Episode 09: Triple O Productivity for your contract process - How to make your contracting process more productive

On this episode, we do a ‘why’ oveview of contract process mapping. We lay out the broad way to use Triple O Prodcutivity™ to improve your contract process productivity. The next episode delves deeper into the ‘how’ of contract process mapping.

• Why you have to get your contract process in sync with your contract document
• An example of an out of sync, slow process and how process mapping fixed it.
• Why a visual map of a process is so important

*Key Takeaways*
For a contract to operate at optimum productivity, all the users of a contract must row together with complete trust in each other, the contract document and the contract process. Ask the 3 key contract process Triple O Productivity questions….
1. Obliterate: Do we need this step in the process? Can we do something else so this step isn’t needed?
2. Optimise: Now we are left with only the necessary process steps, is there a way to make every step in the contract process smooth, simple and speedy?
3. Outsource: What parts of the contract process are best completed by…
• a Robot Minion?
• a Contract Owner Minion?
• a Customer Minion?
• a Minion Minion?
• Me?

*Actionable Challenge*
Consider a contract process you find frustrating or slow or annoying and instead of getting frustrated, get curious and make three lists… 

Approvals – Make a list of all the different approvals in that contract… when you have all the names and departments of every “approver”, you can then ask them what they “approve”… what are their concerns they are looking for in the contract…
Thresholds – Once you know the approvers & what they are looking for, you can develop a list of thresholds next to each approver… is there a certain level of risk they are concerned about? Are they just wanting to make sure everything is standard? Ask them what (if any) level of risk or value would mean their approval isn’t needed… ask them what areas they are concerned about and add this to the list.
Knowledge management and upskilling – With an understanding of who the approvers are, their current concerns and thresholds for needing to approve or not, you can then provide clear advice about the different options available at different levels… once they have your advice and understand the process themselves, they might not want or need to approve any more or perhaps their approval will take minutes, not days.

LINKS
Sarah McCoubrey, ‘Can plain language change our approach to conflict’ (November 2016) Presented at Clarity2016, Wellington, New Zealand. Retrieved via clarity2016.org/can-plain-language-change-our-approach-to-conflict, accessed 7 June 2017. 

‘Lawyers should be enterprise architects’ - George Dent, ‘Business Lawyers as Enterprise Architects’ (2009). 64 The Business Lawyer 279 (2009); Case Legal Studies Research Paper No. 08-25. Available at SSRN: ssrn.com/abstract=1264063 

‘Contracts and Legal staff are good at fixing problems. However, this ignores the point that many of those problems could have been avoided.’ IACCM, ‘Top Negotiated Terms 2015: No News Is Bad News’ (21 January 2016) iaccm.com/resources/?id=9105&login&welcome# , accessed 10 June 2017.

DocuSign: https://refer.docusign.com/s/verity 

Australian Story, ‘She's Not There’ (14 July 2008) Retrieved via abc.net.au/austory/content/2007/s2304453.htm, accessed 9 May 2017.
Head to https://www.checklistlegal.com/podcast for show notes, resources links, and templates.
Music: 'Sway this way' by @SilentPartner

