#processimprovements

There's an old saying that anything worth doing is worth doing right. An NDA is a proactive document for protecting your business. How the receiving party views your terms and conditions can differ, so be prepared for roadblocks. Business partnerships are rarely smooth sailing. Everyone has something to protect for the best interests of their business. Learn the fundamentals of building a strong NDA management process for your business with our guide. Here are three tips for streamlining NDA requirements so they don’t slow down your business goals:

1. Secure Electronic Signatures with In-Platform Integration

Generally, nothing is legally binding if it isn't signed. Your NDA may involve complex details if your project or partnership involves a major project.  NDA requirements are legally binding, and hesitancy to sign due to the specific language can delay your project from getting off the ground. But don’t skip over the process. Collecting the right signatures, in the right places, is what validates the contract.  Anyone who comes in contact with your company's confidential information should sign an NDA. This requires a close look internally at those among your staff who may work on projects involving sensitive information. But don't expect all employees to suddenly jump on board with your terms.  It is typical human nature to want your employer to trust the work that you do. Educating and communicating with your employees about the reasons behind the need for their signature can help place them at ease. A disgruntled employee can pose a real threat to your company's private information. When an employee takes confidential information to a competitor after signing an NDA, they are in breach of contract. Enforcing the penalties of a breach is important for holding them accountable for their actions and the harm caused by the breach.  Built-in DocuSign features like those found in ContraxAware allow you to send and sign contracts using eSignature. This is a key factor in streamlining NDA requirements. Automatic reminders help you to track the process of signatures for your NDA. Remember, an NDA is a legal document. Overlooking a missed signature can derail your project and leave you at risk for the loss of confidential information. 

2. Use Templates to Speed Up the Process

All your employees are busy. Your legal counsel, especially, has enough to do without constant emails asking them to review NDAs. Built-in templates are invaluable for preventing a backlog of emails and a build-up of employee stress.  The terms and conditions of your NDA may vary while the penalties often remain the same. Templates provide the legal framework for your NDA and allow for a more straightforward review by your legal team. While your legal counsel remains an active and important component of your company contracts, easing their load with a collaborative tool is a more efficient use of their time. 

3. Never Underestimate the Importance of a Review Checklist

Contracts of any type require careful review. There is always something that can show up later, a missed detail that is small yet dangerous. A review checklist can provide the protection you need to ensure nothing is left out of your NDA. A review checklist is simply a series of checks and balances that protect your NDA from experiencing roadblocks. Also, a standard review process becomes much easier using a contract management system like ContraxAware. Streamlining NDA requirements always goes faster with standard practices and robust software. Some NDAs may require special considerations. For example, if a particular business deal is extremely important to your company's growth, you may want to consider the potential for pushback. Reviewing certain NDA points and deciding if they are negotiable is important before moving forward.

About ContraxAware

There's no one size fits all when it comes to NDAs. While there are two standard types of NDAs, finding the right one for your company's needs is easier than you think. From document creation to delivering the final product for signatures, contract management software can help streamline the NDA process. Our helpful NDA management system guide can get you started. But it’s also important to know about different types of NDAs in the first place. No matter the intended goal of your project or partnership, using the right NDA is essential for a successful outcome. 

Two Types of NDAs

When it comes to NDAs, there are two standard types used in most business partnerships: unilateral and mutual. Both are adaptable to the specific needs of your company.  Unilateral NDAs: A unilateral NDA refers to an agreement submitted by one of the parties for another party to sign and accept. It protects the private information of one company by legally binding the other company to its terms and conditions. Mutual NDAs: A mutual NDA is just as it sounds, with private information shared by both parties. Each company plans to share confidential data that, if leaked, could cause harm to their business. A mutual NDA protects the best interests of everyone involved in order to move the business relationship to the next level.  Deciding which of the types of NDA you need depends upon several factors. The good news is there is no need to reinvent the wheel each time you need a new NDA. Contract management software like ContraxAware comes with built-in templates that make the process easy. Not only do they save you time, but they also help improve workflow across departments. Say goodbye to multiple files and hello to easy access for your contracts, legal counsel, and IT departments. 

