Procurement Training Courses

Challenging and Influencing Stakeholders  –  2 Day Course

This two-day intensive workshop is to develop skills in successful stakeholder management and how challenging and influencing can assist in the procurement process with key stakeholders.

This course covers:

• Challenging and influencing ​
• Recognising the personality and motivations to yourself and others ​
• Communication styles ​
• Recognising personality types ​
• The importance of stakeholder management​
• Analysing stakeholders ​
• Stakeholder identification ​
• Communications planning ​
• Managing expectations
• Question types  ​
• Communications planning ​
• Managing expectations ​
• Question types  ​
• Influencing stakeholders ​
• Aggression vs passivity ​
• Tips for improving persuasion ​
• Managing change​
• Challenging stakeholders

Commercial Modelling – 1 Day Course Options

An interactive workshop designed to equip procurement professionals with the necessary knowledge and skills to effectively analyze and create commercial models for procurement processes.

Participants will learn about the key elements of commercial modelling, including total cost of ownership, ‘should cost’ modelling and evaluation. ​

This course covers:

• Introduction to Commercial Modelling​
• Guidance on using Excel – when to use it and not to​
• Total cost of ownership and estimating whole of life cost​
• Different levels of accuracy in pricing models​
• Using a financial baseline​
• Intangible cost factors to consider ​
• Introduction to ‘should cost’ modelling​
• Questions to ask when cost modelling
• Cost drivers – direct and indirect​
• What is a fair margin

Communication and Storytelling – 1 or 2 Day Course Options

This course has been designed to equip you with the necessary tools and techniques to communicate your procurement strategies, build meaningful relationships with stakeholders, and influence decision-making through compelling storytelling.

This course will enhance your communication prowess and elevate your ability to connect, engage, and inspire.​

This course covers:

• Understanding the importance of effective communication and storytelling in procurement​
• Delivering key messages through storytelling and why stories are effective​
• The art and importance of listening​
• Preparing an impactful story including the structure and planning ahead​
• Principles of influence & building rapport
• Different methods of communication ​
• Using a mixture of visual and words​
• Finding the right time, place and method​
• Understanding our own style to adapt when necessary Contemplating the audience through stakeholder analysis

Contract Law (Essentials)  –  1 Day Course

This one-day introductory course is ideal for those new to procurement or those who are seeking to gain a knowledge of contract law – one of the most important areas of procurement. 

This course covers:

• The importance of law ​
• Types of law​
• Common pitfalls in negotiating contracts​
• How contracts are formed and ended​
• Damages​
• When to involve in-house/external legal departments​
• Key terms in a contract

Contract Management (Essentials)  –  1 Day Course

A one-day workshop that looks at the various methodologies, theories and techniques that assist in managing contracts in procurement.

This course covers:

• Importance of contract management ​
• What goes wrong in contracts ​
• Supplier relationship management​
• Contract management enablers​
• Framework and systems ​
• Probity in contract management​
• Managing exit of a supplier 
• Specification writing ​
• Contract management plan ​
• Contract administration and maintaining records​
• Variations and the effects ​
• Managing performance ​
• Contract reviews and KPI ​

Contract Management (Advanced)  –  2 Day Course

This course equips participants with a set of tools and techniques to manage service providers’ performance to deliver optimum value to their organisation. Participants will gain a better understanding of the key aspects of managing contracts, and obtain better performance and relationships with contractors and suppliers. 

This course covers:

• What makes a good relationship? ​
• How to defining performance levels​
• Definitions of the contractual foundation​
• Relationship management ​
• Power in relationships ​
• Contractual levers that can be invoked ​
• The do’s and don’ts of service level agreements​
• Conditioning suppliers ​
• Styles and techniques

Designing Category Strategies  –  1 Day Course

This workshop provides and overview of the key elements and benefits for Category Management to be successful. The workshop is designed to help participants apply the category strategies approach to improve the influence of procurement and utilise key tools to analyse supply markets, relationships and opportunities in a well-developed Category Strategy.

