The guide Overview

Work as a team

Include skills and experience from across your organisation at each stage of the procurement process.

Why it's important

Working as a team with people from across your organisation will help:

  • lead to better choices at each stage of the procurement
  • strengthen your understanding of your requirements and the market
  • speed up decision making and budget approvals
  • reduce the risk of individual corruption, particularly for high-value projects

What it means

You should:

  • involve colleagues with a diverse mix of skills, experience, genders and ethnicities - this will help you consider a wide range of needs
  • consult senior stakeholders and decision makers as early as possible
  • seek out specialist expertise when appropriate, for example legal, policy, security or accessibility
  • review past procurements with the staff involved
  • include people expected to use the product or service that you are procuring
  • ensure that one individual is not responsible for high-value projects

The size of the team should be in proportion to the scale and budget of what you are planning to procure. The team may also need to change throughout the process as you move from defining requirements through to evaluation and contract management.

Do’s and don’ts

Do

  • include colleagues with a diverse mix of skills, experience and backgrounds
  • ask about past procurements and any lessons learned
  • consult stakeholders and decision-makers as early as possible

Don't

  • do not allow one individual to be responsible for commissioning a high-value product or service