https://www.americancityandcounty.com/wp-content/themes/acc_child/assets/images/logo/footer-logo.png
  • Home
  • Co-op Solutions
  • Hybrid Work
  • Commentaries
  • News
  • In-Depth
  • Multimedia
    • Back
    • Podcast
    • Latest videos
    • Product Guides
  • Resources & Events
    • Back
    • Resources
    • Webinars
    • White Papers
    • IWCE 2022
    • How to Contribute
    • Municipal Cost Index – Archive
    • Equipment Watch Page
    • American City & County Awards
  • About Us
    • Back
    • About Us
    • Contact Us
    • Advertise
    • Cookie Policy
    • Privacy Statement
    • Terms of Service
American City and County
  • NEWSLETTER
  • Home
  • Co-op Solutions
  • Hybrid Work
  • Commentaries
  • News
  • In-Depth
  • Multimedia
    • Back
    • Podcasts
    • Latest videos
    • Product Guides
  • Resources/Events
    • Back
    • Webinars
    • White Papers/eBooks
    • IWCE Expo
    • Calendar of Events
    • How to Contribute
    • American City & County Awards
    • Municipal Cost Index
    • Equipment Watch Page
  • About Us
    • Back
    • About Us
    • Contact Us
    • Advertise
    • Cookie Policy
    • Privacy Stament
    • Terms of Service
  • newsletter
  • Administration
  • Economy & Finance
  • Procurement
  • Public Safety
  • Public Works & Utilities
  • Smart Cities & Technology
  • Magazine
acc.com

Procurement


Article

Helping sourcing teams plan backwards and think ahead

Helping sourcing teams plan backwards and think ahead

One of the secrets to the success of one the nation’s largest cooperative purchasing organizations is its process improvement team.
  • Written by Richard Pennington
  • 6th March 2017

One of the secrets to the success of one of the nation’s largest cooperative purchasing organizations is its process improvement team. Led by state procurement professionals, the team supports the states’ contract leads who manage the national cooperative’s sourcing teams.  These sourcing groups, who have no supervision for the most part, include four to seven-members from across the nation. To top it off, much of their work is conducted through conference calls. The process improvement team develops tools to support the sourcing teams and help demystify the cooperative buying process.  They train contract leads on leading contracts.

Over time, the process improvement team developed a process guide and model RFP terms and conditions. Contract leads follow their own state laws and practices, but the models serve as a resource to capture widely accepted best practices. Sourcing teams are encouraged to use the model approaches.

Over the previous year, contract leads had shown an interest in training on project management. At the annual training for contract leads, a Project Management Professional (certified by the Project Management Institute) provided four hours of training. Those familiar with the Project Management Body of Knowledge recognized its concepts throughout the presentation: stakeholder analysis, project charters, project management plans, communications plans, risk management plans, schedules, project closure, etc. 

Post-training satisfaction surveys revealed that the attendees liked the training, but some leads still wanted to know what was most relevant. In a roundtable discussion on the last day, in the area of schedules in particular, some leads thought that a sample schedule tool would be useful. 

While sophisticated charters may not be needed for most solicitations, there are significant differences between cooperative procurements of this magnitude. The process team developed a charter for chief procurement officers (CPOs) to state the goals of the cooperative and highlight considerations unique to the coop’s procurements, among them: select experienced leads who can manage a schedule and lead a virtual team, support the lead and sourcing team; and develop a schedule suitable for managing the project and communicating with stakeholders. The charter is written for CPOs.  

Pam Johnson, a procurement analyst for the state of Oregon, advises procurement professionals to “plan backwards.” Working backwards from the objective, setting and managing a schedule are core skills of project managers: they and their team identify the dependencies between activities, assemble the schedule and assign responsibilities for tasks. The process improvement team developed an Excel model timeline that incorporates a checklist of key milestones, representative durations, and schedule considerations. The timeline also includes a sheet for recording team responsibilities for tasks. 

The team also realized that the “think ahead” phase during project execution had to include relevant communication of progress. All managers in the process need to know key milestones.  While a formal communication plan may not be necessary for all procurements, the team developed a simple, one-page update template for communicating the 30-day “look ahead” schedule and significant issues being worked. 

In the end, this team demonstrated one of the disciplines of all effective teams: use just enough structure to help the team organize thinking
and action. 

 

Richard Pennington, J.D., LL.M., CPPO is general counsel to NASPO ValuePoint.  He is the author of Seeing Excellence: Learning from Great Procurement Teams (www.seeingexcellence.com). 

