometimes a change of partner is right. But if the cause is an absent decision, a missing product feed or an unpriced integration, a new team may inherit the same constraint.

Sort the evidence into four buckets

Scope: the parties describe different finished outcomes, or the requested work grew without a recorded change. Inputs: copy, records, access or approvals have not arrived. Dependency: another system, supplier or internal owner must act first. Delivery: agreed work is late, incomplete or not meeting acceptance checks. These categories can overlap; keeping them separate helps identify what evidence would resolve each one.

Ask for a recovery plan you can verify

A useful recovery conversation names completed work, open decisions, blockers, owners, dates and the next acceptance check. Ask which items the agency controls and which depend on your organisation or another supplier. If delivery itself is failing, ask what will change in the plan and how you will see the difference.

For each issue, attach the evidence: approved brief, change request, ticket, environment access, sample record or test result. A timeline without owners is an aspiration. A list of names without completion conditions is a meeting agenda.

Choose the intervention after the diagnosis

Clarify and re-scope when the outcome is disputed. Supply missing inputs when the work is waiting on your team. Coordinate owners when a dependency crosses suppliers. Consider changing delivery partners when evidence shows the agreed work is repeatedly not being delivered and a recovery plan is not credible. The decision can be firm without being premature.