Our list of top ‘soft’ skills for procurement (in addition to traditional competencies like negotiation, commercial acumen etc):
🥳 Networking - the art of building a diverse network of contacts, both internally and externally, to draw on to bring experience, value and engagement. Your network is your net worth!
☎️ Communication - being able to concisely, accurately and in a timely fashion disseminate information to whomever needs to know it, when they need to know it. Cut out the jargon!
🎬 Influencing - bringing others with you and getting your point of view across in a way that changes their view or behaviour. Vital when dealing with stakeholders and those who don't often work with Procurement. Sell the profession.
🌍 Strategic thinking - being aware of the wider strategy and using it to frame plans and decisions, also formulating strategies and working with leaders to develop their strategies. Buying the right thing now could be the wrong thing in six months.
📀 Data driven - sniffing out gaps, risks and opportunities to the business from data. This is how we move from tactical to strategic, reactive to proactive - plus measure and record our impact and influence on our organisation.
👫 Teamwork - collaboration with others to deliver results is more important than ever - especially as many organisations are seeing silos being broken down within them. Be the catalyst.
🧩 Problem solving - if everything went perfectly all the time, the job would be pretty boring! The problems that come along and the ambiguity that is inherent in sourcing something new provide problems that we need to diagnose and solve. Think differently.
⚡️ Responsibility - taking responsibility and driving outcomes shows procurement is of value and delivers more than just a process. Organisations thrive when leaders take ownership and procurement shouldn't be afraid to lead.
🎨 Creativity - creative thinking is where our value lies as many tactical tasks are automated. As the complexity of sourcing requirements increases, creativity is ever more important.
🤺 Resolving conflict - whether stakeholders, suppliers, team-mates, we can add immense value by taking a step back and helping resolve the conflicts that come up along the way.
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