Monthly Top 5 - July 2021

Author

Joël Collin-Demers
August 03, 2021 • 📖 5 minutes

Hi there,

I hope you had a good month!

While I went straight through the end of July and forgot to send you my newsletter (oops!), I thought it would still provide the same value a few days late :)It's like sweet corn. Just because I haven't yet reminded you that it's the perfect time to get your hands on this delicious commodity right now while it is in season, doesn't mean you've missed the boat! There's still plenty of great crops to get your hands on before the season's over (seriously though... I've been eating way too much of the stuff these past few weeks).

I found some great articles last month and hope you enjoy! Don't hesitate to reach out with any comments or questions.

Sincerely,

Joël

Top 5 Source-to-Pay Articles - July 2021

#1 - Does your Procurement Data have its COAT on?

You keep hearing it because it's true: data is the new oil. Oil, in its "natural" state is not very valuable... It's often buried in hard to reach places. Only with the extraction, transformation and refinement processes do you get to a highly valuable product consumed by the masses.While I certainly encourage the move away from fossil fuels, I still find the image a powerful one as it relates to your data. Only by actively working on it (and the underlying processes) can you get it to be valuable for you (and Susan's COAT concept is just a catchy one :D)

#2 - How Can I Ensure My Organization Is “Ready” for a Source-to-Pay Implementation/Transformation?

The old "People, Process & Technology" triad remains very relevant today as a framework to identify the key success factors for a business transformation project in your specific organizational context.

In this article, Thierry does a great job in laying out the foundational questions you need to have an answer to before you pull the trigger on the software implementation piece of your transformation. Otherwise, you may end up hitting roadblocks when trying to implement a solution.

#3 - When Low-Code/No-Code Development Works — and When It Doesn’t?

Typically, when wanting to solve a Procurement problem with software, there have been two favored approach:

  • custom development

  • off-the-shelf software (or a combination of both).

Increasingly, we are starting to see the advent of Low-Code/No-Code functionality turn up in this space. Essentially, this represents a user interface put in place to enable business users to generate code in the backend while having little to no coding experience.

The advantage is clear: a wider pool of change agents for your Procurement systems (IT is no longer a bottleneck). However, what are the pitfalls?

When Low-Code/No-Code Development Works — and When It Doesn’t
by Chris Johannessen and Tom Davenport at HBR

#4 - Is Poor Communication Between Finance and Procurement Damaging your Supplier Relationships?

I've (unfortunately) seen this time and time again in organizations. Misaligned Procurement and Finance departments will have negative impacts not only on supplier relationships but internal operations and continuous improvement initiatives. The opposite is a key success factor to driving towards an optimal Procurement process. Why? Because there are so many tradeoffs between Procurement and Finance to navigate as you evolve.

How can you ensure this relationship is in the right place? As with any change you seek to make, it starts with a difficult conversation.

#5 - How to Have Tough Conversations with Employees About Returning to the Office

As we get closer to Labor Day, we also approach the deadline a lot of companies have given themselves to start going back into the office under their new policies. That can mean anything from full work from home to full time in the office and everything in between. Your new office policy may even give employees flexibility to decide what works best for them.

This article covers the talking points to cover to ensure you have the tools to ensure each employee's new work parameters are also optimal for the team as a whole.

You wrote or read a great article? Send it my way, I'd love to read it.

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