Procurement managers can do more to raise the profile of the profession and let the organisation know how any why they add value.  In order to get a seat at the table, stakeholders need to view support as a value add rather than being a block to get the goods and services they need. You can do this by using a communications plan to help you structure the conversation and tailor it to different audiences within the organisation.

Most people know how to do the procurement but they lose sight of the messaging. A communications plan template can be adapted for procurement mangers who have larger projects or need to communicate strategic change within an organisation.

We take it for granted some of the procurement steps are like ABC but why should someone from a different department speak your language? They need you to break things down into small bite size chunks of information that is easy to understand and digest.

Procurement Communications Plan Template

[Insert date]

Project owner(s); contact details

Comms owner(s):

Key stakeholder(s):

A. THE PROJECT – Summary

Background and business objectives

• [insert background]

• The primary role of the Procurement function is to assist stakeholders to deliver value for money and ensure effective procurement by adding value to our stakeholders.

• [insert background]

• Procurement has a significant role to play in helping departments achieve their objectives by looking at total cost of ownership, taking into account both quality and cost.

• Our role is to achieve value for money by providing support on strategic guidance & adding value. We will do this by putting in place sourcing strategies, aggregate contracts and manage the procurement process from project inception to exchange of contracts and beyond including contract management of our key supplier base.

• Procurement will support and assist internal stakeholders to focus on reducing cost. Value is added by working in a cross-functional manner and we are here to serve [INSERT COMPANY] to achieve our organisational objectives by making every pound we spend with suppliers go further.

Challenges

• The Procurement Department is a respected function within the organisation but previously under resourced. To date the team is reactive in the way they support the business. The challenge is to streamline the way we do things and align the procurement team to categories that cut across several directorates as opposed to being aligned to delivering contracts for specific projects within a directorate. 

• [insert procurement challenge]

• We need to raise our profile and build strategic relationships with budget holders and have access to information relating to the spend profile for every budget holder for the next 12 month. We will add the information to our procurement pipeline for effective planning and resource allocation.

• Our main challenge is to bring requestors/ budget holders on board to understand the value of procurement. Though we act as gate keepers for the governance process, mitigate risks and protect [INSERT COMPANY] from legal challenge, our primary role is to maximise commercial outputs.

 Key deadlines

• [insert requirement]
• [insert requirement]
• Alignment to category structure and strategic procurement structure- Ongoing

 

B. COMMS AND ENGAGEMENT

1. Communication objectives

SMART	Measurement
Specific	Explain to different user groups what the changes mean for them personally
Measurable	Customer satisfaction, compliance to process, capture spend requirements, early engagement for tenders
Achievable	Compliance to the policy, accurate procurement pipeline
Realistic	Segmentation of the audience to deliver key messages for the audience group to address their concerns
Timely	Policy go live by the end of June, Training to start mid-June, build new category approach from July onwards.

2. Audiences

• Primary: Senior Leadership Team
• Secondary: Procurement Champions, All [INSERT COMPANY] staff

3. What we want them to know/feel/do

Know: Primary

• Our primary stakeholders need to support the changes proposed and give us the mandate to enforce the procurement policy. We want them to know that our proposed changes are in the best interest for the organisation as a whole because the procurement function address’s third party spend from an organisation view point rather than individual directorate or budget holder. It’s important that they understand the benefits and the value that procurement can bring and how this is aligned to overall organisation benefits.

• The primary audience needs to know that we are working on getting better spend transparency to ensure a complete and accurate picture of our spend profile. When we bring full spend visibility captured within the right coding structure this leads to higher levels of compliance and better control of maverick spend.

• Procurement at [INSERT COMPANY] isn’t about the lowest cost. We are about quality and getting the right goods and services at the right price. The procurement team will do this by analysing expenditure within our main categories such as Consultancy, Contingent Labour, Professional services and IT and develop the right route to market for effective procurement.

• To enable good quality services and savings procurement will analyse category spend as well as develop relationships with key suppliers to understand the competitive landscape.

• Our primary audience should be aware that we may require support when making quick wins where we can but we won’t compromise on quality.