This course covers:

• Role of category strategies in the procurement lifecycle ​
• Recognise what category strategies offers as an approach​
• Defining and aligning the strategy​
• Understand the key tools required to develop a category strategy​
• Learn to complete an analysis plan ​
• Learn core elements of a category strategy​
• Strategy formulation and supply market engagement
• Supply base and category analysis
• ​Recognising the importance of identifying and managing stakeholders over the procurement lifecycle​
• Understand the elements which are essential to making Category Strategy a success​
• Framing the strategy ​
• Identify the value drivers – plan, optimise, engage and develop​
• Developing and selling the strategy​
• Learn how to prioritise opportunities through opportunity analysis ​
• Managing change in category management​
• Gaining and maintaining support for the category strategy

Effective Change Management  –  1 Day Course

This workshop will provide participants with an overview of the change management process and the impact it has on an organisation. Participants will learn how to plan and deliver an effective change management plan as well as understand the key steps in communicating change.

This course covers:

• Understanding the impact and nature of change​
• The change management process​
• The importance of managing change​
• Key business tools for mapping and preparing for change​
• The impact assessment​
• Creating a plan ​
• How we effectively communicate change ​
• Managing people through the change process​
• Steps to measuring success

Effective Leadership in Procurement  –  1 Day Course

Leadership is not always innate, but it is something that can be learned. This one-day workshop explores the different aspects, models and styles of leadership, with a specific focus on leadership issues within the procurement function. Participants will complete their own self-analysis of their leadership style, and considers how leadership plays a pivotal role within any organisation, and specifically within the procurement function itself.

This course covers:

• Key challenges for effective leadership ​
• The seven success factors ​
• Situational leadership ​
• Belbin’s team roles ​
• Motivating your team​
• Capability development​
• Defining procurement and its role ​
• Guiding principles ​
• Basic types of organisational model ​
• Stakeholder analysis ​
• Leading change 

Facilitation Skills  –  1 Day Course

Facilitation is a key element of procurement, stakeholder management and leadership – it is an underpinning competency which will boost the effectiveness of meetings and drive outcomes. This course explores key tips for effective facilitation skills, how to generate ideas and then bring a room of individuals to a consensus. 

This course covers:

• What is facilitation and why is it important​
• What makes a good facilitator ​
• Driving change and managing a room of participants ​
• Creativity and ideas generation and reaching a consensus ​
• The facilitation process ​
• Influencing skills ​
• Dealing with challenges 

Finance Skills for Procurement  –  2 Day Course

This two day workshop helps buyers understand and interpret financial data on suppliers and to analyse prices and costs. Extensive use is made of practical exercises to provide procurement practitioners with the tools and confidence to use financial information, prices and costs to develop successful procurement strategies and assist negotiations with suppliers.

This course covers:

• Understanding financial accounts​
• Balance sheets, P&L statement, cash-flow statement​
• Interpreting financial statements​
• Financial ratios and how to use them ​
• Total cost of ownership​
• Breakeven theory ​
• How suppliers’ price​
• Discounted cash-flow / net oresent value​
• Techniques to manage price and develop negotiation strategies​
• Purchase price cost analysis

Fraud and Corruption  –  1/2 Day Course

An interactive half-day program designed to give participants strategies and techniques to successfully manage fraud & corruption in procurement. Participants will gain a consistent approach and in depth understanding of fraud and corruption within procurement and ensures that the appropriate strategies are developed to deliver value back to the organisation.​

This course covers:

• Defining procurement fraud and corruption​
• Behavioural divers/impacts​
• Identifying fraud and corruption​
• Detecting procurement fraud​
• Prevention

Infrastructure Procurement (Essentials)  –  2 Day Course

This two-day course is designed to develop infrastructure procurement skills and how to best apply an agile procurement process to infrastructure projects of various cost, complexity and risk. The course will give a broader understanding of an agile infrastructure procurement process and the tools and techniques that can be utilised to select and developed the right infrastructure project procurement approach.​

This course covers:

• Planning your infrastructure procurement project ​​
• Delivering your infrastructure procurement project​​
• Infrastructure procurement life-cycle management – operate & maintain ​​
• Infrastructure procurement life-cycle management – retire & dispose ​​
• Course recap and questions​

Introduction to Procurement  –  1 Day Course

This two-day practical and interactive training course is designed to introduce essential elements of the procurement process together with basic tools and techniques. Workshop participants will learn of the end-to-end process, how procurement can contribute and when to apply a range of purchasing tools and techniques. ​

This course covers all the foundation and essential areas within procurement and will set the scene for the rest of the training program.

