SUPPORTING SKILLS

Procurement Management

While procurement is not necessary in every project, it is still an important piece of project management. The project manager needs to procure goods and services when they are not available internally.

Procurement management is defined as including the processes to acquire goods and services. Expressed from the buyer’s perspective, procurement management includes six processes:

• Procurement planning
• Solicitation planning
• Solicitation
• Source selection
• Contract administration
• Contract close-out

Procurement Planning

Procurement planning identifies and describes the project needs that are best met by procuring outside resources. A procurement plan is created to describe how to handle procurement management.

Solicitation Planning

Solicitation planning prepares the project manager for soliciting prospective sellers. After preparing documents requesting proposals or bids from sellers, the project manager creates evaluation criteria to rate or score proposals.

Solicitation

During the solicitation process, the project manager finds prospective sellers who offer solutions to the project procurement needs. The project manager searches for sellers, informs them of the procurement needs, and receives their proposals.

Source Selection

Divided into two parts, source selection requires that the project manager evaluate the proposals and negotiate with the seller to finalize the contract.

Contract Administration

During contract administration, the project manager ensures that the seller’s performance meets contractual requirements. During this period, the contract may be changed based on seller’s performance, and the seller is paid.

Contract Close-out

In contract close-out, the project manager audits the procurement, ensuring contract compliance before closing the contract. This process requires product verification and administrative close-out.