I just spent over 6 months on and off negotiating a new liability cap into an existing contract for one of our clients -- countless meetings, reports, presentations, approvals and so forth.  Now the ink is dry, and I’d be amazed if we ever talk about it again during the remaining term of the contract.  

I started my hashtag #strongertogether in 2018 - well I have to admit I “adopted” it because needless to say (and at the time unbeknownst to me) it already existed elsewhere in many different contexts, particularly around areas such as sport and broader diversity issues. I’m certainly not precious or territorial about its use. Indeed, it is heartening to see so many people and organizations recognising the strength that comes from collaboration, from working together to achieve a common goal.

You want your contracts to deliver value to your business, right? Who wouldn’t?  But do you know how many contract and commercial professionals fail to realize that collaboration with suppliers is essential?  The first priority is to plan specific strategic sourcing strategies to figure out what we will do ourselves and what we want from suppliers.    

Without a doubt, contracts are the most important risk avoidance management and mitigation tools organizations sign. Ironically, many top executives know little about contracts and how they work to support the organization’s goals. Instead, many choose to delegate the responsibility for identifying and managing those risks to others often with few, if any, questions asked.

Since the dawn of time, mankind has used myths to make sense of the uncertainty that surrounds us. More recently myths have crept into risk management and business projects. Although risk myths have some basis in truth, they fail to accurately represent reality. Here are top ten risk myths and counterpoint rationale showing how to counter the myths.

Let’s say you missed a delivery deadline, or an early settlement discount, or an opportunity for a bonus – all of which were specified in the contract.  Any of these errors could hurt the bottom line in business.  Could you justify leaving money on the table, because someone in the organization was not aware of a contract clause?   Of course not!

What can Artificial Intelligence (AI) do for contract management and what will it require?  Our author proves that AI is already pushing contract management processes toward faster and smarter results.  Chances are you will want to be in on it.  

In this article, author Julien Nadaud tells how one word – influence -- can empower procurement strategies to literally put top value into the outcomes all parties seek.  He cites three case studies that prove his point. 

No doubt, stakeholders can impose risks on your contracting processes, but preventing them from becoming problematic is easier than you might think, especially if you use Dr. David Hillson’s robust and proven framework for dealing with risky stakeholders and follow his recommended strategies for managing them. It’s all about exploiting uncertainty to create value. 

The following article, reprinted by permission from the author, originally published Sep 7, 2018 on the Elevate Services’ website.  What follows surrounds why Craig Conte makes this critical point: