Contract Lifecycle Management Not A Spectator Sport

Contract lifecycle management starts and ends with the relationship. One of the things I hate most in contracting relationships is a ‘cut and paste' contract. We've all seen them. You know, the contract that was written for a completely different purpose, or worse still, a bit of this agreement and a bit of that agreement, commonly referred to as a ‘bitsa'.

To have a ‘cut and paste' contract thrust upon you, just when you get to the business end of a deal just makes you think, ‘do I really want to do business with these guys?' ‘Do they really know what they are doing?'

A typical example of the wrong contract in the wrong place at the wrong time, is being handed the general conditions of a capital works contract, for the supply of very standard goods or services, or seeing other terms and conditions in an agreement that are really out of place for the type of work being performed. It is really like the other party has just failed to think at all about the issues. This is worse still when it comes to you internally.

But we must also remember that if it is a customer contract we are presented with, then there is not a lot that we can do about it, really. You just have to bite your tongue and reach for the highlighter, if you want the business that is.

I cannot stress highly enough that a contract is an instrument of mutual benefit and it must be structured with specific commercial outcomes in mind, rather than just throwing a few well used clauses together. If you are the customer, and you are buying goods or services, but the only standard contract you have is for road construction, then it may be a good idea to have a look at your supplier's standard agreement. Because it is quite likely going to address all of the relevant terms and conditions of the type of business you are doing. When I sign up for a new mobile phone, I don't take in my standard contract for supply of stationery, and try to get the phone dealer to sign it. It's not relevant. I simply read the vendor's contract, and I discuss any changes that I think need to be made. Then when I'm happy, I sign.

Finally, one important point. Whatever contract you are executing… read it. Sounds silly, but many people don't even read contracts before they sign them. Really.

Article Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/project-management-articles/contract-lifecycle-management-not-a-spectator-sport-773415.html

Adam McInnes is the CEO of Open Windows Contracts, a leader in contract lifecycle management software. Open Windows offers a trial of their contract management software and additional material that you may be interested in.