For many organizations who contract out, our out-source any of their activities, contract success is not achieved when the contract is awarded.  In many respects the contract award stage is the easier element of the process – the real challenge is then how you manage the contract after its award.  Contract management training is therefore an essential investment for all organizations who contract out or outsource.

Contract Management Skills incorporate a wide range of contractual understanding – contract managers need to fully understand the purpose, scope, contract operations and contract objective, but also need to be skilled in contract relationships and project management.  Other elements encompass the Business Ethics and how to measure contractor performance.

It is very clear that millions of US$ are lost to businesses every year directly as a result of poor contract management.  The consequences of issues such as contract over-runs and quality deficiencies can be devastating to the contract budget.

Contract Managers must have the practical skills to be effective in downstream contract management  – practical means management techniques that actually work and are not just about the theory!

CP Training Services have been helping organizations all over the globe to develop best practice contract management through its contract and vendor management training courses.

One of the more popular course is the Practical Contract Management – Getting the Results Course which runs in London.  Our next course is scheduled for 5 – 9 November 2012.

Can you afford not to check this out?

For our full range of contract management courses visit: http://www.cp-training-consortium.co.uk/contracting-and-procurement-training-courses-category-1

Remember,  making contracts work can be a dream if managed correctly, but it doesn’t just happen. So we need to proactively manage the contractor and the contract, whatever the working environment.

http://www.cp-training-consortium.co.uk/

A longer term and sustainable strategy for reducing costs is to target the company’s inventory of bought-in materials and spare parts, whether for production / operations or for maintenance.

Money tied up in materials stock-holdings is lying idle until the items are put into use – and perhaps, that money could have a better earning power for the company if used for other purposes. So there must be sound reasons why items are held in the materials inventory.

Inventory reduction can be achieved by avoiding the need to hold items in stock in the first place. And where there is a clear commercially based benefit for holding selected items in stock, then the quantities to be held need to be decided on economic and risk-based decision-making.

Develop the skills to know how to approach an inventory reduction – join my training group in London from 3 – 7 September 2012, or in Aberdeen 8 – 10 October 2012.  http://www.cp-training-consortium.co.uk/how-to-reduce-inventory-levels-some-practical-solutions-course-477

Posted By:

Brian Cook,  Senior Training Associate, February 2012.

The City is already buzzing in anticipation with all the activity in the development of the London transport and facilities infrastructure  so that the millions of visitors to the Games will be admirably accommodated.

The CP Training Services schedule of public courses for 2012 is now published and we are ‘buzzing’ ourselves in anticipation of some of the new initiatives that will be on offer for all our international clients.

As specialists in the Contract & Procurement field with an enviable reputation for high quality skills training, a number of new courses are now available. With the ongoing and ever demanding challenges of managing suppliers and vendors and especially proactive relationships, 2012 will see the launch of our all embracing course in this subject:  Supplier Relationships – The Total Management Process. If you have any responsibilities within this area of managing and monitoring the performance of your suppliers/vendors, this courses is a must. The next date for this course which will be held in London Victoria is 22 to 26 October 2012.

CP Training Services is also now offering valuable skills training for those clients involved in the opertation or service support of the Retail Sector.  Our course Building Strategic Supply Chains for the Retails Sector: embraces all the elements from warehousing to Logistics.

For those clients located further afield, we will be offering a range of 2 x week courses so that nominees can take full advantage of their trip to London.  The Two Week Courses range will be updated regularly on our web site.

We are pleased to respond to requests from clients for any specialised and bespoke training programmes judged to be key to the development of the C & P teams in organisations. Contact us at enquiries@cp-training-consortium.co.uk

This intensive course sets the complete tender cycle into context in relation to the development of contract strategy, identification of appropriate pre-qualified contractors, contract design, the tender process and contract award.

Participants for this course  in June 2011 had travelled from a Africa, Middle East and Kazakhstan, bringing a wide range of experiences and interests to the learning.

This is a vital skill for buyers and contract analysts in most industry sectors as the effective management of bids and tenders can have a major impact on the capability of the company as a whole.

CP Training Services will be running this course again in London 18 – 22 June 2012.

Details via the link:

http://www.cp-training-consortium.co.uk/managing-bids-and-tenders-from-suppliers-course-468

In today’s business environment, an organisation, whether profit making or not for profit, is becoming under ever increasing pressure to improve its operational efficiency.  This is even more critical as a consequence of the current global crunch as companies seek to stay afloat in these turbulent waters, hoping that the application of a range of consolidation strategies will see them through to calmer waters in the future.

