The Ultimate Guide to ManagingRemote Procurement Teams

ProcurementCloud

7 best practicesfor remote procurement teams

Step out of your comfort zoneand embrace the new normal

Three factors play a major role in setting employees up for success in a remote work environment. The �irst one is ensuring that they have appropriate remote working capabilities like a secure connection, access to shared �iles/folders, physical space to work remotely, etc.

The second one is providing employees access to collaboration platforms and �ile-sharing tools that enable employees to collaborate seamlessly to get things done on time. The third and the most important factor isequipping employees with e-procurement tools like procure-to-paysoftware, invoiceautomation system, etc which will help them take control of procurement.

Try using pre-quali�ied, remote friendly tools that can help procurement teams to make remote work more e�icient and effective.

01

ProcurementCloud

Communicate regularlywith context

Employees who are accustomed to meeting stakeholders in person, will neither be familiar nor comfortable with the new mode of communication. And often, they are left to scurry around cloud drives to �ind the right answer to every question they have.

Offering employees with a selection of communication platforms and taking a document-�irst approach can empower employees to make the appropriate choice while ensuring that they have a “single source of truth” for answers.

In addition to that, setting up a regular communication schedule that works with the availability of stakeholders (requesters, procurement managers, vendors, and more) can not only keep everyone in the loop but also ensure that the procurement processes are up and running.

02

With Kiss�low, users can initiate conversations right from a purchase request or purchase

order and make communication contextual.

ProcurementCloud

Create and publicize thework schedule of your team

Working longer hours was reported as one of the main challenges among remote employees. It can be hard to stay on a proper schedule especially when your team doesn't have overlapping work hours and a transparent work schedule.

Managers need to work with employees to help them come up with a proper work schedule and communicate it with relevant stakeholders. A transparent work schedule can improve e�iciency and enable employees to manage their work-life balance.

Manage and share your online calendar to block time for meetings, create personal

events and reminders to stay on schedule and avoid burnout.

03

ProcurementCloud

Take control of yourpurchase approvals

During these uncertain times, allowing a purchase to pass through without appropriate sign-off can be disastrous. Seeking numerous approvals and making amendments through email, massage threads, and spreadsheets are not only time-consuming but also slow down the purchase cycle.

However, disparate stand-alone procurement tools do more harm than good in this scenario. On the other hand, an all-inclusive procurement suite like Kiss�low Procurement Cloud ensures that the right people sign-off within the deadline. What’s more, these tools also inform the approver if the speci�ic request falls within the purchasing policies, speeding up the process considerably.

With dynamic approval work�lows, Kiss�low Procurement Cloud lets you con�igure

multiple approval steps based on department, location, and spend limit.

04

ProcurementCloud

Learn more

https://kissflow.com/procurement/purchase-order/

Empower your vendorsand offer support

Ensuring the remote preparedness of your suppliers is a vital component of an organization’s remote response strategy. Without extending your technological capabilities to your supplier base, your procurement digital transformation isn’t complete.

Empowering suppliers by offering them access to a self-service portal can signi�icantly reduce the effort to onboard suppliers, eliminate chances of invoice mismatches, drastically cut down supplier enquiries, and free up procurement managers to focus on high value tasks like building a better supplier relationship.

Procurement digitalisation is incomplete without suppliers. Invite your suppliers into

the system with Kiss�low Procurement Cloud’s vendor self-service option.

05

ProcurementCloud

Learn more

https://kissflow.com/procurement/vendor-management/?utm_kf_source=eBook-Procurement-RemoteWorkGuide

Rede�ine your purchasingpolicies to control spend

Unspoken rules leave room for ambiguity and confusion. In order to set up employees for success during such uncertain times it is critical to spell out expectations through a well-de�ined purchasing policy.

Ideally, procurement policies need to rede�ine the scope of procurement by sharpening the de�inition of essential services and goods that can be procured, thereby excluding inessential goods and services, excludedcategories, and more.

Furthermore, these policy changes need to be appropriately communicated to all stakeholders to make sure that they don’t mistakenly request or approve off-budget spend or restricted purchases.

With Kiss�low Procurement Cloud, organizations can enforce policy compliance by structuring the approval process in such a

way that users cannot make off-catalog or policy purchases.

06

ProcurementCloud

https://kissflow.com/procurement/?utm_kf_source=eBook-Procurement-RemoteWorkGuide

Empower decision makerswith smart spend insights

Creating a list of helpful metrics can help businesses stay on top of their procurement performance. Actionable insights retrieved from historic and current purchasing data can help organizations spot process gaps and �ix them on the go to make smart purchasing decisions.

Furthermore, tracking budget compliance during the approval process can help approvers ensure whether or not they are compliant with revised purchasing policies and budget but will also ensure spend transparency.

What’s more, businesses don’t need to invest in an elaborate analytics tool, even visual reports that are retrieved from your in-built procure-to-pay suite can come in handy during the decision making, strategic planning, procurement performance tracking, and more.

Kiss�low empowers approval managers with budget and spend insights when they need it the most, right before approving a request.

07

ProcurementCloud

https://kissflow.com/procurement/procurement-analytics/?utm_kf_source=eBook-Procurement-RemoteWorkGuide

The remote toolkitfor procurememt teams

To ensure e�icient procurement operations while working remotely, procurement leaders needan arsenal of tools in place. Since �inding the right tool for the right process is challenging,we’ve compiled a list of tools that can help procurement leaders to manage remote teams.

Set budget limits, eliminate dark purchasing, and account for every purchase effectively.

Accounting SolutionUse collaboration tools to improve stakeholder engagement and remove disconnectedness.

Collaboration SoftwareManage requisitions, purchase orders, goods receipts, and invoices in a single interface.

Procure-to-Pay Suite

Manage your entire contract lifecycle from drafting, negotiation to esignatureseamlessly.

Contract Management SystemAssess, identify, and eliminate supplier and supply chain risks effectively.

Suppliar Risk Management ToolSummarize purchasing data and detect trends in an accurate and timely manner

Spend Analytics

The top 6 procurementtechnology categories

Procurement tech stack forremote working teams

Accounting Solution Collaboration Software Procure-to-Pay Suite

ContractManagement system

SuppliarRisk Management Tool Spend Analytics

Procurement software built forremote working teams

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“Kiss�low made our procurement processspeedy, more organized and offered usmore control over our spend.”

- Olympus

Kiss�low Procurement Cloud is a �lexible procure-to-pay suite that enables businesses of all sizes to streamline their procurement processes from requisitions to invoice processing and supplier management.

It is ideal for companies that are either transitioning from manual procurement management tools or replacing disparate point solutions. With Kiss�low, organizations can improve e�iciency, mitigate risks, and eliminate guesswork in making purchasing decisions.

About Kiss�lowProcurement Cloud

https://kissflow.com/procurement/?utm_kf_source=eBook-Procurement-RemoteWorkGuide