A stakeholder is an individual or group who have an interest or concern in something e.g. an activity or a business.
When undertaking aprocurement exercise it is crucial you ensure that stakeholders are involved to:
For procurement exercises, a User Intelligence Group (UIG) should be created. The UIG is a cross functional team containing key stakeholders.
This group should have representation from key stakeholders within the participating Organisation(s). Members should include procurement and business/technical/customer representatives.
The National Standards for Community Engagement principles may help when establishing the UIG. These principles are designed to support and inform the process of community engagement and improve outputs.
All UIG’s should have a minimum of two members i.e. the Procurement Officer and the end user.
All UIG’s (with the exception of Care and Support Services) should have a minimum of two members i.e. the Procurement Officer and the end user
Quickfire Guide
You should undertake appropriate research before the first UIG meeting. For example:
This research will help you gain an initial understanding of:
At this stage, consideration should also be given to the sustainability factors to be built into your process. You can also identify any expert or informed input that will be required e.g. guidance from Climate Change experts on carbon in the specific supply chain, or input from Economic Development officers regarding employment opportunities.
The benefits of establishing a UIG are:
Stakeholders should work to:
Where there are a large number of stakeholders, for example a collaborative contract, it may not be possible to have all stakeholders represented on the UIG.
Stakeholder mapping is a useful tool to help identify who should be represented. This is based upon their likely impact upon the success of the project.
You must also ensure you understand your Organisation's policy or requirements regarding engaging with end users/customers of the commodity/service or service and whether they should also be involved in the UIG.
Depending on the specifics of the procurement exercise, the Procurement Officer may ask stakeholders the following questions prior to the starting their procurement:
For the procurement exercise to be effective, it must meet the reasonable expectations of stakeholders and end users.
A clear understanding of stakeholder and end users' views is essential. To obtain this understanding you must have effective stakeholder engagement, taking into account all stakeholder views.
Many stakeholders will be positive and supportive however, it is also important to understand the reasons why stakeholders may not be supportive.
In order to manage this you may wish to consider some of the following:
The stakeholder map is a useful tool for the UIG to plan communications to stakeholders who are not UIG members.
You may wish to issue the attached UIG Welcome Pack which covers:
A UIG charter should be agreed.
Members of the UIG should not underestimate the amount of time and commitment involved in being a member. Although the UIG may meet only fortnightly or monthly there will be work to be completed in between meetings. Members should come to meetings fully prepared.
A UIG Membership Template an be used to record UIG membership and contact details. Information can be found in the UIG Information and Templates below.
Stakeholders should:
Engaging the market provides an opportunity to ensure the services provided are at the forefront of those available. Market sounding should also take into account the knowledge held by others buying Organisations, trade bodies and business support Organisations e.g. Federation of Small Businesses and Chambers of Commerce etc.
Care should be taken to protect the principles of transparency and equal treatment during such discussions. It is strongly recommended that market sounding activity is documented so that, if challenged, there is a record on file of what took place.
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