When to Use an NDA

An NDA contract is valuable when you enter into a contract with someone outside your company. Large companies are quite familiar with both types of NDAs. But smaller start-ups might still be in the learning curve of what they are why they need them.  Sharing confidential information with a vendor or an independent contractor is risky. It can even be risky with your own employees. An NDA is a proactive document that establishes trust in the partnership. Your vendor or an independent contractor may cross paths with your competition at some point. The smallest slip of information on their part can greatly impact your business.  You may only need a unilateral NDA if you’re sharing information with an auditing or independent testing agency. You’re sharing business information, but the other side isn’t. However, it’s far more common to see mutual NDAs: both sides are pulling back the curtain, so both sides need protection. NDAs are especially helpful when the partnership involves money. Whether you want to seek investors or want to sell your business, the financial information you share requires an NDA. Without one, you risk the loss of confidential information that may impact the outcome of your initial goal in a very negative way.  One of the most important components of an NDA is that of employees — both in your company and in the other company. Requiring those involved with your project to sign an NDA may offend some. They may feel you suspect they will steal your idea. By addressing the issue from the standpoint of due diligence and good governance, most business professionals will understand, appreciate, and sign your NDA.

How to Create Better Process Workflows

NDA contract management shouldn't consume employee time. Employees dedicated to contract management as part of their duties can easily become overwhelmed. Juggling multiple contracts places everyone at risk for dropping an important ball at some point. Dropped balls containing confidential information can spell disaster for your business.  In a perfect business world, all departments work in harmony to deliver both types of NDAs in a timely manner. Today's busy business world is anything but perfect, however, and that's where contract management software can help.  ContraxAware is the ultimate collaborative tool when it comes to important contracts. From the beginning of an NDA document to the final stages, all team members involved in the project can contribute in an efficient way. 

About ContraxAware

NDA documents are among some of your most important contracts. Managing multiple NDAs can overwhelm even the most seasoned professional. The details of what they contain can vary depending upon their purpose, requiring a balancing act among different staff. First, take a look at our guide to creating a comprehensive NDA management system that utilizes the best aspects of our software. Then follow this quick guide to make sure your NDA management process can make your business grow. Creating an NDA management process that benefits your organization is less stressful and more transparent with the right software system. 

Utilize Existing Data Better

You most likely have a system in place that contains important data. Oftentimes, it is systems, plural, due to the varying projects and partnerships. Scattered information across different formats is dangerous for several reasons, such as: Details are easily missed by the right people, like legal counsel.One or more systems can crash, leaving part of your information lost, possibly forever.Employee turnover forces the movement of files from one system to another. A data migration specialist can transform your chaos into a new system that better streamlines your NDA management process. Migrating your spreadsheets into a contract software system like that of ContraxAware is possible with minimum guidance. Once you discover the ease of having your data in one place, you can spend more time building your company instead of protecting it.

Create Proactive Documents

Once you've built a successful business, you want to protect it. All it takes is one disgruntled employee or vendor to wreck what it took years to create. An NDA agreement is a proactive approach to protecting the confidential information that contributes to your success.  The leadership team of ContraxAware brings more than 30 years of business law experience to the table. That experience, along with more than 30 years of software development experience, results in templates that your legal counsel can appreciate. Finding the right template for a particular partnership or project is easy using the built-in database in ContraxAware. Simply add the terms and conditions, include the duration of the agreement, as well as the consequences for violating the agreement.  Specifying these key pieces of information is vital to a proactive approach now, rather than a reactive approach later. 

Collaborate

The Merriam-Webster Dictionary defines collaboration as, "to work jointly with others or together, especially in an intellectual endeavor."  Strong collaboration is essential across several departments when it comes to your NDAs.  Having one source for your various departments to access, review, revise, and document important contracts saves enormous amounts of time. A contract management system streamlines your NDA process so that everyone involved is working literally off the same page.  Collaboration reaches beyond your legal counsel, development team, and others within your company. Never overlook the value of your IT department when it comes to involvement with your contract management software. Their support is invaluable when you need it the most. 

