Introduction to contract management

A one-day workshop

This very practical one-day IACCM-approved programme enables participants to manage the process of commercial contracting and contract management effectively and efficiently to ensure value for money, improved service, and appropriate relationships. It covers a wide range of contract types in terms of risk and value. The programme empowers participants with the tools and techniques needed to collaborate with all key stakeholders.

Learning objectives

By the end of the programme participants will be able to:

  • Understand the total process of managing contracts
  • Exploit opportunities to extract even more added value
  • Develop appropriate relationships with contractors
  • Understand and use a range of contracting strategies and options
  • Measure and improve contract performance
  • Understand the impact of legislation on contract performance

Who should attend?

This course is designed for those who have direct or indirect responsibility for the effective management and development of commercial contracts and contractors. This could include end-users, technical experts, proponents, project managers, finance, internal customers, and other key stakeholders who need to collaborate with procurement and contracting to develop robust and effective contract management systems and templates.

Those seeking a refresher in this subject, to consolidate existing experience and knowledge, would also benefit.

Format

This one-day programme can also be delivered virtually.

The expert trainer adopts a proactive, participative, and participant-centred approach with emphasis on the practical application of the tools, techniques and templates discussed. The learning needs to be embedded into the fabric of the organisation and the trainer uses context-based case studies and other tasks to achieve this.

Special features

The content of this course has been cross-mapped with CIPS/ISM/IACCM competency frameworks and other relevant international standards.

Certificates of attendance are provided on request (for CPD purposes: the programme qualifies for six hours, which for most professional bodies translates as six points).

The majority of the training we deliver is either tailored or completely bespoke. This workshop can therefore be delivered entirely as advertised, or it can be tailored to your particular requirements, or we can simply take it as a starting point for a conversation with you before we draft a completely bespoke programme for you – the choice is yours.

Expert trainer

Dr Ray Carter runs his own international training and development consultancy, specialising in procurement. A prolific author, his fourth book, Practical Contract Management, with Steve Kirby and Alan Oxenbury, was published in 2012. He has also had numerous articles and papers published in journals such as Supply Management and the Centre for Advanced Procurement’s Praxis publication. Ray is Chairman of the Procurement Best Practice Forum, which is made up of many large blue-chip organisations, the purpose of which is to identify and disseminate supply chain management best practices. Ray’s now famous ‘10 Cs’ of supplier evaluation model, first published in 1995, has become an accepted model for the evaluation of suppliers and contractors and has been adopted by many organisations. It is also part of the CIPS level 4 syllabus.

In recent years, he has undertaken training and consultancy assignments across the UK and around the world for organisations such as DWP, NHS, Shell, Lucas Engineering and Systems, the Chartered Institute of Purchasing and Supply, BRC, Nederlandse Aardolie Maatschappijn BV, Abu Dhabi Company for Onshore Oil Operations (ZADCO), NDC, Ericsson, British Aerospace, Marconi, BBC, Magnox, Ordnance Survey, Chevron, Caspian Pipeline Consortium, Tengzichevroil Company, Coca-Cola, Shell International BV, IMechE, African Development Bank, United Healthcare, MLM, SEPA, Yorkshire Water, East Lothian Council, Medway Council, National Grid, City of Bradford MDC, etc.

1 Welcome

  • Introductions
  • Aims and objectives
  • Plan for the day

2 Contract management

  • An overview of the contracting process, mapping the ‘territory’

3 Contract managers

  • Skills
  • Knowledge
  • Attributes
  • Responsibilities

4 Critical success factors

  • Defining successful outcomes
  • Effective stakeholder engagement
  • Creating a shared vision of the outcomes

5 Placing contracts

  • How to develop an effective specification and scope of work documents
  • How to develop a robust contracting strategy
  • Appropriate types of contract

6 Customers and stakeholders

  • Customer and stakeholder analysis
  • Managing expectations and the ‘shared vision’ concept to ensure customer co-operation, satisfaction, and delight

7 Working with suppliers

  • Creating and developing commercial relationships
  • Types of relationship
  • How to manage difficult relationships
  • Contractor motivational issues
  • How to use incentives

8 Negotiation and related skills

  • Introduction to key negotiation skills
  • Persuading and influencing skills to work with stakeholders to improve outcomes for all

9 Dealing with change

  • Claims and variations
  • How to challenge contractor claims and requests for variations by making use of contractual terms
  • Specifications to prevent false claims

10 Performance improvement

  • How to measure and improve contractor performance
  • Developing KPI systems
  • Using contractual terms and conditions and basic legal principles

11 Contract close

  • The importance of effective contract close processes

12 Close

  • Review of key learning points
  • Personal action planning

Any questions? Please just give us a call on 01582 463463 – we’re here to help!