This course covers:

• What is procurement and why is it important​
• The procurement framework​
• Business needs ​
• Stakeholder engagement ​
• Specification writing​
• Analysing supply markets​
• Strategic sourcing and buying
• Evaluation models and techniques​
• Legal aspects of procurement​
• Purchase price cost analysis​
• Managing price increases​
• Negotiation​
• Managing suppliers and contracts

Negotiation (Essentials)  –  1 Day Course

This practical one-day workshop is aimed at participants who are involved in negotiations and need an introduction to the skills and process in commercial negotiation. We use games and interactive tasks to simulate negotiations and explore the negotiation process, ploys and persuasion methods to good practice. ​

We use a structure through the training which is applicable in real-life, talking about styles, trust, engagement and the process.

This course covers:

• The differing techniques available and how to apply them​
• Methods of persuasion and their application to influencing in business​
• “Golden Rules” of persuasion: how to influence others effectively​
• How to detect and deal with the other party’s attempts to influence you​
• People within negotiation – working with your stakeholders and suppliers ​
• What are the different phases of the negotiation and what to do​
• Objective setting 

Negotiation (Advanced)  –  2 Day Course

A two day interactive program designed to develop skills in negotiation and to improve the confidence to apply those skills. Participants will gain a deep understanding of the phase of negotiation and will be given opportunities to practice these through video role-plays. They will receive one to one feedback on their skills. 

This course covers:

• The negotiation process ​
• Preparation and planning through the phases, including setting objectives​
• Utilise a variety of persuasion methods ​
• Movement in a negotiation, how to manage your movement and persuade others to move
• How to detect and deal with the other party’s attempts to influence you
• The buyer’s and supplier’s perspective on sellers and their tactics​
• Positive behavioural traits and aspects of non-verbal behaviour

Probity in Procurement  –  1/2 Day Course

This half-day workshop defines probity, probity risks, probity in the Procurement Lifecycle and probity requirements. 

This course covers:

• Probity risks ​
• Corruption​
• Maladministration​
• Serious and substantial waste​
• Probity in the procurement lifecycle​
• Probity in evaluation​
• Negotiation and selection​
• Contract management​
• Probity and behaviour​
• Probity requirements​
• Conflicts of interest​
• Confidentiality and honesty​
• Gifts and hospitality​
• Use of probity Auditors / Advisors 

Project Management for Procurement  –  2 Day Course

This two-day workshop gives an overview of the definition and key principles of project management. Understand the benefits of good practice project management in procurement.

This course covers:

• Project management for procurement​
• Pre-Planning for successful projects​
• Business case​
• Project schedule​
• Key stakeholder engagement​
• Project initiation and measurement​
• Governance and control​
• Project closure 

Risk Management  –  1 Day Course

This practical and interactive training course will focus on defining risk, the generic risk management process and how it is applicable to the procurement process. Participants will learn the steps in the risk management process and the procurement risk tools. 

This course covers:

• Defining risk ​
• Risk and vulnerability​
• Generic risk management process​
• Risk management approach​
• Applicability to the procurement process ​
• Risk and vulnerability management​
• Steps in the risk management process​
• Identifying risks ​
• Stakeholder analysis ​
• Risk management process steps ​
• Supply chain risk management​
• Disaster/business recovery plans​
• Risk registers​
• Supplier assessment measures 

Social Procurement Techniques –  1 Day Course

This workshop is aimed at those interested in more effectively incorporating social objectives and corporate social responsibility into their procurement practice, as part of a triple bottom line approach. 

This course covers:

• Social procurement and the triple bottom line​
• The legal and policy environment for social procurement in Australia​
• International and Australian policy and case studies​
• Planning – the procurement lifecycle​
• Balancing procurement objectives ​
• Different approaches to specifications, evaluation and performance monitoring​
• Understanding and engaging the supply market​
• Managing and monitoring performance – measuring success​
• Becoming social procurement ready – communication and education​
• Creating a program for sustainable change

Social and Sustainable Procurement  –  1 Day Course

Looking at all elements of sustainability, this workshop targets those interested in more effectively incorporating environmental, social and governance (ESG) into their procurement practices. It will teach you the key principles, why sustainability matters, and their practical application.

