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11 ways to sucessfully manage your AP team.pdf

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1
www.expouav.com
to Successfully Manage
Your AP Team
An IOFM white paper
11 Ways

2© 2021 IOFM, Diversied Communications. No part of this publication may be
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11 Ways to Make Your AP
Team the Envy of Every Other
Department
Finding great staffers is one challenge; keeping
them is another. However, that’s the kind of
problem you want to have—a team that is so
exceptional that you must keep other managers in
the company from trying to poach them.
How to accomplish this? Consider these suggestions:
We all know that for most accounts payable departments, there’s
a strong clerical element involved, especially for organizations
that haven’t yet automated their routine processes. If that’s your
situation, you already know that your team members are often “in
the weeds” all day, every day, managing the manual process of
getting the bills paid.
As an outstanding manager, it’s your job to keep your eyes on the ultimate goals
of your process—happy suppliers, bills paid on time, few duplicate payments,
early pay discounts captured. All that has a strong impact on the company’s
bottom line. It’s equally important that you communicate this to your team so
they understand the impact they can make on your employer’s success.
This will enable them to think about what they’re doing in a larger perspective,
whether that task is big or small, which in turns leads to better decisions and
a
greater sense of accomplishment.
Consider taking inter-department field trips to find out how others in the
company do what they do. Encourage other departments to do the same
for AP—pay you a visit. Have one of your team conduct a tour and explain
your process. This will build their confidence and encourage them to talk to
employees who work in other areas of the organization.
Look beyond the clerical work.1
Help your
employees
understand
the impact
they make
on the
organization’s
success.
3© 2021 IOFM, Diversied Communications. No part of this publication may be
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3
Ally with procurement.2
This is one relationship you’ll definitely want to build up. As the
front end of your procure-to-pay process, what procurement
does is critical to your doing what you do later in the workflow.
Delays and miscommunication between procurement and AP can
make the entire process inefficient, which in turn looks bad for
both of you. Yet, this is incredibly common.
The problem is compounded when the departments are under separate
management, as they often are, or physically distant—also a common thing.
They’re marching to different orders and aren’t aware of the other’s needs and
priorities.
Your team and the procurement team must get to know one another and learn
about the other’s pain points. What’s the thing you do that drives them nuts?
What’s the big thing you would like them to do differently? How can both teams’
processes be refined to create optimal success every step of the way?
It starts with a discussion. A savvy leader will initiate that conversation,
going through appropriate channels to get things moving. If supported by
management—and it should be, especially if you can provide some potential
benefits to get their attention—you may want to hold joint planning meetings,
team up members from both groups to solve a problem, or conduct an internal
field trip.
Once the barriers are down, healthy conversations can organically spring up
between the two groups. While you should remain involved, let your team
suggest ways the P2P process can be improved. After all, who doesn’t want
their job to be easier?
Support your team members.3
This can hardly be stressed enough. However, let’s discuss what
“support” means.
It doesn’t mean standing over your staff and nagging them. It doesn’t mean
letting them have free rein to do whatever they want either. Everybody needs
to be doing the same things the same way for optimal performance. However,
there’s an element of trust that needs to be present, and if it’s missing, your
team
will definitely know it.
You’ll see it manifested in a lack of confidence or an unwillingness to step
outside their normal day-to-day responsibilities. You’ll hear the awkward
silence
in a meeting when you ask a question or solicit feedback. Everybody’s afraid of
getting in trouble for saying the wrong thing or making a mistake.
Supporting
your team
requires
a balance
between
keeping an
eye on them
and trusting
them.
4© 2021 IOFM, Diversied Communications. No part of this publication may be
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4
It’s a balance. Guide them, train them and keep an eye on them, but also trust
them enough to let them try new things on their own—and that includes learning
by failing at non-essential tasks. Let them know that you won’t let them crash
and burn, but growth is a process that comes from experience.
For many, the day-to-day routine becomes reassuring, if lacking challenge. In
order to build a team that supports AP, you and the organization overall, find
opportunities for them to step out of their comfort zones.
Advocate for your team.4
Let’s talk about how you represent your team up the chain and
with your peers in other departments.
As the face of AP, you are in a good position to present them favorably
to the organization. That means standing up for them and making their
accomplishments known, even grooming top performers to take on other
suitable roles within the organization. Word will get around, and your staff
will
know and appreciate the fact that you’re willing to go to bat for them.
Loyalty is something you earn by being your team’s advocate. Not only won’t
you deflect blame onto them if AP is criticized—you’ll do everything in your
power to elevate their profile within the organization and help them shine.
Train your staff.5
If you’re looking for top performance and the maximum
contribution from your team members, they must be
knowledgeable. Consider getting them IOFM-certified as an important
first step. They’ll become familiar with the best practices and
standardized methods adopted by world-class AP departments.
Beyond AP, what kinds of training does your company offer? Even if the topics
don’t seem immediately applicable to your staff’s roles, training broadens their
understanding of your business as a whole and shows that you value them
enough to help them improve their skills. You never know when that knowledge
might come in particularly handy—to you, to AP, or to them personally.
Giving them time to train also breaks up the routine of their day-to-day
work, which can become monotonous in some roles. Knowledge is power—
encouraging them to build up that knowledge gives them a way to discover their
own strengths.
Earn your
team's
loyalty by
advocating
for them.

