Connectivity is at the core of the modern business. Whether your organization is comprised of one small office with 10 people or a large multinational employing thousands, it is key to find the correct connectivity mix to support your business needs.
Last Tuesday I announced that Buyers Meeting Point has acquired MyPurchasingCenter, a website and online community much like BMP. This step increases our reach, audience, and – most importantly – our content base. Some of the best known writers in procurement and supply chain were authors for MPC, including Jon Hansen, Bill Michels, Dr. Tom DePaoli, Rich Weissman, and Elaine Porteous. Look for more on that front starting this week!
This week is much slower than last week with only two events currently on the calendar. As of right now it looks like the reverse of the proverbial saying about March: on our calendar it is coming in like a lamb but shaping up to go out like a lion. If you are planning your webinar schedule further in advance, there are two different events I recommend looking at.
The first is an Ivalua sponsored event focused on The Hackett Group’s Procurement Key Issues 2019 CPO Report on March 26th at 11am. Philip Ideson (Art of Procurement) and I discussed some of the most interesting findings of the report re: procurement’s capability needs v. investment on last week’s This Month in Procurement podcast.
The other event you may want to check out is from ProcureAbility and SIG – also on March 26th. The webinar is titled ‘Category Management in Only 30 Days!’ (their exclamation point). It will help you anticipate the gaps and minefields that might otherwise prevent you from rolling out a category management program… yes, in only 30 days.
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In a new Art of Procurement podcast series, Philip Ideson and I will stop each month and take a look back at the podcasts, news, and topics of the previous four weeks. You can hear the January episode here: Leveraging Storytelling To Better Connect With Your Stakeholders.
It’s interesting how different an idea can look when you consider it in the context of other information. Most of us read a few articles and posts and listen to a podcast of two during the month. When you have to look back at them, two things quickly become apparent:
The links to this month’s podcasts are below, but here are some of the insights I found ‘in between’…
If you’re thinking of attending a webinar any time soon, this is the week. Next week’s calendar is completely empty, likely due to the Fourth of July holiday in the U.S. Even the week after only has one event as of right now, so we may finally be entering the summer slowdown.
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This week’s webinars provide us with a broad range of topics – process trends, global supply chain crises, optimizing public procurement, and direct access programs for hiring independent talent – demonstrating just how expansive the knowledge base for procurement professionals has become.
If you like to plan further ahead, I recommend “Get Smart About Your Digital Underbelly Or You'll Fail To Scale” from HfS Research and a panel of experts on June 21st.
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Whether it is by bringing in new technology, taking processes to the next level, or adopting a new approach to thinking through solutions, leading procurement professionals and teams are always pushing the envelope. This week’s webinars offer guidance and applied examples on all three. Click on the title of each recommended webinar below to view the full description and register.
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After a one-week hiatus (presumably due to the Labor Day holiday in the U.S.), procurement events are back – with a vengeance! With Procurement Leaders in Boston on Wednesday and Thursday and 10 webinars, there is a lot of choose from. Click on the title of each webinar below to view the full description and register.
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This week, my recommended procurement webinars are all about doing MORE. More categories managed, more results, and more visibility into the supply chain. Click on the title of each event below to view the full description and register or visit the BMP events calendar to see what’s on tap for the rest of the month.
We’re officially making the transition to September this week, although most of the events take place before we’ll need to turn the page on our calendars. Click on the title of each event below to view the full description in our events calendar and to connect to their registration pages.
These webinar notes are from a September 24th webinar hosted by SIG and presented by Chris Eyerman and Alan Veeck at Denali Sourcing Services. The webinar is available on demand and can be viewed after a quick registration here.
In case you’re wondering, an ultramarathon is an INSANELY challenging combination of long distance running and trail running. Technically, they include any marathon over the traditional 26.2 mile run, but from the sounds of Eyerman’s description, they are also usually off road excursions that can be as long as 100 miles. And he should know – he has run them.
This week, each of my picks is pushing a boundary in some way – whether through more advanced approaches to risk, the collaborative frontier, or… well… running an ultramarathon to prepare for better category management. Click on the title of each event below to view the full description in the events calendar and to connect to their registration pages.
This week’s webinar notes are from an April 30th event hosted by Sourcing Interests Group and presented by Denali’s Alan Veeck and special guest Paul Smith from ‘Lead with A Story’, a coach, speaker, and author.
The webinar explored how professionals can leverage the techniques of storytelling to build influence and communicate an important message in an effective way. In Smith’s terms, storytelling is simple, timeless, contagious, and memorable, and it works across demographics.
Within the context of procurement, Denali has been incorporating storytelling into the training they provide to category managers. With the wide range of responsibilities being handled by category managers today, they have to function within an operating model that allows for proper division of labor. Coaching them is like cross training, bringing together a range of diverse skills that will help them become more strategic.
The lessons from this webinar combine to create something like ‘communication theatre’ that you can leverage to get your message through – as long as you are willing to put in the effort up front. What the speakers did not directly address in this event, but that should not be underestimated, is the time and planning required to apply storytelling. You have to know your audience, craft a story in such a way that it has the desired effect, and choreograph the execution carefully.
