Streamline your Operations in 2023 with Enhanced Contract Management

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With the workforce shrinking and a potential recession looming, 2023 is set to be a challenging year for business.

Companies that spend strategically by investing in automation and other tech tools to do more with less will be best placed to navigate the economic headwinds. There are significant efficiency gains to be made in eliminating unproductive manual processes.

Corporate legal departments should be central to these efforts, leading by example as they clean their clutter with enhanced management of all workflows.

Contracts are a good place to start, given that contracts management is often a problem area for legal departments as they juggle reams of paperwork relating to employees, vendors, customers and partners.

Streamlining these workflows with automation just makes sense – helping contract managers stay on top of operations while cutting legal spend and freeing up counsel to tackle higher priority items.

7 Ways Automation Transforms Your Contract Management Processes

1. Stay ahead of updates and renewals

An automated system can be programmed to keep a close eye on contracts, with customized alerts and notifications if they’re nearing their expiration, due for renewal, or need to be updated.

This helps counsel stay on top of all current contracts with timely reminders that help them avoid penalties for missed deadlines or late renewal fees.

2. Productivity gains

There’s no need for staff members in your legal department to meticulously create contracts from scratch every time.

An automated system will create and store templates for the contracts you most commonly use so all staff have to do is input the details and hit save. Offloading these kinds of repetitive tasks to automated tools frees up counsel to spend their precious time and skill on more valuable tasks.

3. Accessibility

An automated platform can securely store all contract materials, but just because they’re secure doesn’t mean they’re inaccessible. Users with the correct access privileges can easily log in to amend or update the contract as needed. Tweaks are done quickly, efficiently, and in real-time so you can be confident you’re always working with the most up-to-date version of your documents.

4. Secure archiving

According to a recent report from security giant Sophos, cyberattacks are set to intensify in 2023, with more innovative ransomware attacks and greater access to cybercrime tools on the dark web.

Companies that aren’t using a secure, automated archiving platform are putting themselves at risk in this environment of escalating threats. Automated archiving acts like a securely locked vault, automatically storing your documentation behind multi-layered defenses that minimize the risk of data breaches and data loss.

Admins can set access privileges to ensure only authorized users can enter the system, and customize controls over what they can do once they’re in there – limiting the number of people who can view, edit, or share the materials.

5. Greater visibility

A centralized hub doesn’t just keep all your documents secure, it also offers a bird’s eye view into every aspect of the contract lifestyle.

Staff can oversee the progress of all contracts at a glance, making timely changes when needed, staying informed of all developments in real time, and seeing which contracts need urgent attention.

6. Transparency and traceability

Automated systems generate a wealth of valuable data. That data can be used to create reports that give counsel an accurate and comprehensive picture of how their department is managing their contracts.

This high-level data analysis significantly boosts transparency and accountability. Senior staff can quickly and easily trace every step of a contract’s progression through the system, seeing who is involved, what changes have been made, relevant updates, communications, and more.

Counsel have everything they need to identify roadblocks, hone in on problem areas, target areas of improvement, and assess staff performance.

7. Streamlined contract completion

Done manually, contracts involve a lot of time-consuming back and forth. Especially in the later stages when signatures are required, often from multiple parties.

Automated software can be customized to send out notifications when signatures are required, and enable e-signatures for more streamlined contract completion.

Rather than waiting days to print out contracts, send them to the relevant parties, and await their signatures, they simply click the link provided to securely log-in and sign within minutes.

Automate your contracts with DiliTrust’s contract management solution

DiliTrust’s cutting-edge Contract Management module adds value to every stage of the contract lifecycle, helping companies get the most from their legal departments and positioning them for challenging times.

By leveraging the efficiencies of automation, legal teams can make significant savings, not just in their budget but in their time and resources too. Make sure you’re ready for what the future holds, talk to our team today to start your legal department’s digital transformation.