Contract playbooks streamline and standardize the contracting process, providing in-house counsel with the tools to manage contracts efficiently, reduce legal risks, and expedite review and approval. Brian Chase, GC of ServiceChannel, Ariana Goodell, Senior Counsel, Privacy & Policy at Verkada, and Kathy Zhu, CEO and GC of Streamline AI, shared tested, practical recommendations for developing and maintaining a best-in-class contracting playbook.
Key takeaways from the conversation:
- The critical role of a contract playbook. A contract playbook is essential for legal teams handling large volumes of contracts or complex, high-risk agreements, as it ensures consistency and efficiency across the team. To start creating a playbook, assess your current contract priorities, understand the contract workflow, and identify the most frequently negotiated terms. Identify the most contentious terms in your contracts, develop fallback positions, and include these alternatives in the playbook.
- Initiate playbooks early in the process. Developing a playbook early, even with a small legal team, is crucial for managing contracts effectively as your organization scales. Brian shared that at a former company, he was a bit late in creating a playbook, and by the time he got around to it, the high volume of contracts made it a struggle. When he joined his new company, creating a playbook was one of his first priorities, ensuring that when higher volumes hit, there was already something in place.
- Empower the legal team. Playbooks guide and empower legal team members to make informed decisions independently, enhancing their confidence and efficiency. Involve your team in creating and updating the playbook, encourage them to use it as a resource for independent decision-making, and provide regular training to help them apply it effectively in their work. The playbook can be a powerful resource that allows legal teams to make strategic decisions rather than getting bogged down in tactical negotiations.
- Cross-departmental collaboration. Effective contract management requires collaboration with sales, finance, and IT departments. Brian emphasized the importance of involving these teams early: “We cannot be the legal silo. We can't be referring to our co-workers as clients and cutting off the emotional connection with them. We need to involve everybody because ultimately, the contract at the end is going to involve the sales team.” Positioning the playbook as a tool that mitigates risk and accelerates deal closures can help secure buy-in from other departments and executives. To ensure all stakeholders are aligned, map out your contract approval process, identify bottlenecks, and establish clear escalation paths with defined responsibilities and turnaround times. This ensures that contracts move smoothly through the cross-functional process.
- Design for usability. Design matters and helps incentivize usage. A well-designed playbook that uses color coding, bullet points, and clear formatting is more likely to be used effectively by the team. Having a third-party paper playbook with color-coded risk levels makes it easy to prioritize what to fight for in negotiations. In contrast, a long, text-heavy playbook can lead to key areas being overlooked, no matter how well-intentioned. Review your playbook’s layout, simplify content with visual aids and concise formatting, and consider using tools like spreadsheets to organize key terms, making it a tool your team will consistently reference.
- Effective rollout of the playbook. Rolling out a playbook involves more than just sharing a document; it requires educating your team on how to integrate the playbook into daily workflows. Ariana integrated MSA training into sales onboarding, which helped the sales team understand the legal team’s world and build trust between the teams. Develop a comprehensive training program that introduces the playbook to new hires and provides ongoing refreshers for existing team members, ensuring consistent application and fostering cross-departmental understanding.
- Regular updates and continuous improvement. A playbook is a living document that needs regular updates to stay relevant and useful. Establish a schedule for reviewing and updating the playbook and involve team members in contributing updates based on recent experiences and legal changes to align it with your company’s evolving needs. At a minimum, a playbook should be updated annually. Ariana shared that every time the legal team onboards a new team member, they contribute to updating the playbook, which brings fresh perspectives and keeps the playbook current.
- Leverage technology for efficiency. Tools like Streamline AI can intelligently automate aspects of contract triage and review, reducing the time spent on manual review or routing for the right approval. Brian highlighted that using tools that automate the flagging of critical terms can catch blind spots and ensure nothing important is missed, especially in high-volume scenarios.
Watch the session:
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