How to run an agency performance review
By Joel Andren · Published by PressFriendly, a PR agency · Reviewed August 21, 2026 · Editorial standards · 1 of 3 in this section
Run a documented performance review for a delivery, quality, measurement, governance, or trust problem. Compare evidence with the agreement, examine company, provider, and external causes, then choose an action, owners, review date, and decision rule. Independent coverage cannot be the recovery condition because an editor controls publication.
Prepare the evidence before the meeting
Bring the scope, objectives, baselines, reports, activity record, decision log, approval history, invoices, and correspondence. Account and asset owners should provide source records, exports, and approvals. Separate six questions:
- Did the agreed work occur?
- Did the work meet the agreed quality and relevance standards?
- Which relevant outputs reached the target stakeholders?
- What evidence shows audience response, outcomes, or organizational impact?
- Which company, agency, or external conditions affected the result?
- Which cause hypothesis should the team test or change next?
AMEC's Integrated Evaluation Framework separates activities, outputs, audience response, outcomes, and impact. Keep them distinct so activity cannot hide weak outputs and a placement cannot become unsupported proof of impact.
Use specific observations. “The last two reports omitted the target rationale and response data required by the scope” is inspectable. “The agency has lost energy” is an interpretation that needs evidence.
Send a short agenda and include the decision-makers
Send evidence and disputed conditions in advance. Include the company decision owner and agency lead who can change staffing, scope, or fees. Add budget, legal, finance, privacy, security, or executive owners when their authority is required.
State which decisions may follow and set a deadline to correct incomplete evidence. Distinguish observation from interpretation: “Two required reports omitted response data” is inspectable; “the agency has lost energy” needs evidence.
Match the corrective action to the cause
| Cause | Possible response |
|---|---|
| The objective or stakeholder was wrong | Re-scope the objective or audience and approve a revised strategy |
| The work lacked evidence or relevance | Pause the affected work and require a revised evidence and relevance case |
| Company inputs or approvals failed | Change owners, service levels, access, or escalation |
| Agency work was late or below standard | Replace the owner, add review, redo work, or adjust the fee |
| Scope and available capacity do not match | Remove work, add capacity, revise timing, or change the model |
| Reporting cannot support a decision | Restore the baseline, source record, definitions, and analysis |
| Integrity, confidentiality, or security failed | Preserve evidence and send the issue to the risk owner |
Match the recovery period to the work. A report correction may be due immediately; an audience outcome may take longer. Record the hypothesis, company input, provider change, indicator, owners, review date, and decision rule.
Skip testing for deception, concealed conflicts, serious confidentiality or security failures, or refusal to provide required records. The risk owner decides access restrictions, investigation, notice, remedies, and exit with counsel where needed.
A prompt written decision makes the review enforceable
Issue a written record promptly and set a deadline for corrections. It should name:
- the agreed facts and any disputed facts;
- the cause hypothesis;
- each corrective action and owner;
- company inputs and agency work required;
- measures, definitions, and data sources;
- the review date, decision authority, and escalation path;
- the consequence if the condition persists;
- any contract change that requires a signed amendment.
If the parties change scope, fees, staffing, rights, access, or term, follow the agreement's amendment process. The account owner implements access changes, and the asset owner retains the evidence and decision record. Keep routine coaching distinct from a formal breach notice or termination process.
Use the program diagnostic before the meeting, then choose among pause, renegotiation, or termination after the corrective test. If the decision is to end the engagement, move to the offboarding checklist.