5© 2021 IOFM, Diversied Communications. No part of this publication may be
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5
Provide ongoing feedback.6
Nowadays, the annual performance review is increasingly
coming under fire. Organizations are beginning to realize that
only discussing performance, accomplishments and areas for
improvement once or twice a year does not yield the desired
results.
Instead, formal performance reviews are incredibly time-consuming, not terribly
productive in many cases, and can even discourage employees from trying to
improve. It’s too easy to focus on the mistakes they made because those things
stick in your mind, rather than encouraging your team members to repeat actions
that were positive.
A better approach is to offer feedback on the spot. If you see something great,
compliment them within earshot of the team. If you need to correct a problem,
find a discreet way to talk to them privately as soon as you possibly can.
Immediate feedback is the best. Managers who call staff out in front of their
peers will likely experience a high level of turnover.
Remember that people generally want to do their best. It’s your job to give them
the guidance, encouragement and opportunity to do that.
Hold team meetings that matter.7
The first question you should ask yourself when calling a team
meeting is, “Is this really necessary?” Employees who are
compelled to attend too many meetings that aren’t relevant to
them burn out on them quickly and learn to tune out. They’re just
warm bodies in seats.
Phones should be set to silent during a meeting and put away. If someone is
expecting an emergency call, the person should probably be excused from that
particular session. They’ll hardly be focused on the topic being discussed.
Meetings should have a definite purpose, a specific length and an agenda. Be
respectful of people’s time and attention. Some organizations prefer “standing
meetings” in which participants are required to stand up the entire time. It’s
thought that this prevents people from getting so comfortable that the meeting
turns into a time-wasting ramble. Whether or not you sit, stay on topic and be
mindful of the time limit. Don’t feel the need to go the entire scheduled time.
If
your meeting is set for 30 minutes but you’re able to communicate your message
in 10, adjourn early.
Finally, don’t invite those who aren’t absolutely necessary. If the information
being communicated is highly relevant to them or you require their input or
participation, then by all means bring them in. But you don’t need the whole
team present to address something that doesn’t really affect them.
Feedback
should be
given on
an ongoing
basis, not just
at an annual
performance
review.
6© 2021 IOFM, Diversied Communications. No part of this publication may be
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6
Ask for ideas—and listen.8
Listening to your team is important. Even if you’ve been in AP for
20 years and they’re brand-new at it, it doesn’t necessarily mean
they won’t have good ideas. In fact, precisely because they don’t
know “the way it’s always been done,” they may have a fresh
perspective.
Even if their ideas aren’t viable, don’t just say, “That won’t work”—remember,
this is a teaching moment. Instead, have a discussion to explain the nature of
the
problems you foresee. They may not yet understand the full implications and the
complexity of the situation. Once they do, however, their next suggestions will
be
better-informed and potentially more viable.
This can be a win-win. Their informed brainstorming can help you tune up your
processes, especially since they’re the ones who are doing the hands-on work all
day, every day.
Introduce some fun.9
AP doesn’t have to be all work and no play. Think of some
activities to break up the routine of the day.
As your schedule permits, play games, have contests, do a potluck lunch, or
plan an outing. You may want to appoint a social committee, then provide them
with a schedule and a small budget to plan events. You probably have some
folks on your team who enjoy doing that kind of thing and would gladly
volunteer.
And consider inviting procurement or other members of the finance team. Doing
a fun activity together can go a long way toward building up relationships and
improving communication.
One caveat, however. Particularly if your team is interested in going out
together
after work or meeting up to do things on the weekend, remember that not
everyone enjoys spending their free time with their coworkers. Some people are
turned off by forced socialization, so make participation in after-hours events
voluntary.
Listen to your
team’s ideas,
even those
suggested
by members
with less
experience.



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