Launch

Once your NDA agreement is ready to send to the appropriate contacts, you launch it and await their response. Their reply is where ContraxAware can take your contract process a step further with alerts and reminders. A business contract has little value without a signature. Many NDA agreements require a signature in more than one location throughout the document. ContraxAware can alert you to incomplete information from the vendor or potential partner. It can also remind you of contracts that are about to expire or that are up for renewal. ContraxAware has your back when it comes to details you may overlook so that you never let a contract lapse again. 

About ContraxAware

With the fresh start of a new year, you may be taking the opportunity to evaluate many of the processes you use in your business on a daily basis — including your contract management. Do you have a clear view of how your contract management system works? What about how you're ensuring that your contracts meet your goals? Also, do you know what problems exist with your contract management software and how to fix them? Try these steps to get a better look at your contract management in 2020 and how it impacts your business.

1. Consider Your Current Requirements

As you evaluate your contract management processes, start by considering your current contract management requirements. If you already have contract management software in place, consider how well you're utilizing it — and if it’s a good fit for the new year. As your business grows and changes, your contract management needs may change along with it. For example, a filing system works fine when you need only handle a few dozen contracts a year. But that will change drastically when you suddenly need to deal with hundreds. Consider your current requirements for contract management as you move into 2020. This is a great time to evaluate the overall health of your contract management system — a process you should undertake regularly. Ask: How many users does your contract management software need to support?  As your business grows, your staff grows with it. So you may also need to increase the number of people who can access your contract management solutions. You may also need to change how you grant permissions and access since you may have a more diverse group of people accessing your contracts.  Are your current processes for contract management in 2020 working for everyone who uses them?  Connect with each department that uses your contract management software, from the sales and negotiation team that puts together your contracts to the team that ensures compliance and execution of the contracts. Take a look at your contract approval process. Make sure that the system works effectively for every member of the team, and consider what changes you might need to make if it doesn't.  Once you've taken a hard look at your real needs, you can better determine whether your existing contract management solutions are meeting those needs. You can also see where you may need to make changes as you move into the new year. If you're not sure exactly what you need, consider the criteria for an ideal contract management system and how having that system can help improve your ability to manage your contracts, free up your employees' time, and ensure customer satisfaction. 

2. Evaluate Your Contract Management from the Customer's or Vendor's Perspective

Effective contract management solutions don't just work for your company. They also work for your customers and vendors. There are several common problems that many customers have with visibility into specific contract management processes as well as the contract management process as a whole. Take a look at how your customers may view the system. You can even create a false account that will allow you to move through the contract process as a customer, so walk through the whole process. Consider: How long does it take for you to approve contracts on your end?  The longer it takes to approve your contracts, the harder it may be on your customers. While you want to be sure that you create rock-solid contracts that cover both your needs and your customers', you also want to streamline the contract approval process as much as possible. An automatic contract scoring process and contract templates can both help streamline the contract approval process, improving overall customer satisfaction with the process.  How do customers view the contract?  Do you have an effective file-sharing system that will allow customers to view contracts as easily as you can? That may not be enough. It also needs to integrate with the programs that your customers are already using. How do customers interact with the contracts?  Many customers prefer to complete as many tasks as they can virtually. It's more convenient, and it allows them to easily share documents or permissions with the correct individuals at their workplace. If your contract management in 2020 doesn't allow for online viewing, storage, and signing of contracts, including requesting alterations when needed, you may be adding steps to the process that frustrate and slow down your customers. Great customer experience is paramount, both when it comes to your customer service and to your contract management processes. By evaluating your contract management needs from your customers' perspective, you can streamline your processes to deliver a better experience for all your customers. 

