Tag: Procurement Office Development

Agency Relations & Customer Service

Customer Service to Agency Stakeholders

A successful procurement relies on quality customer service from the procurement specialist.  An important component of customer service is early collaboration between agencies. The initial interaction provides the procurement specialist the opportunity to establish trust and start a relationship through personal engagement with agency stakeholders. This is the best time for the specialist to set clear expectations, listen and respond to concerns, and build a partnership.

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Professional Development

Reflecting on the Pandemic: Networking

You, like many people, may feel dread in hearing the word “networking.” You are not alone, according to one study from Harvard Business School, people feel gross about networking being pushed by their superiors because of the feeling of how transactional it can be. That same study showed, however, that people do feel good about organic (or self-initiated) networking. Networking can be good for not just you as an individual but also good for your department and organization. Read more “Reflecting on the Pandemic: Networking”
Professional Development

Everything is NOT Awesome – Difficult Customer Situations

Imagine this – a state agency has come to you with frustrations about a lack of communication from the central procurement office. They have not heard back from the office in over three days, and they are frustrated that they do not know what is going on with their solicitation. This is just one example of a frustrated customer situation you might run into in your operations. When these unhappy customers arise, there are steps you can  take in order to recover from a bad customer service experience. Read more “Everything is NOT Awesome – Difficult Customer Situations”
Emergency Procurement & Risk Management

3 Tips for Re-Building Your Post-Pandemic Office

Both the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities and the National Conference of State Legislatures project that budget shortfalls for FY 2020 and FY 2021 could create millions of dollars’ worth of deficits. In order to save money, some state information technology workers are already planning to work permanently from home, even after the pandemic has subsided. Keep the possibility of permanently working from home in mind as budgets shrink and innovative solutions are explored. What could your procurement office look like in the post-pandemic? Here are 3 tips for re-building your post-pandemic procurement office. Read more “3 Tips for Re-Building Your Post-Pandemic Office”
Emergency Procurement & Risk Management

Preparing for Simultaneous Emergencies

If the COVID-19 pandemic has had a silver lining, it has been the forced shift to working from home and decentralizing the office building. While this transition to working from home has not been without growing pains, the benefits outweigh the costs in terms of preparing for emergencies on the horizon. Now that we know we can work efficiently from home; it is time to explore options to make our offices even more resilient in the face of future emergencies.

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Professional Development

Change Management: Prepare to Succeed

Change is an inevitable fact of life, and when working with executive offices or legislative bodies it’s often mandatory.  Whether it’s implementing a new eProcurement system, utilizing new solicitation methods, or just modernizing your codes and processes; it’s a manager’s responsibility to ensure successful adoption.  Change Management ranked #8 on NASPO’s Top Priorities for 2020.  Here’s how to facilitate change and achieve buy-in from your office.

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