What are the most effective ways to communicate contract details to all parties?

When we embarked on a large capital project, we gathered the two parties we were contracting with in a room for two days. During that time, we walked through the entire contract, talking through key points, recrafting entire sections, and translating as much of the contract into plain language as possible. These were the most valuable two days of the project, as the key parties to the contract bonded getting to know the contract and what everyone was signing up for. Sit down and spend time with others to walk through the contract, section by section. While initially a tremendous task, the time and effort will pay huge dividends to all those involved.

A simple one page summary of key commercial points in the contract - including penalties, performance clauses, date of renewal, expiry etc. The long legal agreement can very simply be put on a page and kept for easy reference for business teams. The one pager is often called - term sheet- and should be provided by legal/ commercial teams drafting the agreements

I tend to prepare document comparing our standard approach to certain topic to current draft. Furthermore, I mark each deviation with collours, green for those that I do not consider as material, yellow for those that are generally acceptable but still to be taken into account by othee colleguess and red which I consider as not acceptable, i.e. critical for our business operations

I find that positioning the key elements of the deal early on will help you soften the tough discussions later on in the negotiations. This includes both the clients key wins and your must have components.

One thing I found helpful is to agree the principles first. Once the high level principles are agreed the fleshing out by lawyers is easy. All decision makers must be in the room to discuss - What? When? Who? How much? Etc. Communication after that is easier because the rudder is the same.

Clear is one thing - avoiding jargons. But concise - short documents - are just as important. This is even more important with cross border work where the language of the contract is not the first language of some parties.

There are a few key things to keep in mind when communicating contract details to all parties: 1. Be clear and concise. Use plain language that everyone can understand, and avoid using jargon or technical terms that may not be familiar to everyone. 2. Be specific. Provide as much detail as possible about the contract, including the terms, conditions, and obligations of each party. 3. Be organized. Present the information in a logical and easy-to-follow way. 4. Be timely. Communicate the contract details to all parties as soon as possible, so that everyone has time to review and understand them. 5. Be responsive. Answer any questions that parties may have about the contract, and be willing to make changes if necessary.

Something I have found very helpful is to keep things as simple as possible. Contracts can be overwhelming for many people, especially those without legal background. Therefore, keeping things simple can go a long way. Additionally, if a portion of the agreement has language that you are not 100% sure of - it's okay to take a step back, ask your legal counsel and give the clients the answers they need. It all depends on the complexity of the deal and who your audience is.

It’s very important to define every single word that comes out in the context, even simple words could be interpreted differently in different ways, languages and cultures even situations

One point that needs to be emphasised which I've found most useful is to use plain simple language. Do not try to use verbose words or sentences that run into paragraphs that will lose the reader by the 2nd or 3rd line. Short plain tight texts that are easy to follow along and grasp.

A great tool in that process is a "schedule of obligations". A list of what needs to be done, by whom, and the deadline. This table format summary helps so much in the delivery phase. One suggestion is that the contract management teams develops this schedule and the sales people check and verify during the kick-off meeting.

Depending on the intricate structure of the contractual framework (such as projects where there is more than one documentation regulating the underlying transaction), our sales team jointly with the legal team prepare a contract manual highlighting the relevant aspects that each department within the company and the project team should be aware, referencing also in the documentation #tags for easy search in the future by such departments in a consolidated pdf comprised of all project related documentation. This is a tool that helps the team to better navigate between contractual frameworks that relies on cross-references between distinguished contracts and stakeholders.

For written documents, I believe in using the tracking changes feature. That way everyone involved can see what has been changed and what comments others would have on the agreement. This helps keep everything above board and no one is surprised by written changes.

Knowing your agreement well ahead of time is an absolute game changer. I train myself and my team to know what each section means in plain English so we can then transmit that confidence in knowing our terms and conditions, the deal structure and walk the client through the agreement in a simple, key-point component way.

Contract summary should be prepared for each contract and should be shared with all the stakeholders. Contract summary should outline the key information of the contract and should be captured in a succinct and readable way. It is important to strike a balance between brevity and clarity as the stakeholders should not be overburdened with excessive information as this defeats the purpose of contract summary.

Effectively communicating contract details to all relevant parties is essential to ensure mutual understanding and compliance. Utilizing Enterprise Legal Management (ELM) software can significantly enhance this process. ELM software, can facilitate clear and effective communication of contract details to all relevant parties, ensuring that legal, business, and financial teams have a comprehensive understanding of their roles and responsibilities within the contract.

One great way is that the main stakeholders are involved in the contract negotiations. We used to create shared team folders with relevant contract documentation which allowed for collaborative editing, creation and distribution of tasks within the team to the point that everyone is onboard when you get to the final contract. Plus, no-one is dependent on one person or computer.

Reviews, periodically needed, without micromanagement, but also for assessing further training & educating, for an excellent job, by respective staffers

It is not rare to draft contracts in which we need to familiarize ourselves with their scope. For this reason, it is valuable to be open to learning about the parties' expertise, industry, technical terminology. Thus, building a good relationship with the parties and opening a convenient communication channel through which you can mutually share experiences, knowledge, and clarify any inquiries that may arise from the document's terms is essential.

Issue addendum / clarification details to all suppliers. maintain a log sheet for all the communications made for better record keeping and future references in case needed.

This is where a great Contract Lifecycle Management comes in, such as ContractPodAi. Having all your contracts in a repository, with key legal obligations and information set out in an easy to read, reportable, and clear structure can really make managing your agreements and obligations simple and quick. These kind of tools let you not only store your contracts, but they can also extract legal and commercial requirements and display them to members of your business teams. Even more impressive, newer tools like Leah Legal Copilot and Leah for ContractPodAi CLM can even find and identify missing terms, provide guidance on potential issues, send & create reminders, and more. Ultimately, the goal is making sure you never miss a requirement.

Once the agreeement is finalized, it must be signed by the parties. The contract must be shared with all the stakeholders. Contract management process helps avoid inaccuracies, non-compliance as it involves activities such as tracking contract performance, ensuring compliance, managing amendments after the contract execution.

Begin with the end results in mind. Have clear understanding of scope , contract & pricing structure. Give room to suppliers to discuss pricing with You. An advance job-Ex / Brief meeting for suppliers is a best practice worth to follow

If the contract is particularly long or complex, with multiple parts (like schedules, orders, project plans, pricing annexes, technical specs), it can be very helpful to appoint a project manager. Their role is to keep track of the documents, manage version control and keep the parties accountable to agreed negotiation milestones. The project manager should set up the meetings, specify the agenda and ensure the right people are available. This will ensure the negotiation runs smoothly and everyone involved is aware of the current status and key issues.

A few thoughts: 1) This is not a battle/ war your waging. This is two or more professional organisations discussing the potential of and actually working together. Regardless of the size of your operation v the other party(ies), always treat your counterpart(s) as an equal! 2) All advice given here should be considered in light of local customs of each party as well as the jurisdiction the agreement will operate under. Be careful to use language that doesn’t get you accidentally bound. 3) Make pricing and payment terms equitable and timely. You get the best behaviours from your counterparts if they feel and are treated fairly. Equitable does not mean splitting the difference or accepting less than proper value for services/ products.

It is pertinent to have a checklist which details the key clauses which should be included in all contract. A standard legal manual which details the best practices which can be followed and the practices which should not be followed is helpful. In the event the negotiation is not going as per the initial understanding, it is important to highlight the risks to all the relevant stakeholders and take the deviation approval for each deviation. This will also help in audit purposes.

Make the template (blank) format of agreement available during the selection or bidding process so service providers are aware up front of what's expected.