contract management skills

This makes administrators a kind of jack-of-all trades; they may create end-date alerts for one department while another may only care that contract changes are recorded properly. Relative considerations to keep in mind and decisions to be cognizant of are reviewed in this category in order to form a successful contract. The CMBOK enlists the following competencies: The first stage of contract management competencies is the pre-award stage, which touches on the different areas that impact contract management. Laguna Niguel, CA 92677 The last competency is business. Negotiation. We respect your privacy. The 5 Skills Needed to Manage Contracts For Your Organization, Copyright © 2020 Apttus Corporation, All Rights Reserved, Click Here to download the Ultimate Guide to Contract Management, How Brexit Affects Your Contracts: Top 3 Contract Management Must-Do's, Increasing the Integrity of Your Contract Repository, Contract Development Best Practices with Contract Templates & Playbooks, Efficient and effective performance in a specific industry or work environment. The second competency is acquisition planning and strategy. All successful contract managers must have a solid understanding of the various aspects of business. That’s difficult especially because the domain is fuzzy that the differences are not all that apparent. Please note: By providing your email address and requesting this contract management free trial, you are signing up for follow-up emails about our powerful contract management software. Contract Management Any legally binding agreement between two or more parties is known as a contract. Particularly for contracting professionals who work for or with the U.S. government, this means knowing the Federal Acquisition Regulations(FAR) System, which establishes guidelines for the government’s purchase or lease of services and goods. Contract Management is a key part of companies’ strategic sourcing requirements. While contract management staff may not be responsible for knowing all about risk management, it may be up to them to identify key financial risks as a result of contract breaches or missed deadlines. The professional skills necessary for contract managers to have include: Want to learn more about specialized knowledge areas? Understand (well) the industry and business they serve. Toll Free:1 (877) 509-7500 But the full range of risk management is worth examining. The same may go for a fulfillment supplier’s contract, for example. Contract Assistant and I are getting along great! Competencies in post-award contract administration are essential to successful performance. View these events. Linton said that experienced contract managers are reinforcing the importance of soft skills more, compared to how the skill was considered in 2017. The ability of an individual to administer such contracts with customers, employees, partners, or vendors is simply known as his contract management skills. It can be a big job handling staff that uses the software, working with other departments, and generally staying on top of contract management duties. Be familiar with risk management. Here are a few differentiators for contract management software that would help make that decision. Does it allow pulling out key contract terms and clauses quickly? Does it help track important contract dates, such as, expiration dates, auto-renewal dates, performance reviews and contract end dates. We never share your information with others. Additional contract management skills are required for specialized areas of knowledge that exceed the competencies in pre-award, acquisition planning and strategy, and post-award. This is a heavily important phase as it reviews the fundamental aspects of contract management, hence being labeled in the “pre-award” category. Fax: 1 (888) 398-3666 Looking to improve your business knowledge? To learn more about the pre-award stage, view these educational events. The National Contract Management Association (NCMA) defines five “competencies” called The Contract Management Body of Knowledge (CMBOK) which outlines the critical terms, skills, and the required knowledge to manage contracts within an organization. However, the challenge lies in sifting through a range of Contract Management Solutions to determine the best fit. 30025 Alicia parkway, Suite 138 Most are stored as hard copies in various places, filed away by the legal department, kept in a desk drawer by the contract manager or sent away to the stakeholder. Administrators often become the nexus for disseminating key contract information to many departments or branches. There are numerous significant and important activities that will ultimately effect the overall success of the contract. Stonegate Senior Care, Blueridge Software, Inc By continuing to browse, you agree to our use of cookies. They must be equipped with an understanding of the marketplace in which their organization operates and also know how to utilize technology to meet their goals. We use cookies to make sure you have the best possible experience on our site. You’d expect this as well, and there is normally a fair amount of negotiation to do in all … This covers the early stages of the acquisition cycle from planning to protest. Certified Paralegal The pre-award competency is influential throughout the contract management lifecycle and influence decision making. Optimizing this phase can help avoid poor contract performance and administration. This can mean working with ad-hoc groups to get these tasks done, and understanding both company-wide and department or branch needs. It requires not only a high level of understanding of contracting dynamics, but also requires a very good understanding of business itself. The authors, María Arraiza-Monteux and René Franz Henschel, outline the skills needed along the gamut of contract work, from initiation, bid, development, negotiation and finally to management. Obviously, for the purposes of this blog, we’ll focus on the “manage” portion. Fortunately, this fact has been realized by the industry and is hence the key driver to adoption of such solutions. The authors, María Arraiza-Monteux and René Franz Henschel, outline the skills needed along the gamut of contract work, from initiation, bid, development, negotiation and finally to management. Productively interacting with other specialized professionals. What these points underscore is that contract management goes beyond the record-keeping function. As a business discipline in its own right, it can prove to be a boon or a bane, depending on how it’s managed. Anyone in charge of contract management software knows that using the software is just one part of the job. Have good project management skills. This is not an exhaustive list, just a few fundamentals that really matter – and are worth noting. Project management can be a widely defined skill. At a basic level, this can mean simply ensuring that key departments understand when contracts are nearing end-dates or key deliverable dates. It’s not like there’s a central school of contract management with a set-in-stone list of skill-building courses (would that there were!). The professional skills necessary for contract managers to have include: Efficient and effective performance in a specific industry or work environment An investment in a Contract Management solution will save the investing company millions of dollars of lost revenue, potential opportunities, rebates and more.