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RolePlace the award.
The record follows.
Your job is placing awards well and quickly. Documentation is what gets sacrificed when the quarter is busy, which is exactly when the awards being placed matter most.
Speed against the record
Nobody sets out to document badly. It happens because documentation is a separate task competing with the work, and the work always wins.
Speed against the record
Nobody sets out to document badly. It happens because documentation is a separate task competing with the work, and the work always wins.
- Documentation stops competing with the work
- You stop writing status updates
- New awards start from structure
Documentation stops competing with the work
When evidence is uploaded into the phase that produced it and reasoning is written at the decision, there is no separate write up left to be skipped.
You stop writing status updates
Where has this got to is the most common question aimed at a purchasing manager. When anybody can see the answer, it stops being asked.
New awards start from structure
The template applies on creation, so a buyer starts from phases, rules and named reviewers rather than from an empty record and a memory of what is usually needed.
What stops competing with the work
What stops competing with the work
Documentation holds because it is the work rather than a task competing with it.
- A busy quarter
- A colleague asks for status
- A phase needs approving
A busy quarter
Documentation holds because it is the work rather than a task competing with it.
Learn moreA colleague asks for status
They look at the board instead of asking you, which happens several times a week.
Learn moreA phase needs approving
Routed to the named reviewer automatically rather than chased by email.
Learn moreAdoption is the whole game
A workspace nobody works in produces worse records than a shared drive, because at least people use the drive.
Most of what an award record needs is already in a document the supplier sent. Reading it rather than transcribing it is the difference between a system your team populates and one they avoid.
- Documents read into draft records
- Award values read rather than retyped
- Reviewed and adjusted before saving
- Almost no duplicate data entry
A buyer creating an award gets the phases, rules and reviewers automatically, so they are working through something rather than deciding what should exist.
- Template applied on creation
- Reviewers named in advance
- Thresholds firing on award value
- No setup decisions at the point of buying
A task list showing the whole team's work gets abandoned in the second week. One showing only what is on you gets opened every morning.
- Drawn from awards they own and reviews awaiting them
- Sorted by due date and priority
- Nothing from anybody else's workload
- Opened daily rather than ignored
What happens when the quarter gets busy
Every process works in a quiet month. The question is what survives a busy one.
A task after the work
Evidence gets gathered and written up once the award is placed, which means it competes with the next award and loses.
Part of the work
Evidence is uploaded into the phase that produced it as the award progresses, so there is nothing left over to skip.
From a previous one
A buyer copies the last similar award and adapts it, which propagates whatever was wrong with that one.
From the template
Phases, rules and reviewers apply automatically, identical every time regardless of who is placing it.
Asked of you
Colleagues ask where things have got to, and answering means checking and replying, several times a week.
Visible to anybody
Progress, owner and last movement are on the board, so the question is answered without reaching you.
Depends on discipline
The system works if everybody remembers to update it, which is another way of saying it works in quiet months.
Depends on design
Capture happens because it is how the work is done, not because somebody remembered to do it separately.
Questions from procurement managers
Will this slow my team down?
What stops documentation slipping when we are busy?
How do I stop fielding status questions?
How long does a new buyer take to get going?
Can different award types work differently?
What if my team already uses a spreadsheet they like?
Does this replace our purchasing system?
Other sectors and roles worth reading
Contracts managers
The person who has to produce the file, usually at short notice.
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Program managers
Subcontract progress across a program without chasing individuals.
Learn more
Bring a week of your own awards
We will show what placing them through a template looks like, and how much of the documentation happens on its own.
Book a demo