• Finally [INSERT COMPANY] should know adherence to the procurement policy will guide people help us work within the correct procurement principles which helps us maintain a commercial advantage through competitively tendering all requirements and mitigating risks.

Secondary

• Our secondary audience are our end users. They need to know that they will be supported by a professional team who will support them to find the best suppliers within the available budget. The procurement team will work with [INSERT COMPANY] to understand supplier markets to get the best outcome.

• Users need to understand that we will do so by consolidating volume be aggregating supplier spend. Our focus is on the total cost of ownership, so we will always calculate quality and price against the overall cost.

• We don’t believe in buying cheap services that are not fit for purpose that requires more re-work which cost more in the long term.

• Procurement will establish cross-functional working and work closely with the directorate to establish their needs. We will tender for contracts against the suppliers ability to provide the services rather than limit the supply of goods and services of a contract to specific budget holder’s needs.

• The business can be confident that we will be working more closely together to identify common targets and request KPI reports as standard for our key suppliers. Category management and supplier management are the most important processes for achieving sustainable results.

Feel: Primary

• The senior leadership team should feel confident that the procurement team has the right structure and process to protect the organisation against commercial risk and expenditure is managed to assist with the organisation bottom line. They should be comfortable in supporting challenging situations to mandate the governance procedure and not allow people to revert to previous practice that they may be more familiar with.

Secondary

• All users at [INSERT COMPANY] should feel that the process is clear and straight forward to follow. They will understand that the tendering exercise requires close collaborative working and feel supported by the procurement team when running a tender process.

Do: Primary- Senior Leadership Team

• Senior management should lead by example and comply with the rules laid out within the procurement policy.

• We require management support to feed information down the chain and request all direct reports and team members to purchase goods and services within the governance procedure as set out in the procurement policy.

• They need to communicate the need to comply with the procurement policy and encourage budget holders to talk to procurement early and not last minute as an afterthought for compliance purposes.
• They should support procurement to educate users that our common goal is to achieve value for money for [INSERT COMPANY] but not at the lowest cost if this compromises quality. Such messaging and support is necessary for the procurement function to get the buy in from the organisation and automatic early engagement when committing [INSERT COMPANY] funds.

Secondary – All Users

• All users are required to alert the procurement team of any spend above £[insert amount]

• This is a process change to help the procurement team have sight of all third party expenditure within the organisation. By involving procurement in advance of any commitment means that the procurement team will get the early engagement.

• Procurement will record all tenders and competitions in which they are directly involved into a procurement pipeline. This does not mean that the procurement department will lead every competition above £[insert amount] or all competitive quotes, we may let the end user conduct their own competitive tenders up to £50,000 but this will depend on the complexity and risk involved.

4. Communications Plan Key messages

• See above

5. Summary of activity / channels

• Emails (tailored to specific audiences)
• Senior Management Briefing
• Training workshops
• Budget Holder Meetings ( review category options)

6. Measurement

Awareness (Know)	Users will have a clear understanding of how to initiate a procurement Aware of their point of contact when assistance is required
Attitude (Feel)	All users will feel comfortable with the procurement process. Positive feedback from the Business
Behaviour (Do)	Compliance to the procurement policy Evidence of procurement initiation being submitted to the procurement department
Communications  process	Email Communication Face to Face Briefings

7. Costs

(Any direct costs for communication activities, eg print/design or catering for an event, and budget code)

• TBC

Notes

The supplier base needs to be informed of the changes in the way we do procurement because of changes in our contracting status making us subject to the Public Contract Regulations which means [INSERT COMPANY] will complete tenders within the OJEU requirements.  This means some of our tenders will be advertised on Contracts and some in OJEU. There are also different rules on non-discrimination and transparency therefore as part of the new policy launch we also need to inform   our suppliers of the new changes.

