The Art of Contract Management at CLM Simplified Academy 2023

In this episode of the Contract Heroes Podcast, we are delighted to have three distinguished guests with us - Mary O'Carroll, Chief Community Officer at Ironclad and former Google Director Legal Ops and CLOC President; Laura Frederick, founder of How to Contract and ContractsCon, and a Lawyer; and Debbie Hoffman, previously Managing Associate General Counsel at Western Union, and currently a board director and executive leader with expertise in fintech, real estate, mortgage lending, and blockchain.During our conversation, we discuss contract management implementations and finding a successful system with Mary. We emphasize the importance of taking a phased approach and starting small with pilot projects. Our discussion also covers the decision of whether to start with the legal department or procurement contracts, the role of consultants in the pre-implementation process, and effectively monitoring and managing contracts for compliance and value maximization. Laura joins as an expert in negotiating contracts, discussing the concerns of commercial lawyers and the trend of over-contracting. The episode concludes with Debbie sharing her experience with implementing a new tool at Western Union and the challenges faced. WHAT WE DISCUSS:[01:15] - The importance of phased approaches for successful implementations[03:06] - Starting with legal or procurement in implementing contract management solutions[03:22] The importance of finding the right starting point for implementing contract management solutions[04:53] - The role of consultants in the pre-implementation process and the need for well-defined processes[05:38] - Recommendations for organizations to ensure effective monitoring and management of their contracts[06:56] - AI and its impact on contract management[08:44] - Laura Frederick's recent event and her work as the founder of “How to Contract”[09:51] - Commercial lawyers’ frequently asked questions regarding CLM[11:01] - Strategies to reverse the over-contracting trend[11:35] - The importance of training for effective contract negotiation skills[13:34] - Automation of contract negotiations and the need for human decision-making in complex contracts[19:43] - Debbie’s background and involvement in CLM implementation while at Western Union[20:52] - The CLM vendor selection process[22:07] - Debbie’s challenges with the current tool[25:08] - The importance of building playbooks and understanding client needs NOTABLE QUOTES:[00:01:19] - “The idea of getting all your stakeholders aligned at the same time and trying to roll out one solution and saying, hey, this is going to be good for everyone is honestly a bit unrealistic. You're never going to have everyone on the same page.” - Mary  [00:01:44] - “Change management is hard. This is something that affects so many parts of the company. So, instead of trying, I think to get everyone aligned and to spend a year doing stakeholder alignment, the requirements gathering change management process is to just start small.” - Mary[00:16:24] - “If you can, train the people who are doing the contracts and negotiate them on those real risks, not the academic risk, but what is this company with these products and services? What do we really worry about then that's going to be such an important step towards enablement and getting to shorter contracts?” - LauraUSEFUL RESOURCES & LINKS:Ironclad WebsiteMary O'Carroll on LinkedInLaura Frederick on LinkedInHow to Contract Website