What's in a word (or two)?
A while ago we used to call the stage when the contract was running 'contract administration'. We employed Contract Administrators, I think the odd standard contract used this term. I'm not convinced we ever properly administered any contract but that's another theme for another day. My point is that things happened and we reacted accordingly. We used hindsight. We were on the back foot. We argued long into the night about who did or didn't do what and chaos ensued. We could have done something different but we did not. We have long running final accounts and even longer dispute resolution processes, with only ever one winner. The frame of mind needed for this style of contracting is actually quite negative.
Now, thankfully, I see the term 'contract management' used more and more, clients looking to engage 'Contract Managers'. For me, there is good synergy here with NEC3 contracts and the mind-set required to properly run/manage a contract. We need to be proactive, to make decisions on the basis often of just foresight, we are now rolling our sleeves up and getting stuck into jointly solving problems or exploiting opportunities.
Contract management is a good place to be, contract administration is (hopefully) a thing of the past.
Any thoughts?
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Contract Administration is a skill. Contract Management is a process. Does NEC3 really intend to de-skill the industry?
ReplyDeleteThanks Andy. Is administration a skill and management really just a process? People carry out both of these functions and I believe require a completely different approach/mindset. The opposite therefore of your final sentence is intended by NEC - NEC is about better management of projects (said by Martin Barnes somewhere, sometime
ReplyDeleteContract Administration is a skill, and includes Contract Management as a small part of it. Contract Management is an end in itself. NEC3 places an emphasis on Contract Management with its processes, Time Periods, Programmes, Activity Schedules, Risk Register, Early Warnings, Compensation Events and so on. These processes become a Contract Management exercise in their own right, and all the rest that makes Contract Administration a skill is forgotten.
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