The roles of contract managers are increasingly complex, requiring a broad knowledge of legal contracting issues, familiarity with standard contracts of numerous professions/organizations and purchasing and pricing strategies. Significant skills in negotiations, leadership and teamwork skills are also necessary.

Contract management is frequently assigned to project managers responsible for managing the technical work, without providing the training, skills or tools required for effective contract management. Delegation to contract specialists, often supported with well-designed protocols and forms, is a successful strategy to improve overall contract management results.

One area of contract management that is often overlooked is Change Management. Planning for, identifying and managing change allows greater control over final project cost. Change management requires a system for recognizing potential change events, analyzing the potential impact and then, if recognized as a change event, negotiating contract modifications to work, budget and schedule.

Most contract managers possess the technical skills required for contract management, but often lack the soft skills that allow projects to proceed smoothly. Processes and systems can substitute for the lack of soft skills, but take time to develop and implement. See our Tools page for sample change management tools utilized on a municipal contract.

Contract Management is often blended with contract administration duties. For more cost-effective management, the non-discretionary or factual portions of contract administration, such as documenting project work, schedule or budget, implementing contract notice requirements, or tracking requests through approval, should be allocated to a contract administrator. See our Contract Administration page for a description of practical, cost-effective implementation of administrative duties.

Contract management begins at the earliest phases of a project. CSG offers consulting at all project phases- selection of appropriate project delivery method, teaming and strategic positioning during selection, contract review and negotiations, teaming and partnering sessions during performance, contract administration, change management and claims review.

Contract Solutions Group offers training, consulting and tools for change management techniques that aid in early identification, analysis and negotiations of change events.