Join our World of Procurement Discord Community here. Take our Contract Management for Beginners Course here. Check out our article on Contract Management Trends 2022 here. Over Christmas, I started thinking about the top Contract Management trends for 2022. Essentially, I believe that we will build on the trends that emerged in 2021 as we navigated our way through a new way of living, travelling and existing. One general observation I have of us Contract Managers is that there is a fantastic opportunity to become more closely aligned with our Legal colleagues. There is talk of a rise in Legal Operations and Legal Design type roles throughout 2022. If you look at what the generic job description of these Legal type roles are (and these aren’t usually qualified lawyers hence the comparison to us), we are doing many of the activities they are. My additional point here is that I think you, as a Contract Manager, should be working closely with Legal. Why? To make massive improvements to how your business operates from a contracts perspective. This year will be incredible if you make the most of the available opportunities. Here's what I think will happen with Contract Management: - The rise of the Contract Management Lifecycle tool/Legal Tech - Building resilience into Supplier Contracts - RISK, RISK, RISK - Simplification of Contracts