Tags: Procurement Article

Most Recent


  • solutions
    Public sector administrative software solutions provider rebrands as Euna Solutions
    Bringing together critical administration technology solutions for the public sector, GTY Technology has rebranded itself into Euna Solutions, which will merge its current companies into a more integrated suite of offerings. GTY Technology started as a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) in 2016 and researched several markets before deciding government technology was the field for […]
  • metal buildings
    Metal buildings: Their versatility and durability suit them for public sector infrastructure
    Some cities and counties are looking at one structure type to help them meet their infrastructure needs, says Phil Skellorn, senior structural engineer at Buro Happold, an engineering and consulting services firm. “Some public owners are looking at metal buildings as an economical option.” Skellorn says metal buildings can offer advantages if the off-the-shelf product […]
  • sustainability
    To achieve their sustainability goals, cities and counties must engage with key stakeholders
    Local government leaders need to cast a wide net, says Laura Kroeger, technical director, leadership and management for the American Public Works Association (APWA). She also serves on the APWA Board of Directors, as chair of APWA’s strategic planning committee, and as executive director for the Mile High Flood District (Lakewood, Colo.). Kroeger urges agencies […]
  • green
    The future of carbon emissions and cities lies in green buildings
    When you envision the future, what do you see? For me, it’s a place where people of all generations live, work and thrive. And it’s a place where green, efficient buildings are integrated with nature and resilient infrastructure ties our healthy and productive places together into communities. However, in the face of climate change, that […]

Leave a comment Cancel reply

-or-

Log in with your American City and County account

Alternatively, post a comment by completing the form below:

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Related Content

  • A call to action: Moving procurement past its pre-pandemic mindset
  • Making deals: Cooperative agreements can help governments achieve supplier diversity goals
  • Procurement methods go to the head of the class in the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education
  • Deltek releases 12th annual Clarity Government Contracting Report

White papers


7 Permitting & Licensing Fails Slowing Community Growth

24th May 2023

The Secret Ingredient to Local Government Employee Retention

23rd May 2023

Supercharge your ERP: How ERPs and Purpose-Built Solutions Work Together to Future-Proof Your Digital Strategy

15th May 2023
view all

Webinars


How to Centralize and Build a Grants Management Process at your Organization

24th May 2023

Making Permitting Easier: What We’ve Learned Helping America’s Largest Cities Improve Their Permitting Process

16th May 2023

Digital Property Tax Collection: Tales from the Trenches of Modernization

16th May 2023
view all

PODCAST


Young Leaders Episode 4 – Cyril Jefferson – City Councilman, High Point, North Carolina

13th October 2020

Young Leaders Episode 3 – Shannon Hardin – City Council President, Columbus, Ohio

27th July 2020

Young Leaders Episode 2 – Christian Williams – Development Services Planner, Goodyear, Ariz.

1st July 2020
view all

GALLERIES


Gallery: Top 10 American cities for seasonal and summer jobs

25th May 2023

Gallery: 10 of America’s most affordable cities

9th May 2023

Gallery: Top 10 American cities most friendly to EVs

7th April 2023
view all

Twitter


AmerCityCounty

2022 Crown Communities Award winner: Miami-Dade County Clerk of Courts’ jury selection system dlvr.it/SphCBk

26th May 2023
AmerCityCounty

Gallery: Top 10 American cities for seasonal and summer jobs dlvr.it/SpdFWy

25th May 2023
AmerCityCounty

How to leverage digital tools to drive innovation in government dlvr.it/Spcktb

25th May 2023
AmerCityCounty

With many cities facing a fiscal cliff as ARPA funding ends, debt ceiling debate continues on Capitol Hill dlvr.it/SpZLph

24th May 2023
AmerCityCounty

7 Permitting & Licensing Fails Slowing Community Growth dlvr.it/SpYqBS

24th May 2023
AmerCityCounty

How to Centralize and Build a Grants Management Process at your Organization dlvr.it/SpYp5c

24th May 2023
AmerCityCounty

How green last-mile infrastructure benefits your community dlvr.it/SpXv8r

24th May 2023
AmerCityCounty

Oversight committee addresses NTIA reauthorization, FCC broadband map ahead of BEAD Program funding allocations dlvr.it/SpW6TQ

23rd May 2023

Newsletters

Sign up for American City & County’s newsletters to receive regular news and information updates about local governments.

Resale Insights Dashboard

The Resale Insights Dashboard provides model-level data for the entire used equipment market to help you save time and money.

Municipal Cost Index

Updated monthly since 1978, our exclusive Municipal Cost Index shows the effects of inflation on the cost of providing municipal services

Media Kit and Advertising

Want to reach our digital audience? Learn more here.

DISCOVER MORE FROM INFORMA TECH

  • IWCE’s Urgent Communications
  • IWCE Expo

WORKING WITH US

  • About Us
  • Contact Us

FOLLOW American City and County ON SOCIAL

  • Privacy
  • CCPA: “Do Not Sell My Data”
  • Cookie Policy
  • Terms
Copyright © 2023 Informa PLC. Informa PLC is registered in England and Wales with company number 8860726 whose registered and Head office is 5 Howick Place, London, SW1P 1WG.