Procurement organizations are often responsible for the contract management process, but this seems to be one of the most non-uniformly applied mandates in the realm of purchasing. Procurement organizations who have the responsibility to build a contract management process tend to do a pretty good job with contract authoring, negotiation, and administering individual contracts to incorporate changes but are less effective in tracking and managing compliance to terms of the contract and administering an overall contracts’ database. Furthermore, even for processes where procurement organizations can bring a high degree of value, there is a chance of variability in outcomes, cycle times, and end-user satisfaction. The conventional source of this problem is a lack of process control for contract management system and administration. The end result of these problems includes inconsistent service levels to internal clients and lack of credibility for procurement data. Procurement leaders looking to get all these problems right can leverage a number of best practices in their contract management system. Here are a few to get started:

Best Practices in Contract Management System

Follow a simple and high-level process

For each contract management process, utilize a simple and high-level process. It will help you to avoid over-engineering and shelter a large set of situations in a manner that will reduce exceptions and not be over-burdensome. You need to work towards a high-level of process compliance in order to drive organizational control and discipline.

Implement a contract intake case tracker

For a better contract management system, it is important to implement a contract intake case tracker and workflow tool. Ideally, this process should be based on a web form, which can be recorded by procurement based on a phone call or an in-person request or completed directly by the requester. This will help in creating a time-tagged record to which relevant notes and documentation can be attached.

Incorporate legal resources in the workflow

Integrating dedicated legal resources into the workflow can help you measure activities, volumes, and cycle times. This will help you in fixing the loopholes in the contract management process.

Have a dedicated contract management team

You must invest in a single dedicated team or resource to input all contracts into the contract database and manage the database. This is one of the best practices to control and enforce consistent standards of data.

SpendEdge’s contract management services help you drive greater value from your contracts by managing them more effectively. From contract negotiation and contract authoring to contract compliance and renewal or disposition, we can help you throughout the contract lifecycle. To learn more: