In our pursuit of accomplishing more in today’s society, it’s essential to optimize our time, resources, and work efficiency. But where do we begin? While personal productivity is often emphasized through strategies like enjoying what you do, taking breaks, establishing a work rhythm, and setting priorities, we must also address the inefficiencies that arise from essential tasks such as contract management at an organizational level.
Contract management is an essential and time-consuming task that is prone to errors, yet crucial for ensuring the smooth operations of every industry and organization. Specifically, there are three common tasks that, when managed effectively, can significantly boost productivity: accessing relevant information, collaborating on information, and analyzing information.
Access to Relevant Information
As per VentureBeat, “The average employee spends 3.6 hours daily searching for information — an increase of one hour more from last year’s report. IT employees spend half their day (4.2 hours) looking for relevant information.” [1]
“The average legal department lawyer spends up to 40% of their time working on tasks that don’t even require a lawyer’s expertise — and this includes a lot of contract work that could be handled (or prevented) with contract management software.” [2]
The inefficiencies surrounding access to relevant information can significantly hamper productivity. Misplaced physical documents or poorly organized electronic files can lead to time-consuming searches, delaying critical decision-making processes. Contract document management software addresses these issues by providing a centralized repository where all documents and information are stored and easily accessible.
Equipped with OCR (Optical Character Recognition) capabilities are scanned and converted into digital text, eliminating the risk of misplacement and enabling efficient searching. The software securely stores and indexes these electronic documents, making them readily searchable based on keywords, metadata, or specific criteria. Users can now retrieve the necessary information within seconds, saving valuable time that would otherwise be wasted on searching through stacks of paper or navigating complex file systems.
Advanced search functionalities and filters, empowered by OCR, allow users to pinpoint specific clauses, terms, or data points within documents. This eliminates the need to spend hours reading through entire documents to locate the required information. OCR technology accurately recognizes and extracts text from scanned documents, making it possible to quickly search for specific words or phrases, even within complex contractual language. By efficiently accessing relevant information, businesses can save valuable time, make informed decisions faster, and redirect their efforts towards more profitable activities.
Streamlining Information Collaboration
Traditional document collaboration methods often involve physical copies, manual signatures, and time-consuming exchanges between stakeholders. These processes introduce delays, logistical challenges, and the risk of errors or unauthorized access. Contract document management software revolutionizes collaboration by offering secure, cloud-based platforms that facilitate real-time collaboration and document sharing.
Using the software, teams can collaborate seamlessly on documents regardless of their geographical location. Different departments within an organization can securely share and collaborate on documents within the system, eliminating the need for physical delivery or face-to-face meetings. External parties, such as partners or clients, can also be granted controlled access to specific documents, ensuring efficient collaboration without compromising data security.
The software enables features like tracked changes, version control, and commenting, allowing stakeholders to easily review and provide feedback on documents. With real-time updates and notifications, users can stay informed about changes made by others, ensuring everyone is working with the latest version. Additionally, electronic signature capabilities streamline the approval process, eliminating the need for physical signatures and expediting agreement finalization. By facilitating efficient collaboration, contract document management software minimizes delays and enables smooth workflows, leading to increased productivity.
Analyzing Information
Analyzing vast amounts of data and extracting meaningful insights can be a time-consuming and error-prone task. Traditional methods often involve manual data gathering, spreadsheet manipulation, and complex calculations, leading to inefficiencies and potential mistakes. Contract document management software simplifies and accelerates the data analysis process, enabling businesses to derive valuable insights more efficiently.
The software offers robust reporting and data visualization features that allow users to generate comprehensive reports based on specific criteria or filters. Instead of spending days or weeks manually compiling data, users can select the desired parameters and generate reports in minutes. These reports provide valuable insights into contract performance, financial metrics, compliance status, and more.
Notifications and reminders within the software help users stay on top of critical dates, such as contract terminations or renewals, preventing oversights and potential financial losses. By centralizing and automating data analysis tasks, contract document management software reduces the time and effort required to gather and interpret information, enabling businesses to make data-driven decisions faster.
In industries such as healthcare, where regulatory requirements for safeguarding patient healthcare information are stringent, an AI powered cloud based SAAS solution like AffableBPM provides an efficient and more productive option for managing contracts digitally. According to Black Book Market Research, “Healthcare providers in the U.S. spend $157 billion each year to manually manage their contracts. That’s because 96% of healthcare providers have not yet automated their contract management.” [3] It’s estimated that healthcare organizations can save the equivalent of 2% of their total annual costs by automating their contract management. [4]. AffableBPM, built on the Microsoft Azure platform, not only guarantees secure storage and handling of sensitive data but also optimizes and improves back-office contract management operations. By automating workflows, controlling access to relevant information, and taking proactive measures to ensure compliance with HIPAA regulations, AffableBPM streamlines and enhances the efficiency of contract management processes.
In summary, contract document management software provides a centralized platform for document storage and retrieval, streamlines collaboration through real-time collaboration features and electronic signatures, and simplifies data analysis with comprehensive reporting capabilities. By leveraging these software solutions, businesses can enhance productivity, save time, and allocate resources more effectively.
[1] https://venturebeat.com/business/report-employees-spend-3-6-hours-each-day-searching-for-info-increasing-burnout/
[2] https://www.contractsafe.com/blog/calculate-roi-contract-management-software
[3] https://www.contractlogix.com/contract-management/contract-management-system-in-healthcare/
[4] https://www.contractlogix.com/contract-management/contract-management-system-in-healthcare/