Episode 09: Triple O Productivity for your contract process - How to make your contracting process more productive On this episode, we do a &lsquo;why&rsquo; oveview of contract process mapping. We lay out the broad way to use Triple O Prodcutivity&trade; to improve your contract process productivity. The next episode delves deeper into the &lsquo;how&rsquo; of contract process mapping. &bull; Why you have to get your contract process in sync with your contract document &bull; An example of an out of sync, slow process and how process mapping fixed it. &bull; Why a visual map of a process is so important *Key Takeaways* For a contract to operate at optimum productivity, all the users of a contract must row together with complete trust in each other, the contract document and the contract process. Ask the 3 key contract process Triple O Productivity questions&hellip;. 1. Obliterate: Do we need this step in the process? Can we do something else so this step isn&rsquo;t needed? 2. Optimise: Now we are left with only the necessary process steps, is there a way to make every step in the contract process smooth, simple and speedy? 3. Outsource: What parts of the contract process are best completed by&hellip; &bull; a Robot Minion? &bull; a Contract Owner Minion? &bull; a Customer Minion? &bull; a Minion Minion? &bull; Me? *Actionable Challenge* Consider a contract process you find frustrating or slow or annoying and instead of getting frustrated, get curious and make three lists&hellip; Approvals &ndash; Make a list of all the different approvals in that contract&hellip; when you have all the names and departments of every &ldquo;approver&rdquo;, you can then ask them what they &ldquo;approve&rdquo;&hellip; what are their concerns they are looking for in the contract&hellip; Thresholds &ndash; Once you know the approvers &amp; what they are looking for, you can develop a list of thresholds next to each approver&hellip; is there a certain level of risk they are concerned about? Are they just wanting to make sure everything is standard? Ask them what (if any) level of risk or value would mean their approval isn&rsquo;t needed&hellip; ask them what areas they are concerned about and add this to the list. Knowledge management and upskilling &ndash; With an understanding of who the approvers are, their current concerns and thresholds for needing to approve or not, you can then provide clear advice about the different options available at different levels&hellip; once they have your advice and understand the process themselves, they might not want or need to approve any more or perhaps their approval will take minutes, not days. LINKS Sarah McCoubrey, &lsquo;Can plain language change our approach to conflict&rsquo; (November 2016) Presented at Clarity2016, Wellington, New Zealand. Retrieved via clarity2016.org/can-plain-language-change-our-approach-to-conflict, accessed 7 June 2017. &lsquo;Lawyers should be enterprise architects&rsquo; - George Dent, &lsquo;Business Lawyers as Enterprise Architects&rsquo; (2009). 64 The Business Lawyer 279 (2009); Case Legal Studies Research Paper No. 08-25. Available at SSRN: ssrn.com/abstract=1264063 &lsquo;Contracts and Legal staff are good at fixing problems. However, this ignores the point that many of those problems could have been avoided.&rsquo; IACCM, &lsquo;Top Negotiated Terms 2015: No News Is Bad News&rsquo; (21 January 2016) iaccm.com/resources/?id=9105&amp;login&amp;welcome# , accessed 10 June 2017. DocuSign: https://refer.docusign.com/s/verity Australian Story, &lsquo;She's Not There&rsquo; (14 July 2008) Retrieved via abc.net.au/austory/content/2007/s2304453.htm, accessed 9 May 2017. Head to https://www.checklistlegal.com/podcast for show notes, resources links, and templates. Music: 'Sway this way' by @SilentPartner

Legal Lightbulbs: Bright Ideas to Power Small Legal Teams is the podcast for in-house legal professionals who want to make a big impact with a small team. 

Your host Verity White is an award-winning lawyer, Accredited Specialist in Commercial Law, a legal transformation expert, and Legal Director at Checklist Legal. 

Verity is the lucky lawyer who gets to talk to some of the sharpest minds in the inhouse legal world and shine a light on the clever ways small legal teams inside beloved brands and global companies are transforming how they work. 

Legal Lightbulbs is your go-to source for practical strategies, inspiring stories, and actionable insights to help legal legends like you lighten your legal load, lead with confidence, and spark meaningful change. 

We'll have trailblazing guests who’ve scaled legal influence without scaling headcount and solo episodes direct from Verity’s brain with bite-sized, practical tips you can use today. 

Whether you’re a sole legal counsel juggling a million tasks or leading a lean team looking to level up, Legal Lightbulbs is here for you to spark ideas and (if it's not too lame to say) have a bit of fun along the way. 

🎙️ New episodes each fortnight

📥 Links, tools, & resources in every episode

Legal Lightbulbs: Bright Ideas to Power Small Legal Teams is the podcast for in-house legal professionals who want to make a big impact with a small team.&nbsp;
Your host Verity White is an award-winning lawyer, Accredited Specialist in Commercial Law, a legal transformation expert, and Legal Director at Checklist Legal.&nbsp;
Verity is the lucky lawyer who gets to talk to some of the sharpest minds in the inhouse legal world and shine a light on the clever ways small legal teams inside beloved brands and global companies are transforming how they work.&nbsp;
Legal Lightbulbs is your go-to source for practical strategies, inspiring stories, and actionable insights to help legal legends like you lighten your legal load, lead with confidence, and spark meaningful change.&nbsp;
We'll have trailblazing guests who&rsquo;ve scaled legal influence without scaling headcount and solo episodes direct from Verity&rsquo;s brain with bite-sized, practical tips you can use today.&nbsp;
Whether you&rsquo;re a sole legal counsel juggling a million tasks or leading a lean team looking to level up, Legal Lightbulbs is here for you to spark ideas and (if it's not too lame to say) have a bit of fun along the way.&nbsp;
🎙️ New episodes each fortnight
📥 Links, tools, &amp; resources in every episode

**Create contracts clients love**The Checklist …

Legal Lightbulbs

Episode 09: Triple O Productivity for your contra…