It’s a great and worthwhile pursuit for Chief Procurement Officers to invest in their people, so, in that vein, over the next few weeks we will be analyzing the key skills and capabilities (or higher-level competencies) that a procurement professional (and department) should have in place in order to execute successfully. We will be using Ardent Partners’ Procurement Staff Competency Matrix that we developed with our CPO audience. This competency matrix established industry-wide capability measures for the average procurement organization.

We hope this series will help professionals and their managers to better understand and communicate what the required capabilities are for specific job roles within the procurement department and thereby help identify, develop, and deploy the people with the right skills into the most suitable positions. Professionals can also use this series to better identify where current gaps exist in their organization or within their own skill sets so that they can take action to improve or move into roles with greater responsibility (and pay).

Today’s Competency: Presentation Skills

What are Presentation Skills?                                                                                

At the core of presentation skills lies communication skills – being able to effectively communicate with and relate to people of all stripes and under different circumstances. Presentation skills will mean something slightly different to each procurement professional, but in general, it means being clear, confident, and professional to those above, below, and beside you in order to gain influence.

• For young procurement staffers, it means clearly, confidently, and professionally framing an argument or solution to a manager or client (internal or external) and winning their buy-in.
• For procurement managers, it means giving clear, precise direction to a young staff, and then turning around and giving a cogent status update to their manager.
• For CPOs, it means confidently communicating with their team, projecting confidence and offering a clear vision for success. It also means being comfortable delivering crisp executive-level presentations to large and small audiences.

Importance to the Procurement Department

Presentation skills boil down to credibility: those who present well exude credibility, which anyone can pick up on – your team, customers, superiors or direct reports. Credibility will allow you to influence with or without authority, and allow you and your team to navigate the ins and outs of inter-departmental collaboration. This is as true in procurement as it is in other facets of business, and across all industries.

Presentation skills can mean the difference between getting the CPO’s buy-in for a more streamlined Procure-to-Pay (P2P) process and having the CPO scoff at your solution because you didn’t calculate an ROI for investing in an ePayables solution. A skilled presenter does their homework, crafts a compelling message, and clearly and confidently delivers a presentation tailored to his/her audience. A lesser skilled presenter is less prepared, less polished, fumbles on the delivery, and often fails to convert for the win. Don’t be that person.

Importance to Career Advancement                                      

Presentation skills go beyond the procurement department, and can impact every facet of our professional (and personal) lives. Successful procurement professionals, like all professionals, understand that one of the keys to success is to clearly, confidently, and effectively communicate their ideas and vision; otherwise, their personal brand looks weak and uninspiring. Who wants to work with someone who’s weak and uninspiring, or worse, have them on their payroll?

The truth is, being able to present yourself and your ideas is much more valuable than who you actually are and what your ideas are. A fair idea delivered extremely well has a much better chance of acceptance that a really idea that is poorly delivered. Being prepared, confident, precise in your language, and inspiring in your vision may not get you every job or promotion, but it will improve your chances every time.

The CPO’s Grade

The “Presentation Skills” competency received a C+ from CPOs, which means that their staffs are a little better than average when it comes to having and using their presentation skills. There is clearly room for improvement. Better presentation skills will often translate into improved communication with internal and external clients, greater buy in, and ultimately more success in carrying out procurement’s mission.

How to Improve

While this may seem like an inherently personal trait, it has professional implications and procurement pros young and not-so-young should develop them to realize greater success – in and out of the office. A big part of improving presentation is just being better prepared – doing your homework, practicing your delivery, preparing answers to questions, and role-playing situations are great ways to prepare for important discussions or meetings. Not sure how you come off? Tape yourself and review with friends or colleagues. So much of our communication is non-verbal; our body language advertises when we’re confident and prepared, and perhaps even more so when we’re not. So it behooves you to prepare. This alone will often help you feel more confident in your delivery, and help you present better.

Of course, preparation alone can only take you so far particularly if you don’t have a lot of experience in client facing meetings, executive communications, or presentations in front of an audience. For those situations, role playing with a mentor or observing how others present in those situations can be a useful way to practice and improve. While public speaking is its own skill, it is a critical part of developing good presentation skills. The good news is that there are professional societies dedicated to helping improve them (e.g., Toastmasters) and the pursuit is very worthwhile. The more you find yourself in having to make presentations, the better and the more experience you’ll gain. This practice translates into greater comfort and confidence when you have to make your next business case or report an update on your next project or present why you are best-equipped to lead the department’s next big initiative.

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Tagged in: Chief Procurement Officer, CPO, People, Procurement Competency Matrix