Tactical communications planner

Due date or frequency	Audience	Activity	Channel	Key messages	Owner	Status/Notes	RAG
	All staff	Project update	All Aboard	Background infoWhat we’ve done so farSupport provided Key timelines			G
	Procurement Champions	Awareness	Calendar Invite	You have been nominated, thanks in advanceYour role & responsibilityBackground infoWhat’s changingBenefitsHow we will support you inc. training			G
	Procurement Champions	Training session	Training	Identify the role of the procurement championOverview of the full procurement process			G
	Procurement Champions	Training highlights	Email	Thank you for attending the trainingReiterate key changes, next steps in bullet point style			G
	Finance	Systems Demo	Meeting	Demo for [insert] Head of xyz]Online webinar demo for WLT		Complete	G
	Wider Leadership and line managers	Awareness	SLT follow up with email & outline the role of the procurement champions	Background infoWhat’s changingBenefitsWhat help we need from your championsHow we can support youWhat we need your help with			A
	All staff	Key Changes	All Aboard	Background infoPromote self-enrolment training / workshop days		Warm up staff for new procurement policy	A
	[insert stakeholder]	Sign-off	Meeting	Provide summary for policy changes / outcomeBuy-in / sign-off required before formal launch			A
	Senior Leadership Team	Awareness	SLT Meeting	Background infoWhat’s changingBenefitsWhat help we need from your championsHow we can support youWhat we need your help with			A
	Staff that enrolled to attend training	Training / workshops	Calendar invitation	Thanks for enrollingWhat the session will cover
	Senior Management	Category Review Meeting	Meeting	Top 10 changes in the procurement policyDiscuss Budgets for FY 15/16Category Approach	Procurement Managers	To attend budget meetings with Finance and discuss Procurement Activities in the second half of the meeting

Post Procurement Launch Communication

Due date or frequency	Audience	Activity	Channel	Key messages	Owner	Status/Notes	RAG
August/September	Industry Stakeholders	Procurement Process and ways of working with [INSERT COMPANY]	TBC	Procurement early market engagement – do not use the supplier bidding for the work to write the specification. Evaluation panel role and responsibilities Conflict of Interest, declarations	Hazel	Determine if this should be done on an adhoc basis or as a letter as its difficult to get external stakeholders together to explain our procurement process	A
	Suppliers	New ways of working with Procurement	Email	Where Tenders are advertised, [INSERT COMPANY] website, Early market engagement processDo not work at risk
	All Staff	Systems Implementation	Meetings/ Email	What’s differentHow does it work12 week implementation plan- what’s involved			A
	Procurement Champions	Gather feedback from policy launch	Meeting	Capture what worked wellWhat are people struggling withUse the feedback to improve the policy			A
	CEO	Communicate the success of the procurement launch	Email	Procurement KPI reports		Reviewing options for some automation using a database to capture the information.	A
	All Staff	Procurement Survey	Survey Monkey	Feedback from users about the procurement process and general satisfaction levels			A

Identifying and prioritising audiences

The matrix below lists and prioritises the key people to communicate with in order to help achieve the business objectives

Impact of  programme on stakeholder group	High	Keep informed CEOSenior Management Team	Key players Procurement ChampionsBudget HoldersRequestor ( main liaison for running tenders)
Low	Build awareness General [INSERT COMPANY] users Industry Stakeholder GroupSuppliers in the Marketplace	Keep satisfied CEOSenior Management  Budget HoldersGeneral users who are involved in tenders
	Low	High
	Importance of stakeholder group to programme success

Audience objectives and messages

The table below describes what audiences need to know, feel and do; what they need in order for us to achieve these objectives; and the best means of engaging them

