Last week I presented on a webinar with Zycus entitled ‘Design Thinking: Top Strategies for P2P Success’. The webinar contained some excellent practical and useful information that I thought would make for the basis of a good article. The webinar kicked off with an overview of the state of ePayables in 2018 and then went on to discuss top strategies for achieving Procure-to-Pay (P2P)success. Six strategies were presented that organizations can leverage when beginning or updating a P2P initiative. Here are the six strategies that were presented.
#1 Think Holistically
When beginning a P2P initiative, it is best to take a step back and look at the full process rather than with an analysis of individual parts of that process. Many organizations probably already have some pieces of the P2P puzzle already in place. However, it is most likely they were implemented to solve a specific problem and only that part of the P2P process was taken into account. More and more organizations are realizing the importance of taking a holistic view of P2P, one that includes a comprehensive scope of the full procure-to-pay process. Our holistic view must include not only technology, but equally important views into the people and the process involved. By looking at the entire picture, (people, process, and technology) organizations will gain a much broader and better perspective of what needs to be done to achieve project success.
#2 Set Clear Goals & Objectives
There is an old saying that most of us are familiar with: ‘If you don’t know where you are going, any road will take you there.’ This saying holds true when crafting your P2P initiative. When starting any project, especially one as important to the organization as P2P, it is critical you identify and set clear goals and objectives. It is also important that you define what ‘success’ looks like and remember that ‘success’ will probably look different at different phases of the initiative. When setting your goals and objectives makes sure you are taking both the short-term and long-term perspectives into account. With any project, it is important to garner short-term gains but if that’s your only objective, there is a good chance the project may be doomed and fail to achieve the really significant strategic organizational benefits that can be achieved by taking a long-term, holistic perspective.
#3 Engage Stakeholders (Early and Often)
History is littered with projects that were well-intentioned but were never adopted by users and ended up failing miserably. The lesson to be learned here is engage stakeholders and users early and often in the process to find out what they need and want. Don’t forget to keep them engaged all along the way to ensure what you are delivering still meets their requirements. This may sound simple enough, but too often this step is not given the credence it deserves.
#4 Collaboration is King – “Give, to Get”
“We win, you lose” is not the path to a successful P2P project. You must work with all parts of the business involved, and also affected, by the P2P project. It is important to remember that not all stakeholders or users exist within your organization. For example, what about your suppliers and contingent workforce? How will they be impacted by your P2P initiative? If your new system makes it difficult for those in the gig economy to work with your firm, chances are they will not stick around long. The path to a successful P2P project is creating ‘win/win’ situations as best you can, and knowing that in order to accomplish this you probably will have to give in some areas to get in others. In any project there will compromise, by collaborating, being flexible, and understanding the needs and requirements of others in the process, your P2P project will stand a much better chance of achieving long term success.
#5 Seek CFO Sponsorship
Executive support is critical to the success of any important project like P2P. At some point during the design, implementation, and roll-out process, you will encounter obstacles that require executive backing and assistance. Getting the CFO onboard, and keeping them onboard, is critical to achieving success. The logical question is how do you get their sponsorship? More often than not you are going to have to provide them with a business case that explains what the project is and the benefits to the organization for undertaking it. When communicating to the CFO it is important to talk the language that she/he understands. Talk about how the project is going to help improve EBITDA, ensure compliance, increase profitability, improve free cash flow, reduce risk, etc. You will ease your path and increase your chance of getting the executive support you want and need if you talk to them using the terms, language and metrics that they know best.
#6 Develop a P2P Blueprint
Ultimately, the enterprises that are able to craft the right P2P blueprint and build the right foundation increase the speed and likelihood of their success. When you and your team are developing your blueprint, it is important to consider all of the following: process efficiency, system capabilities, integration requirements, visibility, analytics, business users, functional users, requisition to PO to invoice to payment, supplier enablement, payment and cash strategies, process, contract and regulatory compliance. A P2P blueprint will provide you with the roadmap you need to guide you along your journey to P2P success.
Final Thoughts
In 2018, there is no reason why your P2P operation should still be siloed and operating around the fringes of the business. If AP leaders want to transform their P2P business, they must step up and take a leading role in the planning and execution of that transformation process. In future columns, I will go into further details on successful strategies. But for now, the six design strategies mentioned above will help put your initiative in the best position for success.
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