The roles of the HR manager or the contract manager are distinctive from each other, as every position demands particular skill sets, awareness, and also experience. Besides, different tasks can mildly overlap in specific instances. To gain a deeper insight into them, let’s follow us to learn about contract management or the contract manager’s duties.
1. The concept of contract management
Contract management is an essential component of each business since it relates to managing some contracts which boosts up the plant to collaborate with other partners and suppliers, and clients. To illustrate, we can split down the contracts’ phase into other stages.
Initially, the initiation is the priority that the organization proposes to move into the business relationship with the next entity, making the demand for the contract. Next, it arrives with negotiation wherein the double necessary parties determine the useful agreement particularly, based on the approval, that happens while the parties sign the contract. According to the implementation, the deal moves into effect but keeps subject to browsers for the timeframe, resulting in the last phase, which is renewal and even termination.
For the human resources setting, contract management relates to the management contracts’ creation which benefits the staff or the boss. In other words, contract management works to reduce, if not prevent, the legal-involved matters which can arise from ill-written staff contracts.
In short, the most crucial angle of contract management is to guarantee that the organization moves into financially successful business partnerships via sound contract implementation.
2. What is the difference between a contract manager and a project manager?
The primary distinction between contract managers and project managers is that project managers are in charge of supervising large, cross-functional efforts. Contract managers, on the other hand, are in charge of monitoring projects and duties that are expressly related to contracts, such as tracking deliveries, obligations, and major contract milestones.
3. What can the Contract Manager do?
Contract managers oversee, control, and coordinate all contract-related aspects of a project, from negotiating with possible partners to crafting the agreement to maintaining records and analyzing project outcomes. Contract managers, as specialists, assist and teach project managers and other operational employees as needed. As the intermediaries, they ensure that the firm maintains a good relationship with its partners and that all parties involved, including personnel, continue to comply with the contract's terms and conditions. Contract managers also provide important results to various stakeholders, consult with finance on the economic impact of contracts on the firm, and collaborate with legal to ensure the agreements are legally enforceable.
Most essentially, contract managers guarantee that all contracts signed benefit the organization. They evaluate trends, assess risks, and maintain track of the key aspects of an agreement to carry out process improvements as needed. Contract managers' analysis, reports, and research have a significant impact on whether a contract is renewed, extended, or canceled.
4. Who might be a contract manager?
While contract management is an important component of human resources, it is not for everyone. Contract managers must be able to evaluate and analyze legal papers and financial data, as well as recognize and anticipate operational hazards, to safeguard the company. There are contract management specialized courses available online that are well worth checking whether you want to go into contract management or have to handle contracts as part of your existing employment. Those dealing with contracts will benefit from learning new skills and better understand their roles.
As a result, contract managers must have great risk management abilities, as well as in-depth knowledge of the business process and a thorough comprehension of agreements. Furthermore, contact managers must be excellent collaborators since they interact with a variety of organizations, both inside and externally.
We return to the topic of whether the human resources manager should also be the contract manager. While it is generally practicable and cost-effective to use one person for simple and basic contracts, more complicated arrangements should be assigned to someone who has content-specific expertise and has been educated in contract administration.
5. What makes a good contract manager?
A competent contract manager is always focused on the bottom line. Contracts are there to develop connections and deliver on commitments between partners - they're a crucial growth lever for the company, so a contract manager should constantly be trying to 'oil the wheels' and ensure nothing gets in the way of this growth.
In reality, this entails always aiming for improvement in the contract process, as well as altering terms and contract design to optimize for signature. Automation is an important step in developing a contract management process; by developing a self-service contract workflow, contract managers may focus on results rather than individual documents.
5.1. The automated procedure
The automated procedure for contract managers looks at each stage as follows:
Create: Users create contracts using automated templates established by legal. To make this procedure even easier, contract managers may put up a conversational, natural language Q&A.
Interact: Users interact internally on contract revisions in-browser, utilizing tools such as @mentions to swiftly work with colleagues and gain approvals.
Negotiate: Users and counterparties may negotiate and redline contracts in-browser in the sidebar, producing an easy-to-follow audit record of who altered what and when.
Sign: Parties safely eSign on any device, including mobile. There will be no more wet signatures. Following the signing, each party receives an email with a PDF version of the contract.
5.2. Contract management functions after signing
After the contract is signed, the following contract management functions are activated:
Analytics: Contract managers may utilize analytics to monitor which contracts take the longest to sign, which users are becoming bottlenecks, and how contract volumes change over time.
Reminders: Contract managers may establish custom renewal reminders to notify them (or anyone else they wish) when a contract is about to renew or expire - no more surprises!
Table views: Contract managers may organize, filter, and explore their contracts using custom table views.
Contract managers may use an automated workflow to combine speed and efficiency with risk reduction, resulting in the best possible outcome for the firm when it comes to legal documents.
6. Tips for being a contract manager
Follow these guidelines to help you grow as a contract manager:
6.1. Use technology
Companies are increasingly moving away from paper contracts and toward digital contracts. Digital papers are typically easier to keep, distribute, and analyze. Because contracts are becoming more virtual, it is advantageous to begin utilizing technology. This will allow you to quickly handle all of the company's documentation. Consider employing management software to plan contract delivery, send out deadline reminders, and renew contracts. Implementing technology can assist improve a contract's life cycle, which can increase your overall performance.
6.2. Develop your skills
Contract managers employ a variety of talents, thus it's critical to keep these skills sharp. This permits you to develop your career as a contract manager. Once you've mastered the necessary abilities, attempt to improve on them. If you have areas that you need to improve, you should work on those first. Consider attending workshops, conferences, or seminars to improve your skills. These events generally teach you new skills or provide you with advice on how to improve your present ones.
6.3. Learn about the company
When you start working for a firm, commit to learning about the company and industry. Having company and industry expertise might make it simpler to establish contracts. Learning about the organization enables you to understand how it functions, which may aid in the creation of contract conditions. Understanding the market and competition is aided by industry expertise. When negotiating contracts with other firms in the same industry, this is advantageous.
6.4. Earn certifications
Credentials in your profession might be awarded by a contract management association. If you're a contract manager, you're part of a community of like-minded individuals who can help and support one another as they advance through the ranks and stay up to date on the newest developments in the contract management sector. A contract management association may help you move into a contract management role and advance to a more senior position within the first few years after being hired by providing an exclusive job bank and helpful tools.
6.5. Obtain experience
There is no such thing as an entry-level contract management professional. In reality, they are frequently mid-career professionals taking on a mid-level role inside the organization. Contract managers typically have at least five to six years of legal or management experience, but many have been on the job for at least 10 years. To analyze a contract, fulfill its terms, or enforce its laws against another party, you must have contract management abilities.
A bachelor's degree in contract administration might lead to an entry-level contract administration position at a firm ready to equip you with the experience you need to advance.
Wrapping It Up
We believe that you can know the role of Human Resource Manager and the related position to the contract manager as soon as reading this post. Lastly, if you have any queries, please take your comments below. Thanks!
Sources: Internet
Comments