As a procurement professional, you are expected to do a lot more with a lot less.  And you sure realize that there are some fundamentals that need to change for you to be able deliver on those expectations.  These fundamentals may have to do with the operating model of your company, the structure of the procurement department or even the scope of influence that’s associated with your function.

In such a situation, you know that you are not going anywhere until all your stakeholders and influencers are with you on the most important things that affect them and you. Learning to get there is not particularly difficult, but it does require a different perspective.  And the perspective is – you have to help them help you.

When you approach your customers and stakeholders as a well-wisher, who is here to help, things can begin to look brighter.  They would be more willing to listen to you, and to trust your judgments.  They would be more forthcoming with their apprehensions and with unbridled appreciation when they realize what you suggest indeed works.  And these little successes will act as the building blocks for more and bigger successes in your career.

So, you see, it’s a lot about convincing your people that you are genuinely interested in improving the lot of things and everyone stands to gain in the process.  You may not be able to make them see what you see in complex analytical charts or in the rationale behind procurement policies, and hence these concepts are best left to your daily dashboard configurations and internal reporting.

Taking this leap may not come naturally to all, but it sure helps to keep procurement relevant beyond their own department. With the nature of work and expectations that today procurement is presented with, enlarging this radius of relevance in your organization is something you cannot ignore, ever.

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