Communicating Your New Contract Template to All Team Members  

As part 5 of my tips on how to roll-out a new Contract Template as an Expert, the following:

! 𝗚𝗲𝘁 𝗘𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘆𝗼𝗻𝗲 𝗼𝗻 𝗕𝗼𝗮𝗿𝗱: 𝗖𝗼𝗺𝗺𝘂𝗻𝗶𝗰𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗬𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗡𝗲𝘄 𝗖𝗼𝗻𝘁𝗿𝗮𝗰𝘁 𝗧𝗲𝗺𝗽𝗹𝗮𝘁𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝗔𝗹𝗹 𝗧𝗲𝗮𝗺 𝗠𝗲𝗺𝗯𝗲𝗿𝘀

Once your template is final, approved internally and previous tips are followed, send out your New Template / Procedure using a communication method that is tailored to your company.

Do not use a single communication method (e.g. only providing the template via e-mail). This will significantly decrease the use of the New Template.

When rolling out a new contract template in your company, it is important to use multiple channels of communication to ensure that team members are informed and understand how to use it. It is recommended to combine the following communication methods:
* Your company’s intranet or internal portal
* Collaboration software like Slack or Microsoft Teams
* Email
* Kick-off meetings/trainings

This combination will help to increase the visibility of the new Contract Template and provide team members with the opportunity to ask questions and address any concerns.

Remember that clear communication is key to the successful implementation of a new contract template.

𝗣𝗿𝗼-𝘁𝗶𝗽: In case of new Contract Templates or Legal Procedures, it is advised to cascade the communication as follows:
* First to each Head of the Commercial Team / Regional Leader who can share/discuss it with their team and reiterate the importance of the new Contract Template/Procedure
* Legal Team sends it to the Commercial Team
* For particularly important messages set up separate meetings between Legal Team members and Commercial Team members

To avoid the common issue that team members are not able to find the e-mail or other communication that you used sending out the new template, follow one of my previous tips: create one central location for all your templates.

𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝘄𝗲 𝗵𝗮𝘃𝗲 𝗹𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗻𝗲𝗱 𝗳𝗿𝗼𝗺 𝗽𝗿𝗲𝘃𝗶𝗼𝘂𝘀 𝗽𝗼𝘀𝘁𝘀 𝗶𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝘀𝗲𝗿𝗶𝗲𝘀:
– The top-down approach does not work
– Team members need to know the critical components for the use of the new Contract Templates: the Why, How, When and Benefits
– Create and follow a strategic communication and follow-up plan (the Communication Plan):
– Step 1: Identify Relevant Users and Teams
– Step 2: Notify / Pre-inform the team about the upcoming new template
– Step 3: Make sure to cover all 10 points of the Checklist

𝘛𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘱𝘰𝘴𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘮𝘺 𝘭𝘢𝘴𝘵 𝘵𝘪𝘱 (𝘯𝘳. 10) 𝘰𝘯 ‘𝘏𝘰𝘸 𝘵𝘰 𝘐𝘮𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘷𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘉𝘶𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘊𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘴 𝘣𝘺 𝘊𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘎𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵 𝘊𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘤𝘵 𝘛𝘦𝘮𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘴’.