[Stakeholders] An internal team says procurement is slowing the business down. How do you handle that?

I would not get defensive. That complaint usually means one of two things: either the process really is adding friction, or the team is feeling the tension between speed and control and blaming procurement for it. I want to understand which one it is before I react.

Then I would bring the conversation back to specifics. Where is the delay happening, what decision is blocked, what information...