Wednesday, January 25, 2017

Calling All Unicorns - Help Needed


For those you have been following and those who are new to this blog, it is focused on getting Procurement Unstuck.  For us to progress forward, we need to think differently, challenge status quo, be disruptive, and take action.  There are some out there that are actively doing this and you, my friends, are unicorns.  Mythical creatures, who are becoming legends.

Thus far, this blog has been focused on sharing my point of view, but now we need yours, too.

First question up for debate - and an egg that I have not been crack, yet -

How have you successfully been able to get end users to complete their goods receipts in a consistent and timely manner?


Saturday, January 14, 2017

The Perplexity of No PO, No Pay



Here is a common conversation I have had with companies.
"We have a No PO, No Pay policy," Jane from Acme said with confidence.
Me, "Really, do you? What is your compliance to No PO, No Pay?"
Jane, "Well, about 20%."
Me, "Does that exclude your documented exceptions?"
Jane, "Yes."
Me, doing the math in my head, "What is on is your exception list?"
Jane, "Well, legal, marketing, utilities, ...."
Me, I have now stop listening and ponder to myself that the "policy" is more like a guideline.  And Jane is still listing her exceptions.

I feel for Jane.  I have been Jane.  I think if we reflect back and really challenge ourselves, that we have all been Jane or still are.

So, why is this so hard?  Why do we talk about having No Po, No Pay policies when we really don't?  It is such a simple concept, but so complicated to truly achieve.

Executive Sponsorship
This is one of the main reasons that these policies fail.  Often the executive sponsors are a name on a back of a tee ball shirt vs being an active sponsor.  A sponsor who will hold other executives feet to the fire when they ask for an exception because they are unique.  This sponsor also needs to clearly understand the value of such policy and promote it across the company.  A sponsor who does not ask for exceptions him or herself.  Unless you have a sponsor like this, your policy is at risk.

Measurement
Do you have a goal that you are striving for with your policy?  Do you have a clear definition around how you will measure that goal?  Please, I beg you, please do not exclude your exceptions from this calculation.  If you exclude your exceptions, you are giving yourself a false warm blanket, cozy feeling versus a health dose of reality.  The definition of your metric should be as simple as invoices paid on PO/total invoices paid.

Enforcement
When I think of enforcement, I think of two areas - what is your control point in the process to actually enforce the policy and what are you doing with the data to provide visibility to your sponsor and other "enforcers" across the company.

Let's start with the control point.  This is simple, but complicated.  The control point must be that if AP receives an invoice that is not referring to a PO, it must be rejected to the supplier.  Then, the supplier must get a PO and resubmit the invoice.  That part is simple.  The complicated part is making that happen.  You have to have a good process and technology that allows you to communicate effectively to suppliers.  There will be a problem if your rejected invoices go into a blackhole.  Also, the suppliers need to be fully aware of this change, as they need to take action vs just resubmitting the non PO invoice over and over again.  (Been there, done that - it is not good.)

If you have the control point activated, then you also have all this lush data that you can use to change behavior within your company.  Using that data is key.  You could have a three strikes and then you are reported to executives in your organization for prompt action.  You could provide dashboards weekly.  The possibilities are endless, so please walk through that door.

Exceptions
This is my nails and chalk board moment.  Exceptions....eekkk.... Exceptions are like the little thread that you pull on and unravel a beautiful shirt.  Once you open the door, it is so hard to control.  Here is a concept for you - do not allow them.  If you receive an invoice, a PO should be referenced or at least in the system.  If there is no invoice, like taxes, dues, etc...then no PO is needed.  You might be thinking that is impossible, but maybe that is a large reason for the lackluster implementations of this policy.  Until we start thinking differently about this, we will continue to struggle.

And, that is why this is a simple, but complicated policy to implement.  At the end of the day, actually tackling No PO, No Pay gives your Procurement teams such an advantage and totally worth the effort.  Good luck all!



Saturday, January 7, 2017

That Little Voice in Your Head is Your Anchor




Happy New Year everyone!  I hope 2016 was an amazing year for all of you and 2017 is going to break barriers.

You might be wondering why this blog went silent for over a month.  It was because I was relaxing in a cabana, somewhere warm, sipping on a sugary, rum drink for several weeks.....Ummmm, nope, that is not true.  I was doing something equally amazing, but not as comfortable.

I received a call in mid November to help with a complex, urgent project that was critical to the success of the company - and it was outside of my role description.  It was a crazy, intense, life changing experience since November, and it scared the crap out of me at the same time.

Some might look at those experiences as painful, long, tiring, stressful - complaining the whole way - and never seeing the opportunity.  However, that is such a miss. The mission of this blog is to help Procurement professionals to get unstuck.  There will only be ONE of you in this world in all eternity, ever.  (Think about that for awhile.) You are a unique gift to the world.  You are a unicorn.  It is time to realize that every experience and every call to action is a time to shine and to stretch into something better.

Why was this experience life changing and amazing?  It provided the opportunity to get out of my daily routine, to meet and lead all kinds of super talented people, to learn more about the company, to solve crazy, complicated process issues, to plan for now and the future, to forge relationships that I will have forever.  It also helped me understand that I can successfully step up into a role that scared me.

So often, we seek our routines and rely on our beliefs that we think are true about yourself, your company, your expertise.  You allow the little voice in your head to rule your world.  Opportunities like this allow you to breakthrough and stretch to something better - and make that little voice shut up, at least for awhile.

As we stare 2017 in the eyes, what are your plans to truly get unstuck?  If you feel and know deep down you can be better, what beliefs are keeping you back?  What are you going to do (you must take action) to live your deep down desires?  What opportunities are you going to raise your hand for instead of looking at your shoes when called upon?  Lastly, and MOST importantly, how are you encouraging your teams that you lead to do the same?

Let's make 2017 our year to show the world our best gifts.  Let's set sail - letting no anchors down this year.