Most honest people will admit however, that the future will never be the same -  we don’t know what hazards the turbulence will conjure up only to then nestle just under the surface, ready to tear away at our organisational framework when an opportunity arises.

Most business leaders would concur with a strategy of ongoing internal

evaluation of its business processes in an effort to maximise there efficiencies, generating an improved contribution to the business margin.  We have had a host of business pr

actices that have come and gone – and even come back  – which are considered as good business

practice, Business Process Re-engineering; balanced scorecards, TQM; to name a few.  Many organisations have applied such techniques with a variety of successes, but fundamentally any intelligent manager would endorse the view that there is clearly no single blueprint to success.

The emphasis is clearly established for organisations to adopt the philosophy of continuous process improvement (CPI); and this often includes the practice of continuous personal development (CPD), which extends the philosophy into processes for the improvement of performance of their employees.

Operational Blinkers

For most organisations, the mindset of many managers is continually focused on oiling the wheels of the operation to just keep it going day by day.  Such operational demands are not to be undermined and for many, there is little room in this mindset for anything else, even periodically checking to see if the selection of the oil being used is doing the best job. Such operational blinkers are cultural driven and ingrained in the management and leadership style of the organisation itself.

Whilst this might be a simplification of the reality, all in business would agree that we spend insufficient time taking a step back and reviewing the processes that we run, checking to ensure that not only are they at the peak of efficiency, but probably more importantly, that they are actually making a valuable impact towards achieving the business goals of the organisation. This later point is truly critical in any evaluation of business processes.

Experience shows that in many cases organisations turn the process wheel in the same way that it has always been done, but in reality, the momentum is as a consequence of the past as opposed to building a credible momentum for the business goals of today and the future. It is also apparent that in some cases this historical momentum state is actually disabling the organisation’s intentions for business growth and even survival into the future.

You are a manager?  Prove it!

The principle of CPI and CPD, some would argue, are fundamental responsibilities of any manager.  Such responsibilities embrace not just the capability to articulate in the jargon of these principles, but present a measurable demonstration of actions to improve, with meaningful outcomes. Many executives are now demanding such actions of their managers and are including the evaluation of CPI successes in their performance and appraisal reviews.

In fact, gone are the days when CV’s are just a statement of what jobs a candidate has had – assessments now demand proven data about the outcomes of actions that managers have undertaken when in this roles.  When making a selection for a critical and key role, most modern day thinking executives would prefer a junior manager with relevant and proven role results than a senior manager with a host of experience, but little measurable facts as to the impact he/she had in these roles.

Business process improvement should focus on those process that are critical in the operational undertaking – this means evaluating what really is the function of each department in the organisation in contributing to the business goals and evaluating those processes that realise this contribution.  Hence, in a transport department, the focus should obviously be ensuring the movement of people or goods to be at the right place at the right time and in the right condition – and not so much perhaps about vehicle colour or status image.  In a procurement department, the focus is about sourcing the most fit for purpose goods or materials with proven reliability at the best price to be at the right place at the right time.  Are all processes truly contributing to this?

So often organisations have invested heavily in complex processes that have historically served them well but now prove to be unwieldy and extravagant in the utilisation of depleting resources, but fundamentally not always generating outcomes that the current day market now demands.

Change is uncomfortable, but tolerable if managed right

It is also the painful truth that many managers do recognise the need to improve their processes but are extremely anxious about both the consequences of implement the change and their personal vulnerability in the process of change.

Managers are right to recognise the implications of making changes – change management requires knowledge and expertise in its own right.  Such expertise can be taught and with time, managers can become highly competent in implementing successful change – highly credible statistics for one’s CV!

A good development training programme can furnish the manager with the understanding and techniques in process improvement, and a strategy for implementation. But, the motivation for undertaking this improvement focus must come from the managers themselves.  The return on the investment of sending managers on a training event comes solely from their actions when they return to their workplace.  Maybe training certificates should in the future only be awarded when the action plans that are always complied at the end of the programme, are completed and measured.

So the case for developing a mindset of Continual Process Improvement is clearly proven, but is this not the role of ‘management’ anyway?  Should employers not reasonably expect a return on their investment in the salaries of their managers?

Should not a part of this return relate to improvements?