	Objectives – what do we want them to:
Stakeholder group	Know	Feel	Do
1. Key players
Procurement Champions	Basic procurement knowledge	Empowered, ability to influence	Signposting, eyes & ears of the department
Budget Holders	Procurement doesn’t supply by directorate but by the markets ability to deliver a contract	Aggregated contracts offers the best value for money and doesn’t affect service levels	Provide support to mandate the procurement policy
Requestor	Work with procurement on specific projects	They are working with a professional team who understands their needs	Early engagement
2. Keep informed
CEO	The procurement function is managing the spend of the organisation which is both compliant and ensures Value for Money	Confident that the outputs are realistic and achievable	Support the mandate of the procurement policy across the whole organisation and be aware of high profile escalation
Senior Management	The procurement department will be set up to deliver contracts across directorates and projectsOur aim is to have less contracts for similar goods and servicesWe will review framework Contracts & Agreements in place for different call off options	The procurement department delivers best value for moneyThe procurement team understands their business drivers	Cascade the information to their teams to request early engagement with the procurement department Work with the procurement department to share budgets and roadmaps
3. Keep satisfied
CEO	As above	As Above	As Above
Senior Management
Budget Holders
Group/person name
4. Build awareness
General Users	The procurement process is simple to follow	Feel supported with the right amount of flexibility to do things within the parameters of the policy	Ask questions if unsure, work with the procurement champions or Procurement team
	The organisation operates a central department where most of the procurement is completed		Read the procurement policy and key changes
	In some instances for contracts under £50K the procurement manager may let the requestor lead the competitive quote process.		Enrol themselves on the training if they feel it would be beneficial to find out more about the process

Or try this version

Title: Communications Plan for Procurement xxxxx Implementation

Objective: The primary goal of this communications plan is to effectively convey the key elements and requirements of the Procurement Act 2023 to all relevant stakeholders within the organization. This plan aims to ensure a smooth and comprehensive understanding of the changes and responsibilities associated with the new procurement regulations.

Audience:

1. Internal Stakeholders:
   • Procurement TeamExecutive LeadershipLegal DepartmentFinance DepartmentProject ManagersDepartment Heads
2. External Stakeholders:
   • Suppliers and VendorsRegulatory BodiesAudit and Compliance Agencies

Key Messages:

1. Introduction to Procurement Act 2023:
   • Communicate the purpose and significance of the new Procurement Act.Emphasize the commitment to transparency, fairness, and efficiency in procurement processes.
2. Changes and Amendments:
   • Outline specific changes introduced by the Procurement Act 2023.Highlight how these changes align with best practices and legal requirements.
3. Roles and Responsibilities:
   • Clearly define the roles and responsibilities of each stakeholder in the procurement process.Emphasize the importance of compliance and accountability.
4. Training and Capacity Building:
   • Communicate plans for training programs to ensure all staff is well-versed with the new regulations.Highlight the availability of resources, including manuals, workshops, and online materials.
5. Technology Integration:
   • Introduce any new technology or software that will be implemented to enhance procurement processes.Emphasize how technology aligns with the Procurement Act 2023 to improve efficiency and transparency.

Communication Channels:

1. Internal Communication:
   • Memo to all staff announcing the implementation of the Procurement Act 2023.In-person town hall meetings for detailed explanations and Q&A sessions.Intranet updates and articles to provide ongoing information.
2. Training Sessions:
   • Conduct workshops and webinars for in-depth training on the new processes.Develop an online training module accessible to all employees.
3. Regular Updates:
   • Monthly newsletters to update stakeholders on progress and address any emerging questions or concerns.Utilize team meetings and departmental briefings for continuous updates.
4. External Communication:
   • Supplier/vendor communications to outline changes in procurement procedures.Engage with regulatory bodies through official channels to demonstrate compliance.

Timeline:

1. Pre-Launch (Month 1):
   • Develop communication materials.Identify and train key spokespersons.
2. Launch (Month 2-3):
   • Distribute internal memos and conduct town hall meetings.Initiate training sessions.
3. Post-Launch (Ongoing):
   • Regular updates through newsletters and internal communications.Continuous training and support.

Feedback Mechanism: Establish a feedback loop through:

• Surveys and polls to gauge understanding.Dedicated email or helpline for questions and concerns.Regular feedback sessions during team meetings.

Evaluation: Conduct periodic assessments to measure:

• Understanding and compliance.Effectiveness of communication channels.Identification and resolution of any challenges.

By implementing this communications plan, we aim to ensure a seamless transition to the new procurement regulations while fostering a culture of transparency, accountability, and compliance within the organization.

Check out more resources at HBR or go to downstream sourcing activities