3. Evaluate and Solve Problems with Your Current Contract Management System

It's easy to assume that contract management is something that just happens for your business. You've taken the time to put together the contracts, and the process moves smoothly enough. In order to make your contract management processes more effective and gain more insight into those processes in the coming year, however, take the time to evaluate and solve problems with your contract management system. Consider: Who can access contracts?  Ideally, you want a contract management system that allows access to all the individuals who might need access to it, but that closes down access to people who don't need to access contracts at any given moment. A cloud contract management system, for example, may make it easier for all members of your team to access necessary contracts wherever they go. At the same time, you want a secure platform that will allow you to assign user permissions based on the specific role the user fills.  Do you have a high level of security in place?  The more private customer information you have in your contracts, the more you may need to make sure that you provide a high level of security for all your users. Secure contract management in 2020 can help prevent the theft of customer data, preventing your business from facing costly fines and fees. Without adequate cybersecurity standards, on the other hand, your contract management system could create a number of problems for your business. Are you able to maintain a high level of visibility throughout the contract cycle?  Many businesses struggle with contract visibility throughout the cycle. You may not maintain full awareness of your contracts, including important compliance requirements, renewal dates, and more. If you don't have that high level of visibility, it could pose significant problems for your contract execution.  Is your team mistakenly using the wrong contracts?  Over time, the needs of your business change. You may need to add more details to your contracts because legal requirements in your industry have changed. Alternatively, you might find yourself needing to alter your existing contracts to accommodate changes in customer needs. If you have outdated templates in your contract management system, now is the time to remove or update those contracts to ensure a more successful contract creation and approval process for 2020.  Is your current contract management system allowing you to accept an excessive amount of risk?  Effective contract management in 2020 should score the risks associated with each of your contracts, preventing you from mistakenly accepting too much risk when you take on a new contract. Whether working with your vendors or your customers, you want to protect your business at every step in the process.  Does your contract management system work effectively, with minimal intervention?  Technology is a wonderful thing. Cloud-based contract management software makes it easier than ever to keep up with your important contracts and track their implementation. If that technology poses more difficulties than usefulness, however, it can leave you struggling. Choosing a proprietary contract management system — rather than an open-source one — is a solid investment. Proprietary software can go a long way toward helping you combat any problems with your contract management in 2020 by providing access to tech support.  Identify potentially invisible problems. In many cases, you may not clearly notice problems with your contract management software or processes. You may assume that everything is moving smoothly. But, in reality, there are small problems that could prevent you from negotiating, approving, and executing contracts as effectively as possible. Identify the potentially invisible problems in your contract management system, including: Contracts that fall through the cracks. Both vendor contracts and customer contracts should remain highly visible. Initiate reminders that let you know when a deadline is approaching or the contract has sat for too long. Then contracts will stop disappearing from your radar.Employees who struggle to use the system effectively. You may have employees who don't know how to use your system or who aren't taking advantage of its features. They’ll substitute with manual steps, which may make you may miss out on important goals and deadlines. Contracts slipping through the approval process with too-high risks. Each year, you need to reevaluate your risk-scoring system to ensure that you don't approve contracts that carry too high a risk for your company.

4. Implement an Effective Training Program

If your employees are going to make the most of your contract management in 2020, they need to know how to use it. Poor user training can turn even the best workflows and software into dead weight. With good training, on the other hand, you can take advantage of all the features offered by your contract management program. You can also make sure that all of your employees can access the data they need. This may include: Allowing your sales team to access contract templates.Letting negotiators know the details that go into scoring your contracts.Providing your employees with access to exactly the information they need.  This year: Evaluate what your employees already know.  Talk with each team that will take part in your company’s contract management in 2020. Also, consider whether those team members are using it to full advantage. Do they know what features the contract management software offers for each type of contract? Do they know how to effectively utilize your existing software? Start with a full evaluation of how your employees are currently using that software and where they could use improvements. Ask them where they're struggling. If you do not have a staff member who can answer those questions, contact technical support to ask.  Institute regular training. If you notice that your employees are struggling to use the software and workflows that back you contract management in 2020, catch it early. Institute a training program that will help give them a better idea of all its features and how it works. An employee who understands the basics might need more assistance, for example, to better understand effective contract scoring. You may also want to design a training program or protocol for new employees or for employees who move into new positions. 

5. Check for Any Holdups in Your System