A skills list is easy to agree with and easy to forget. The useful question is whether you can point to evidence that you have used each skill under real constraints.
This nine-skill checklist accompanies the original World of Procurement video and gives you a practical way to assess where to focus next.
TL;DR
Rate skills with evidence, not confidence alone.
Choose one gap that affects your current work and practise it in a live project.
Keep commercial foundations strong while adding data, workflow and AI supervision.
Use the checklist for development conversations, not as a generic job description.
The nine-skill checklist
1. Stakeholder discovery
Can you uncover the outcome, constraints, incentives and disagreement before a requirement becomes fixed?
Evidence: a brief, workshop output or decision where your questions changed the scope.
2. Market analysis
Can you distinguish the relevant market, supplier models, cost drivers, alternatives and switching constraints?
Evidence: a market map or sourcing strategy with explicit assumptions.
3. Commercial analysis
Can you explain price, total cost, demand, value and risk in a form a decision-maker can inspect?
Evidence: an option comparison or business case that separates facts from assumptions.
4. Negotiation
Can you define objectives, alternatives, information needs, concession logic and governance before the live conversation?
Evidence: a negotiation plan and outcome review.
5. Contract management
Can you connect negotiated commitments to owners, obligations, performance and renewals?
Evidence: an obligation register, renewal plan or resolved contract issue.
6. Supplier management
Can you segment suppliers, set an appropriate review cadence and turn performance evidence into action?
Evidence: a supplier plan or review that produced a decision.
7. Data literacy
Can you test where data came from, what it excludes and whether the categories support the conclusion?
Evidence: an analysis with documented sources, limitations and quality checks.
8. Change and workflow design
Can you map triggers, decisions, owners, exceptions and controls, then help people adopt the process?
Evidence: a process change with measured use or fewer avoidable exceptions.
9. AI supervision
Can you delegate a task to AI with approved sources, inspect the output and retain human accountability?
Evidence: a repeatable workflow showing inputs, checks, limits and outcome.
How to score yourself
0 — awareness: I understand the terms.
1 — supported application: I can do the work with guidance.
2 — independent ownership: I can lead common cases and manage exceptions.
3 — system leadership: I can teach, standardise and improve the capability.
Ask a manager or trusted peer to score the same evidence. The disagreement is often more useful than the number.
Video: nine procurement skills
Turn the checklist into a plan
Select one skill with a clear link to current work.
Define a live assignment where you can practise it.
Agree who will review the work.
Capture the artefact and outcome.
Repeat or teach the pattern.
Frequently asked questions
Should I work on my lowest-scoring skill?
Not automatically. Prioritise the gap that most limits your role or the adjacent skill that would amplify an existing strength.
Can certifications count as evidence?
They can show structured learning. Pair them with applied evidence from a project, decision or process improvement.
How often should I review the checklist?
A quarterly review is usually frequent enough to see progress without turning development into administration.
Use the checklist on one live assignment.
Choose a procurement task with a clear owner and outcome. Before starting, identify which capabilities it requires: understanding demand, analysing evidence, engaging suppliers, making a commercial recommendation or coordinating implementation. Ask a more experienced colleague where the work is likely to become difficult.
Keep a short record of the decisions and feedback. Where did better information change your recommendation? Which stakeholder question did you struggle to answer? Which part of the supplier response needed a specialist? Those observations give the checklist a concrete meaning.
After completion, choose one capability to improve through the next assignment. Find a small practice opportunity and agree what good performance would look like. A course or reading resource can support that practice, but it should connect to a skill you will actually use.
Review progress through the evidence you can show. A stronger recommendation, clearer handover or resolved supplier issue demonstrates development. Marking every checklist item “competent” without a work example makes it difficult to see what you should do next.
Watch the original WOP video
Continue exploring
A career is not improved by having read the list. It changes when you use one skill on work that matters and keep the evidence.