Overcoming 4 Contract Lifecycle Management Challenges
By Karen Howe
Historically, the Thanksgiving holiday was about survival and giving thanks for overcoming challenges, but as this Thanksgiving approaches, it seems we’re still in the throes of the COVID-19 pandemic. To err on the side of caution, our holiday traditions will need to change. Over the river and through the woods to grandmother’s house we will NOT go this year. Our meal will be limited to our immediate household, a small turkey, and an after-dinner Zoom session with family near and far.
Of course, it’s not just our holiday traditions that have changed in 2020. Our business practices have undergone a radical shift since last spring, with large swathes of the workforce still conducting business remotely. Earlier this year, recognizing that a remote workforce is one of many contract management challenges facing businesses, Contract Logix published The Essential Guide to Managing Contracts Remotely. As the pandemic continues, I think it makes sense to revisit a few key points outlined in that e-book.
Lack of Appropriate Access
One of the major contract lifecycle management challenges is lack of appropriate access. When people are working from home or other remote locations, having a system that provides a single and secure cloud-based repository where contracts and contract-related information are stored and can be accessed over the internet is essential. The Contract Logix contract management solution offers a secure SaaS platform that adheres to the highest data privacy and security standards and provides easy-to-configure role based permissions that give you full control over what information can be accessed and by whom, whether users are located in the office or working remotely.
Missing Information
Another challenge to efficient contract management is inaccurate or missing information coming in via contract requests. Much time and effort can be lost running down the answers to basic questions, and when personnel are physically distant, even more time and effort may be lost during the submission process. Contract Logix lets you create custom request forms that ensure all the information you need to generate a contract is supplied up front and enables users to submit those requests electronically.
Limited Process Visibility
One of the contract lifecycle management challenges mentioned in the e-book isn’t necessarily limited to a remote workforce but is certainly exacerbated by it, and that’s the challenge of keeping contracts flowing through the process and knowing where all your contracts currently are in that process. Contract Logix solves this with a visual workflow designer that’s been recently enhanced to be extremely user-friendly and status tracking tools like progress bars.
Difficulty Collaborating
Finally, there is the challenge of collaborating on contracts and related materials when the different departments or parties are physically remote. How do you maintain version control and prevent organizational and negotiation silos? Granted, this challenge is also not unique to our current situation but raises the question of how businesses can improve these processes. Today, Contract Logix includes complete document versioning, redlining and check out capabilities, and there are even more exciting developments in this area underway.
Takeaway
So no, we’re not out of the woods just yet with this pandemic. Remote work still rules, and the contract lifecycle management challenges it brings are still largely with us. If you’re not taking advantage of contract management software, what are you waiting for? And if you are, are you making the most out of your investment? Come talk to us at Contract Logix and let us show you how we can help.