I have always liked to say "There is no place for politics in procurement." but realistically we all know that this is just not true.
Thankfully in most of my procurements, politics has had little to no influence, but every now and then you have a procurement that you just cannot keep the politics out of it.
So how do you mitigate the politics and ensure that there is no conflict of interest? You stick to your procurement policies and follow your procurement code making sure all of your "i's" are dotted and "t"s" crossed.
As we completed a procurement that had political influence I was asked to assist the end user in preparing a memo that summarized the evidence that we followed policy and were still ensuring that the District had flexibility going forward. The generated memo stated the procurement facts, detailed whom and what was evaluated, showed evidence of negotiations, sited the paragraphs of the subsequent contract that allowed for changes or termination, and showed how the contract would be monitored going forward.
Making sure you have a good grasp of your procurement policies and procedures, working closely with your end users and above all deep breaths will get you through the added work, stress and attention when politics become involved in procurement.
Happy Friday! Stay Warm!