Perhaps managers need to prepare to stand up and be counted!

http://www.cp-training-consortium.co.uk/identifying-and-implementing-business-process-improvements-course-471

Youssef Harira receiving his Certificate from Tutor Dr Steve Booy

This course considers the fundamentals of what creating good performance in people (and in ourselves) entails. It explores the drivers, influences and impacts on our performance and why some people really work hard, whilst others do not.

During this course we had many interesting discussions, drawing on the experiences of operational roles from the delegates and also the influence of HR thinking and approaches.

A key factor towards managing performance, as explained by Tutor, Steve Booy, is:

a) to ensure employees know what is expected of them in their role, and

b) to ensure they understand how well they are doing in meeting these expectations.

Yetunde Kio-Lawson also receiving her Certificate

This may appear a very simple principle but it would appear that many people and organisations have great difficulty making this actually happen.

“Adopting this principle requires a high commitment to having regular and necessary communications between the employee and their supervisor.”

” The annual appraisal or annual performance review meeting should not come as a shock  - but more a confirmation of what is expected……..  this is the measure of whether this principle is being achieved or not” says Steve Booy.

What do you think?

Agreeing with this principle maybe one thing – but applying it in practice maybe something else.

Post your thoughts and comments and lets discuss and share experiences?

Perhaps you have a question on this subject?

Our next course in Performance Management is highlighted below:

http://www.cp-training-consortium.co.uk/performance-management-principles-and-practice-course-503

Delegates enjoy the sunshine in Great Yarmouth, UK

This course provides an introduction to safe and effective marine transport and supply base operations in the support of off-shore and gas operations.

A key part of the learning – and why the course is run from Great Yarmouth – is the opportunity for delegates to undertake site visits to a range of operational bases in the area.

Question: how valuable are site visits to learning?

If you are one of these delegates, or a past participant, why not share your thoughts on this question?

It would also be interesting to hear from others – training managers and coordinators, and line managers.

To help people who may be interested in the next course – what were your highlights?

http://www.cp-training-consortium.co.uk/marine-and-supply-base-operations-for-offshore-support-course-492

Surely, every purchasing executive must have the skills to help protect their organisation’s public image through the application of Sustainable Purchasing and Supply Strategies. its not just about being good at purchasing management.

What, in your experience are the core skills needed for this responsibility?

Do you think you need to develop  purchasing skills?

How focused are these skills for managing and minimising Risk?

Your thoughts and comments would be welcomed……….

http://www.cp-training-consortium.co.uk/practical-purchasing-skills-theory-practice-and-techniques-course-465

Why is it that the personal skills we have and can develop – that can make so much difference to the achievements of our departments and organisations – are called ‘soft skills’?

I understand the need to separate those skills that are process, analytical and logical etc and are described as ‘hard skills’……

Hard Skills Examples:

• risk assessment skills
• purchasing evaluations
• understanding legal contracts

from those skills that are more personal…….

Soft Skills Examples:

• managing your time
• understanding interactions between people
• how to communicate effectively

Facing up to your own mind-driven skills and non-skills is not easy – in fact its often one of the hardest challenges we face.  It takes courage and a level of emotional intelligence to accept that none of us are always right in our judgements.

Surely the most powerful learning is through making mistakes and evaluating how things could have been done differently

Here are six points of ‘hard’ thinking for personal development:

1.  Ask yourself at the end of every day – what went well?

2.  What could I have done differently?

3.  How could I action these differences?

4.  Am I actually listening to all that I am hearing and seeing?

5.  What did I actually achieve today – not just in process results but in terms of relationships with others?

6.  What have I learned about myself?

So, why are our personal skills called ‘Soft Skills’?

Quote: live today as if we were to die tomorrow: learn today as if we are to live forever!

Check out CP Training Services’s Soft Skills Courses: http://www.cp-training-consortium.co.uk/soft-skills-and-personal-skills-training-courses-category-11

This is our new forum to discuss a range of topics and events.

The blog forms a part of CP Training Services commitment to continual personal development  - of its delegates, past, present and future, and its faculty.

Over the next few weeks a series of Blog postings will be made and delegates, sponsors and training managers are invited to post their comments and ask questions.

This is a new and exciting development for us at CP Training Services and we look forward to nurturing its progression together with our clients and customers, into a powerful and meaningful aid to learning and intellectual dialogue.

http://www.cp-training-consortium.co.uk/