A small government team can begin improving purchasing by reducing repeated work: collecting complete requests, clarifying approvals, keeping records connected, and addressing one recurring delay at a time.
These changes can help staff use their time more effectively. They do not replace adequate staffing or the purchasing requirements that apply to your organization.
Procurement modernization is a shared public-sector priority. NASPO’s 2026 priorities place process modernization first and also highlight staff training, customer service, succession planning, and analytics. These are state procurement priorities, but they provide useful context for local improvement discussions. NASPO: 2026 Top 10 Priorities
The following steps are Commerce Street’s suggested starting approach.
1. Make purchase requests easier to complete
Look at the questions your purchasing team repeatedly sends back to departments. Use those questions to improve the initial request.
A simple request template might ask for:
- What is needed, including quantity and essential specifications?
- What purpose will the purchase serve?
- When is it needed, and why?
- What is the estimated cost, including delivery or recurring charges?
- Which budget or funding source is proposed?
- Who can answer questions about the request?
Provide one completed example so employees can see what a useful request looks like. Keep the form short enough that people will use it.
2. Make the next step clear
For each stage, identify who reviews the request and what they are checking. Distinguish between confirming the need, checking available funding, reviewing the purchasing method, and authorizing the purchase.
Give the requester a simple way to see whether the request is awaiting information, under review, approved, ordered, or received.
Work within your organization’s existing approval authority. Making the process clearer should not remove required checks.
3. Keep the purchasing record connected
Use a consistent reference number or naming convention to connect the request with its supporting documents.
Depending on the purchase, those records may include quotes, approvals, the basis for supplier selection, purchase orders, receiving records, invoices, and warranty information. Confirm the applicable documentation and retention requirements with your purchasing or records team.
The practical question is: Could an authorized colleague understand what happened without searching through someone else’s inbox?
An approved shared filing structure may be a useful starting point. A purchasing system can support the same approach as your needs grow.
4. Measure where work gets stuck
Start with a few questions your team can answer consistently:
- How many requests arrive with missing information?
- How long do complete requests wait for their next review?
- Which questions or corrections occur most often?
Separate time spent waiting for information from time spent reviewing a complete request. That distinction helps you choose an improvement that addresses the actual delay.
Use the information to improve the process, rather than simply ranking employees by speed.
5. Improve one recurring problem first
Choose one department or a common purchase type for a short pilot. Agree on the request template, responsibilities, and records location. Explain the process to the people who will use it.
After several requests have moved through, ask what became easier and what still caused confusion. Adjust before expanding.
This gradual approach is consistent with a NASPO-sponsored article published by ICMA, which recommends manageable modernization steps for cities and counties facing limited budgets, staffing, and aging systems. It is practical guidance, not evidence of guaranteed savings. ICMA: Leading Modern Procurement
An example: replacing equipment at a community center
Illustrative scenario—not a Commerce Street customer case study.
A community center sends an email requesting replacement laptops. The purchasing coordinator must ask how many are needed, what software they must support, which budget will fund them, and when they are required.
The team introduces a short request template and a completed sample. A designated reviewer checks completeness before the request moves through the existing approval process. Supporting documents use the same request number.
The team then tracks whether fewer requests need follow-up questions and whether complete requests move more smoothly. Those observations help determine whether the change is useful.
A checklist for your next team meeting
- Can employees find the purchase-request instructions?
- Does the request collect the information reviewers actually need?
- Is responsibility for each review clear?
- Can requesters find the current status?
- Are supporting records connected and accessible to authorized staff?
- Have we chosen one recurring problem to improve?
- Do we know how we will judge whether the change helped?
You can use this approach with your existing approved tools. Begin with the part of purchasing that creates the most avoidable back-and-forth, and give your team a clear, manageable next step.