Category Archives: Best Practices

Don’t Forget the Time Zone!

You’d think that this would be obvious in the year 2010, but it’s ridiculous the number of companies that advertise on-line events, for which they are obviously seeking a global audience, and don’t include the time zone. Not only does most of the world NOT run on your timezone, but most of them don’t have a clue what time zone you’re in. And don’t give me that B.S. that “your customers know where we are”, because, if you have multiple offices, I guarantee that at least some don’t. And if you are doing it at a partner or customer office that is not in your head-office time zone, how are they supposed to even have a clue?

And learn what daylight standard time means. It’s amazing how many events I see for 11:00 EDT in December (not possible!) or EST in July in New York (again, not possible!). And don’t take the timezone shortcut and just use ET, CT, or PT. Remember, not all provinces and states (like Saskatchewan and Arizona) use daylight savings time, and the usual assumption is that if an abbreviation is used, you mean xDT in summer and xST in winter.

And if there is any possibility of confusion (and with timezones there usually is), spell the timezone out. BST can mean British Summer Time, Burma Standard Time, or Bangladesh Standard Time.

Don’t be a Dummy! Use the fully qualified timezone.

Share This on Linked In

Vendor Reference Checks

Do you know the right questions to ask?

For example, of the following eight (8) questions, four (4) are good, and four (4) are not so good. Do you know the difference?

What’s your relationship with the vendor?
How well has the vendor worked out for you?
Would you recommend the vendor?
Describe a situation where the vendor disappointed you and how they rectified the situation.
What are some things you’d like the vendor to do differently?
Have you had any major problems with the vendor?
Give one reason you wouldn’t recommend the vendor.
How do you interact with the vendor?

If you don’t know which of the questions will yield the answers you need to make a good decision in vendor selection, check out Charles’ recent piece on “Vendor Reference Checks: Worthless or Worthwhile”, because it’s not only what you ask, but how you ask it. (After all, a vendor will never give a bad reference.)

Life Lessons from Clown College: I

I received a lot of positive feedback from my first post, and I must admit, it went to my head a little. I never knew I had so much to offer! So I’ve decided that I am going to share some of the many life lessons I learned in Clown College with you over the next few months in hopes that they will help you become a better procurement professional.

Be Flexible
You never know when you’re going to have to share a car with 11 of your best friends, or an office (after your company decides to downsize). You’ll have to get along, even though you’ll all be highly stressed all day long.
Practice, Practice, Practice
Just like it takes a lot of skill to fold a balloon into a little dog in 30 seconds flat, it takes a lot of skill to to source 100,000 units of a specialized manufactured components in 14 days after Engineering tells you the forecasted demand they sent you in the spreadsheet was missing a zero!
Make Sure You Have a Safety Net the First Time You Walk the High Wire
Just like you’re going to fall the first time you try to walk the tight-rope in your big, floppy clown shoes, something is bound to go wrong the first time you try to e-Negotiate a strategic high-dollar category with suppliers who are still in the paper-centric stone ages. Equipment will fail, a key supplier will refuse to participate at the last minute, or someone will make an unsustainably low bid (and scare everyone else away). Make sure you have your “disaster recovery” plans in place before you start. Have someone standing by to take bids over the phone. Have a relationship councillor at the go to calm the supplier’s fears and convince them the e-Negotiation is in their best interest. Make sure that incorrect and unsustainable bids can be quickly withdrawn or rejected by the event administrator. Otherwise, without these safety nets, the event might fall through the proverbial floor.

I hope you enjoyed these life lessons. Until next time, please join me as I lead the honkers in a rousing rendition of Honk Around the Clock!

Getting Your Supply Chain Ideas off the Ground

A recent article over on the HBR blogs on “five powers that get ideas off the ground” basically outlined the five things you need to do to get your supply chain ideas off the ground. To show you just how straightforward they are, I’m going to translate them for you in this post.

Show UpWoody Allen once said that ninety percent of life is just showing up. It’s as true in business as it is in life. It might take a long time, but, generally speaking, the squeaky wheel gets the grease.
Speak UpFor your ideas to take flight, they have to be heard. Put them forward. And don’t be afraid to stand up when others make claims you know are wrong. As Seen That pointed out in response to my post that Sunk Costs Are Not Underwater Treasure, you have to have the guts to stand up and say, “Yes, but what you bought us is completely useless, because (a) nobody uses it, (b) nobody knows how to use it, and (c) the one person in your department who apparently does know how to use it is up to her eyeballs with work. So you haven’t solved our problem”.
Team UpFind an organization that will benefit and profit from your idea and create a joint initiative. There’s strength in numbers, and if you get enough support, it gets to the point where only the CEO could veto your effort, which she’s not likely to do if enough of her team stands behind you.
Look UpDefine and focus on guiding principles that are ethical and sustainable. Not only is it the right thing to do, but it will score lots of points inside and outside the company in a world that’s becoming ever more focussed on corporate social responsibility.
Don’t Give UpPersist, persist, persist. Everything is a failure until it succeeds. Never Give In!

Want More Influence? Ask the Right Questions!

In a recent post over on Commitment Matters on getting to the top table, Tim penned a great post on where a CPO should be placed on the organizational chart, and why. Nine paragraphs in, after discussing the standard view of Procurement as a cost centre (which never gets direct reporting status to the CEO), the department that’s only visited when something goes wrong, and a barrier to getting things done, Tim made a great point. A CPO is only going to get a seat at the top table if it makes a significant contribution that visibly improve organizational performances.

This is only going to happen if Procurement shifts its emphasis from cutting costs to adding value. This requires Procurement professionals to change the types of questions they ask, the data they collect, the conversations they have inside and outside the department, [and] the areas in which they invest in skills. When Procurement approaches Engineering, it can’t be about “how can we help you cut cost” because, in Engineering’s mind, that translates into “how can we help you cut quality and increase risk of failure”. It has to be about “how can we help you source the highest quality products and services within your budget”. Similarly, when Procurement approaches Manufacturing, the focus has to be on “how can we help you ensure supply at the highest levels of service”? If a production line shuts down, that could cost a lot more than paying an extra 2% on the raw material costs. This isn’t to say that cost shouldn’t be a factor, as value can monetarily be defined as profit contribution – total costs of operation, but that cost can only be one, small, component. Once Procurement is trusted, then the questions can shift to “how can we help you get the level of quality and service you’re currently getting at a better price, so you can show a year-over-year cost savings and look like organizational heroes”.

I’d strongly encourage you to read Tim’s post on getting to the top table. It’s a great thought-piece.