Reevaluating Contract Document Management Traditions

A tradition is often an activity enjoyed and repeated to a point of comfort. A tradition can also be a business practice, for instance, how contracts and documents are managed.  Traditional ways of managing contracts and documents, though comfortable, can be cumbersome, overwhelming, and time consuming. Here are a few contract document management traditions to reevaluate and improve upon over the year.

• Paper Usage

  Paper will more than likely never completely go away. It is a fabric that has been woven into our society throughout the years. Paper offers comfort to agreements, arrangements, and even disagreements because it is proof. Paper allows a physical touch to verbal engagements. It is what many businesses do because they always have.

  

  Even with its many benefits, paper creates struggle. Papers can be lost and destroyed. Papers can be forgotten.

  Today technology offers a new tradition of electronic contracts and documents that are managed with contract document management software. Contract document management software (CMS) decreases paper dependency and the labor associated with it by allowing documents to be centralized in one location and accessed from anywhere with the help of cloud computing.

  Reducing paper use with a CMS also allows easy assembly of data for audits, surveys, and other needs with reporting. Data storage is more efficiently enacted, accessed, and analyzed to benefit continued progress.

  Losing the sense of physical touch and using CMS with cloud computing may seem intimidating, but the freedom and benefits of the cloud are increasing popularity. Over the next three years cloud use is projected to be 58 % by enterprise businesses in some capacity and 78% of small businesses are projected to be fully cloud operational.

• Time Management

  Being efficient and being busy are not one in the same. Reevaluating current business processes to find inefficiencies and to make improvements will help to start improving time management.

  

  Implementing changes like reducing paper will increase efficiency because it decreases search and transport time. CMS allows users to start small by reducing the number of paper copies or by making all new agreements electronic and gradually adding in older agreements as time and labor permit.

  Another time saver is reducing traditional style meetings that are held when everyone can physically attend. Travel time and multiple meetings increase the time needed to attain a desired result. With CMS on the cloud more time is spent collaborating and the end result is achieved quicker because files are able to be accessed from anywhere. A recent Inc. article described cloud usage as “ By far the best system of engagement for meeting the needs of customers,” because of the ability to be productive from anywhere there is an Internet connection.

  The convenience of CMS with cloud features like electronic signature and version control with redlining, increase approval rate and overall productivity by decreasing wait times as well as the risks of misplacing documents or using an incorrect version. These cloud benefits simplify internal operations by 37 percent and increase time for clients and other more pressing matters 23 percent according to a Harvard Business Review Survey.

• Wasteful Spending

  Purchase with purpose. Limiting spending that is unnecessary, duplicative, and dated by budgeting and reexamining current and future purchases are both good ways to curb wasteful spending.

  

  Decreasing paper waste with electronic files and CMS is another way to reduce excessive spending. According to Xerox around 40% of office paper is discarded within 24 hours of being printed on! Couple with that the costs associated with printing (ink, paper, labor, etc.) and the savings become more than noticeable.

  Unfortunately sometimes complicated, unexpected expenses pop up and add up. Clauses, deadlines, terminations, and reviews often get lost in emails, computer files, a mass of papers, or filed and forgotten leading to unnecessary expenses. CMS notifications safeguard against unwanted expenses by warning of pending actions. These reminders allow for swift review and action to warrant against wasteful spending.

The challenge to improve traditional contract document management does not have to be overwhelming. Everyday habits that center on paper use, time management, and wasteful spending should be reevaluated and updated to fit current business needs. Contract Document Management Software with the cloud offers an advanced solution to these matters outside of the traditional comfort zone. Have you considered stepping outside of the traditional contract document management software comfort zone?

Sources:

• Agrawal, AJ, “How Cloud Computing Pioneers are Ruling the Business World.” Inc. 12 Feb. 2016
• Columbus, Louis, “55% of Enterprises Predict Cloud Computing Will Enable New Business Models in Three Years.” Forbes, 8 June 2015
• Columbus, Louis, “Roundup of Small and Medium Business Cloud Computing Forecasts and Market Estimates, 2015.” Forbes, 4 May 2015
• Kearns, Suzanne, “12 Cost Cutting Ideas for Your Small Business to Save Money and Reduce Expenses.” Money Crashers
• McKendrick, Joe, “Cloud Computing Increases Business Agility, Whatever That Means.” 14 July 2014