How to adopt Technology in Procurement Teams

We got this amazing technology, but they are just not using it.

At our last roundtable, we had an exciting discussion about the current trends, or 'waves', that procurement departments are experiencing. We also explored how technology can be used as a a *surfboard* to navigate these waves and achieve success.

However, not everyone in your team may be enthusiastic about water sports, or some may be hesitant about the potential risks involved in riding these waves. Luckily, based on the many valuable contributions during the roundtable discussions, we have gathered 10 key takeaways, examples, and actionable steps that you can implement to stay ahead of the curve. These insights will help you leverage technology and ride the waves of procurement trends with confidence. So, let's dive in.

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10 key takeaways, examples and actionable steps

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1. It's essential to understand the problem before selecting a solution: Before investing in a new technology solution, organizations should analyse their current processes and identify areas for improvement.
2. Focus on the benefits of technology for the end-user and not just for management: Procurement professionals should emphasize the personal benefits of technology to encourage adoption, e.g., how it will help category managers save time and be more efficient.
3. Technology needs to be 'sexy', engaging and user-friendly: The adoption of any technology with a simple user interface will encourage higher usage rates.
4. Change management is critical to successful technology adoption: Procurement professionals should consider internal influencers and early adopters' energy to bring others along the adoption journey.
5. Organizations need to mature alongside the technology they adopt: Implementing new technology requires a change in working methods, and organizations must be prepared to change alongside.
6. Fear of losing control is a common barrier to technology adoption: When implementing technology reduce the fear of losing control by engaging in training and education on the new technology.
7. Education and training are critical to successful technology adoption: Procurement professionals should educate and train employees on the benefits of new technology solutions and how to use them effectively.
8. Incentives for technology adoption should be smart, output-oriented, and aligned with overall business goals: Purely quantitative KPIs could lead to consequences such as running more, but less valuable events. Instead, consider qualitative KPIs assessed during performance reviews.
9. Subtract to leave head space, time to focus on technology adoption: Rather than simply adding a new technology to everyone's agenda, make sure to sunset another system or process first and make room and time for something new.
10. Celebrate successes and involve the community to drive adoption: Creating success stories and engaging with the community can encourage greater adoption of new technology solutions.

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A hands-on example for adopting Archlet

A tried and tested approach to rollout and continuously adopt Archlet.

Backed with what we know from adoption research and based on our experience when introducing Archlet in dozens of companies, we have identified some best practices. While we know that every company is different and context matters, these practices are particularly well suited in companies with a Procurement Excellence function or other dedicated teams that handle digital transformation or business process optimization projects.

In a nutshell

Let's summarise our best practices before we dive into each one in more detail:

A – Establish clear communication and information channels

B – Setting up the orchestra

C – Defined roles in your orchestra

D – Identifying your key user(s)

E – Embrace a dual flow

F – Collect success stories for internal promotion

Establish clear communication and information channels

There’s very little chance you are over-communicating. So, whenever you are about to decide on a new technology or are about to introduce one, ensure the team is notified and informed.

This could be achieved through a newsletter or information bulletin you send out regularly and your intranet or Teams feed and your internal knowledge or documentation hub and direct email communication. Notice the “and” in the previous sentence? Yes, these should not be mutually exclusive.

The goal should be that everyone had at least heard the name of the technology being introduced and when to expect it.

The channels used in the introduction are also the channels that should be continuously updated to reflect the knowledge and skills acquired.

What worked for us?

Simply buying technology and hoping for individuals to pick it up is rarely a successful approach. Neither is getting everyone in one (virtual) room and just “train” them on the technology and hoping everyone will feel immediately inspired and motivated to use it and keep on using it – trust us, we tried and learnt it the hard way.

In our experience, the introduction of any new technology works best if well orchestrated. But how do you best orchestrate roll-out and adoption?

Setting up the orchestra

Set yourself up for success! In Procurement Excellence, you can navigate Procurement teams through technology adoption like a conductor would lead an orchestra through a composition.

We have seen great and quick results when a function such as Procurement Excellence acts as the conductor and one team or a few individuals are your lead violinist or concertmaster. Everyone else is a crucial part of the orchestra and has access to the music sheets but are led by the rhythm and guidance of the lead violin and the conductor.

Defined roles in your orchestra

Let’s break down these 3 main roles in your adoption orchestra and how they are involved in the rollout and adoption of Archlet:

• Product Owner: The conductor is the product owner. The product owner acts as the main contact person (internally & with vendor), sets up and maintains knowledge hubs, typically does not run tenders but keeps an overview and promotes the use of Archlet and collects success stories.
• Key User: The lead violinist is your key user. The key user often takes over the very first project/tender, handles complex or of reoccuring tenders, needs more advanced knowledge of the tool and can eventually teach or support casual users.
• Casual User: All other members of the orchestra are your casual users. Casual users have only a few tenders, typically of lower complexity. The need only basic knowledge of the tool.

Identify your lead violinist (key user)

Finding your key user(s) is a crucial step for success. Key user(s) are often those that are more open to the new technology as they have the biggest need or see how the use of a technology allows them to reach better results faster.

In our experience, we have seen that sourcing managers or buyers running complex tenders in packaging and road freight, have seen immediate results and were thus quick to pick up Archlet skills. Their tenders typically require them to use a large range of features and thus makes them reach advanced levels of product knowledge. This knowledge makes them a perfect candidate for internal success stories and a possible go-to-person for their colleagues.

A key user is also a great source of knowledge when it comes to create optimized bid sheet templates and to identify and continuously improve processes and action plans.

Embrace a dual flow

Simply buying technology and hoping for individuals to pick it up is rarely a successful approach. Neither is getting everyone in one (virtual) room and just “train” them on the technology and hoping everyone will feel immediately inspired and motivated to use it and keep on using it – trust us, we tried and learnt it the hard way.

In our experience, the introduction of any new technology works best if well orchestrated. But how do you best orchestrate roll-out and adoption?

Collect success stories

There’s a reason why so many technology vendors use case studies and success stories – and it works for you, too! Hearing stories of someone succeed and if that someone is a person you know, you feel like you are also able to achieve the same. It also is much more trustworthy than hearing it from someone you don’t know or is selling you the technology.

Additionally, an internal success story might also show how adopting technology can be beneficial for one’s promotion or standing inside the company. Like this you cater towards performance expectancy and social norms.

Reach out to us to learn more. We are looking forward to hearing from you.