This course covers:

• Key terminology and global context including international standards and goals​
• Understanding what sustainability means in your organization ​
• The importance of supply chain traceability​
• We then deep dive into key focus topics for sustainability: modern slavery, supplier diversity, decarbonisation, waste and recycling, local procurement and inclusive employment​
• Examples of what ‘good’ looks like​
• Sustainability in the procurement lifecycle
• Supply positioning through a lens of sustainability​
• Selecting the right suppliers and building supplier capability ​
• Managing and measuring sustainability outcomes ​
• Measuring your organisational sustainability maturity​
• Achieving your sustainable procurement goals: a good practice framework​
• Building cross-functional teams ​
• Sustainable procurement readiness checklist​
• Key enablers for sustainable procurement​
• Identifying and managing barriers

Sourcing Essentials  –  1 Day Course

A one-day interactive program designed to introduce essential elements of sourcing and recognising procurement as a process. Students will be taken through the key steps and activities. 

This course covers:

• Importance and role of procurement​
• Sourcing principles ​
• Category baselining​
• How to develop clear, concise specifications to deliver the right outcomes​
• Methods of approaching the market and advantages/disadvantages of each​
• Understanding the difference between price and cost ​
• Assess and understand tools to map and mitigate key risks across projects and supply chains​
• Awareness and understanding of the types of evaluation methods and benefits of each​
• Negotiating the contract​
• Contract management 

Specification Writing  –  1 Day Course

A one-day interactive program, designed to develop skills in specification writing and the confidence to apply those skills.​

​Specification writing is a critical part of an organisations procurement process as many of the benefits of good procurement can be driven through well designed and thought through specifications. Many organisations however do not have the skills or time to focus on this critical area which can drive benefits through the procurement process and ultimately lead to the right design of the requirement and a high performing supplier relationship.

This course covers:

• The basics of specification writing​
• Purpose of the specification ​
• Identifying the business needs ​
• Types of specification​
• Suitability of specification types​
• Specification formats​
• Examples of good and poor practice​
• Specification checklist

Spend Analysis  –  1 Day Course

A one-day workshop that introduces participants to the key concepts & data sources of spend analysis. Participants will learn the challenges of spend analysis, how to build a spend map and how to use the information to support development of successful category strategies. 

This course covers:

• Key concepts and data sources ​
• The importance of spend analysis ​
• Benefits achieved with spend analysis ​
• The challenges of spend analysis ​
• Spend analytics framework ​
• How to build an accurate spend map​
• Spend analytics to support the category strategy​
• Opportunity analysis​
• Transactional opportunities​
• Links to category management model

Spend and Opportunity Analysis  –  2 Day Course

A two-day workshop that introduces participants to the key concepts & data sources of spend analysis. Participants will learn the challenges of spend analysis, how to build a spend map and how to use the information to support development of savings opportunities and programs. 

This course covers:

• Key concepts and data sources ​
• The importance of spend analysis ​
• Benefits achieved with spend analysis ​
• The challenges of spend analysis ​
• Spend analytics framework ​
• How to build an accurate spend cube​
• Spend analytics to support the category strategy​
• Data cleansing and validation​
• Visualisation tools and best practices​
• Types of analysis​
• Correlation and patterns 
• Opportunity analysis​
• Typical savings areas​
• Suppliers and demand consolidation​
• Compliance​
• Transactional opportunities​
• ABC or pareto ​
• Fact base to insight​
• Savings identification and delivery process​
• Value drivers ​
• Opportunity analysis ​
• Opportunity prioritisation / wave planning

Stakeholder Management  –  1 Day Course

An interactive workshop designed to develop strategies and techniques to successfully manage stakeholder relationships.​

This workshop equips participants with tools and techniques to manage the stakeholder relationships and uses real life examples to learn from. 

This course covers:

• Identifying and understanding stakeholders​
• Analysing stakeholders​
• Roles and responsibilities ​
• Benefit statements​
• Overcoming objections​
• Relationship management​
• How stakeholders deal with change ​
• Difficult conversations and influencing

Supplier Relationship Management  –  1or 2 Day Course Options

An interactive workshop designed to develop strategies and techniques to successfully manage stakeholder relationships.​

This workshop equips participants with tools and techniques to manage the stakeholder relationships and uses real life examples to learn from. 

This course covers:

• Identifying and understanding stakeholders​
• Analysing stakeholders​
• Roles and responsibilities ​
• Benefit statements​
• Overcoming objections​
• Relationship management​
• How stakeholders deal with change ​
• Difficult conversations and influencing