Lean-Agile Procurement Competency

by the LAP Alliance | A Community Contribution

Why is the Lean-Agile Procurement Competency important?

In today’s AI-driven, highly volatile market, organizations are under growing pressure to reduce time-to-market while navigating supply chain disruptions and regulatory challenges. Since product development often involves third parties, LAP ensures co-innovation by fostering cross-company collaboration with third-party vendors and/or partners within and across the entire value stream.

Unlike traditional procurement, LAP introduces practices aligned with the Lean-Agile values and principles tailored for each portfolio, ARTs, and team in the private and public sectors, fostering faster, more adaptive, and value-driven procurement.

Originally designed to enhance strategic procurement in complex acquisitions, LAP has evolved into a proven set of practices that enable organizations to:

  • Align on expected outcomes early, ensuring shared goals and priorities.
  • Gather all necessary Request for Proposal (RFP) information collaboratively, with a strong customer-centric focus.
  • Establish and empower cross-company teams, fostering seamless collaboration to deliver value incrementally and iteratively and fostering co-innovation.
  • Co-create an adaptive legal framework, ensuring contracts support collaboration and partnerships based on Agile values.

Which roles would benefit from mastering this competency?

Although Lean-Agile Procurement is clearly a critical competency for procurement professionals, other roles will also benefit from acquiring this knowledge and being aware of the practices. These roles include Scrum Masters, RTEs, Product Management, Business Owners, Value Management Office (VMO), and Portfolio Leadership.