Contracts are a sponge which gather knowledge and information from multiple sources… on average an organisation will have 24 different systems which contain contract-related data. But that means we do not have a single source of truth. Where is your contract data stored and what does it tell you? Contracts
It was music to my ears… a client asked me to create a suite of documents that were based on radical simplicity. They were due to spend millions of pounds and wanted to avoid the terrible tick-box contracting that had become their standard practice (they are not alone). Read the
Do we set small comfortable objectives in relation to our contracting process and then execute them in a small way? Are you more excited by contract evolution than contract revolution? If you want to stay small, or avoid failure, then don’t start a contract lifecycle management (CLM) process. But if
We need contracts that are easy to operate and easy to use to gather relevant data. Simplification deals with the easy to operate bit. At the World Commerce and Contracting EMEA Summit 2022, Stefania Passera, their designer-in-residence challenged her audience of contract and procurement specialists to rethink contracts. She suggested
The top contract and commercial management priority for the engineering and construction companies globally is to improve their internal processes (67% of the 51 respondents to the World Commerce and Contracting Benchmark CCM Survey). Our weaknesses Despite wanting to improve their processes: the majority won’t adopt new tools and systems
Although I am a fervent advocate for simpler contracts [see better contracts by design, or steps to simplification], for many businesses a simple document in MS Word is no longer enough. In 2017, I helped The Federation of Master Builders move from complex text documents to adobe forms (an editable
Whatever the truth about our attention span, most readers are inherently time-constrained and only interested in what’s-in-it-for-me. So how do you write a contract so it is quick to use? Read the full edition here If your contract is in plain language, what more do you need to make it
I’ve said it before, and it’s worth repeating… until they sign on the dotted line they are not a client, they are a prospect. So your contract is part of your marketing resources – a seamless set of resources, on-line and off-line collateral and actions, that reflect your brand. What
As the World Commerce and Contracting’s Most Negotiated Terms 2020 [available to members] report states contracts are the lifeblood of [your] business… define how [your] organization operates, creating critical links with [your] suppliers and customers… Negotiations should focus on creating a mutually agreed framework that informs, guides and is able
When I first started my journey to contracts in just 500 words, I focused mostly on content. Simple balanced effective content. I worked with an information designer who added some visuals, structure and design. I didn’t want my samples to look like walls of text! Together we had the beginnings