How to add guardrails to your contract management

The Research Institute of America found that 33 minutes after a lecture is completed, students retained only 58% of the material. By the second day, 33%, and 3 weeks after that, only 15%.*

Knowledge retention isn’t just a problem in academia. It’s also a problem for IT teams rolling out new software that’s guaranteed to improve efficiencies and overhead costs—if only the users don’t forget how to use it.

The problem is amplified when the software automates a process that users undertake infrequently. For example, when an employee needs to access a system for NDAs (non-disclosure agreements). Improved efficiencies dissolve away if most users access the solution just a few times a year and have to relearn the steps at each occurrence.

As one of the biggest players in the semiconductor market, ASM International NV (ASM) must protect their technology and their business across their 14 global locations—making universal and user-friendly access to the NDA process critical. Following an extensive search, they selected Agiloft’s CLM solution and adapted it to their unique management of contracts and NDAs.

With the help of Agiloft’s custom templates, ASM introduced a questionnaire prior to the input of a new entry; thereby automating the process of determining which NDA was best suited for the user’s purpose. As a result, users weren’t required to retain any expertise or knowledge about which NDA to use and when—the system remembered for them.

“With Agiloft, we were able to automate the process of determining which contract best serves the business,” ASM Director and Senior Global Legal Counsel Todd Westersund said. “Automating the contract selection process has helped us avoid a lot of problems.”

ASM’s Agiloft solution also incorporates real-time prompts and reminders. Easy, step-by-step instructions offer a guide that walks users through each action. With ASM’s customization, directions appear as users click through each field. These automated directions adjust based on the various contract types the user selects within the system. Given the infrequency with which many employees engage in contract management, users continue to benefit from these operational guardrails. The user experience is unforgettable because the step-by-step actions are designed to be forgotten.

To learn more about ASM’s unique customization of the Agiloft solution, read the case study here.

*Jack E. Bowsher, “Revolutionizing Workforce Performance: A Systems Approach to Mastery,” 1998; D. Peoples, Presentations Plus, 1992; Training Magazine, 1998.