Getting started with Requirement Manual
My ContractManager is your intelligent virtual assistant for all your contract management needs. Manage your entire contract life cycle, including email traffic, meetings, tasks, documents, requirements, contract changes, and automated performance updates.
Welcome to MyContractManager, your digital assistant to manage your contracts effectively and save more time!
This guide is designed to provide documentation for people who will use this tool on a day-to-day basis. This document can be read by any user.
Table of Contents
1. Overview of levels of contract management
1.1 Who benefits from MyContractManager
- MyContractManager is mostly used in the service industry in a Business to Government (BtoG) setting.
- You are a Contract Manager who wants to assure contract compliance and agreements with your supplier(s)
- You are a Supplier / Service Provider demonstrating and communicating progress to your Client
- We distinguish between:
- Single Contract Management, ie large complex contracts and multiple stakeholders
- Multiple Contract Management, ie many suppliers, less complicated contracts
MyContractManager is suitable for different Contract types & roles
| Contract Manager | Supplier/ service provider | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Single Contract Management | ✔ | ✔ | |
| Multi-Contract Management | ✔ |
1.2 Effective multi-contract lifecycle management
Managing contract life cycles in a multi-contract environment requires a strategic and systematic approach. Here are some guidelines to help you effectively manage contract life cycles in such a setting:
Centralized Contract Repository: Establish a centralized contract repository to store all contract documents. This helps in easy access, version control, and ensures that all relevant stakeholders have access to the latest contract information.
Clear Contract Policies and Procedures: Develop and communicate clear policies and procedures for contract management. Ensure that all team members involved in contract management understand and adhere to these guidelines.
Standardized Templates and Processes: Use standardized contract templates and processes to streamline contract creation and execution. This helps in maintaining consistency across multiple contracts and reduces the risk of errors.
Automated Contract Management System: Implement an automated contract management system to enhance efficiency. Such systems can help with document tracking, milestone monitoring, automated alerts, and reporting, making it easier to manage a large number of contracts simultaneously.
Risk Management: Identify and assess risks associated with each contract. Develop strategies to mitigate these risks and regularly review risk management plans to ensure they remain relevant throughout the contract life cycle.
Contract Audits and Reviews: Conduct regular audits and reviews of contracts to ensure compliance with terms and conditions. This is particularly important in a multi-contract environment where oversight may be more challenging.
Contract Performance Monitoring: Implement a robust system for monitoring contract performance. Track key performance indicators (KPIs) and regularly evaluate whether the contract is meeting its objectives. Address any deviations promptly.
Communication and Collaboration: Foster effective communication and collaboration among stakeholders involved in contract management. This includes legal teams, procurement, project managers, and other relevant parties. Regular meetings and status updates can facilitate better coordination.
Training and Skill Development: Provide training for contract management teams to ensure they have the necessary skills and knowledge. This is especially important in a multi-contract environment where the complexity of managing various contracts simultaneously may require specialized expertise.
Renewal and Expiry Management: Implement a proactive approach to contract renewal and expiry management. Establish processes to assess the ongoing relevance of contracts, negotiate renewals, or terminate contracts that are no longer needed.
Continuous Improvement: Continuously evaluate and improve your contract management processes. Seek feedback from stakeholders, conduct post-contract reviews, and identify areas for improvement to enhance overall efficiency and effectiveness.
Legal and Regulatory Compliance: Stay abreast of changes in laws and regulations that may impact your contracts. Ensure that all contracts remain in compliance with relevant legal requirements throughout their life cycles.
Performance Metrics and Reporting: Define performance metrics for contract management and regularly generate reports to assess the overall health of your contracts. This information can be valuable for strategic decision-making.
Scalability: Design your contract management processes to be scalable. Ensure that the systems and procedures you put in place can accommodate the growth or changes in the number and complexity of contracts.
By implementing these strategies, you can enhance your ability to manage contract life cycles effectively in a multi-contract environment, reducing risks, improving compliance, and optimizing overall contract performance.
1.3 Levels of maturity in Contract Management - Multiple Contract Management
We distinguish four main levels of maturity in multiple contract management, level 1: basic, level 2: contract life cycle, level 3: contract performance, level 4: professional contract management.
Level 1: You have a basic contract calendar showing (captured, contract calendar)
- Start and end date of contracts, optionally milestones within the contract
- Who is the contact for the contract (contractor), who is the contact on the owner side
- Basic description of the contract
- Actual contract attached or linked
Level 2: You manage the contract and management tasks together (contract life cycle)
- Level 1 +
- Task management like prepare for new contract, check work is done is described and executed centrally
- Meetings with contractor (worker) is well documented, company details about contractor are captured
- Contract value is captured
Level 3: You manage the delivery performance against agreed performance numbers in the contract (contract performance)
- Level 2+
- KPI’s are documented and performance captured in measure moments during the contract
Project delivery is monitored - Stakeholder management is active (all meetings, actions, agenda, decisions are captured and managed)
- Why the work is outsourced and what KPI’s should be affected are well documented and managed
- Links to external tooling is captured centrally, making it easy to navigate to detailed data
- Your business is monitored via OGSM to clearly document what you want, what numbers matter to you and what is being done to maintain or change those numbers.
Level 4: Professional contract management
- Level 3+
- Risk management
- Supplier management (track spend acros contracts to limit exposure risk)
- Contract changes are managed per paragraph / section and linked to requirements and projects
- Compliance management
Inter contract dependencies are documented - Email conversations are captured
- All work and documentation is captured in one central area
1.4 Business questions for Contract Managers
Below you find a number of key questions for Contract Managers who manage multiple contracts. These can all be answered with the use of MyContractManager:
- Who do I have contracts with?
- What are their contact details?
- When are my contracts needing to be renewed / tender?
- Gantt showing contracts (start/end/milestones)
- What process do I need to follow to have a smooth contract management process
- Can a current contract be extended?
- Can it be extended with the current contractor? #contracts, #total contract amount per contractor
- What is my financial exposure to this contractor?
- What are the terms of the contract and is the contractor delivering according to agreement
- How can I store and fix complaints against the contractor
- [optional] how is the contractor dealing with contract risks?
- Are the contract milestones being achieved?
- Are the performance indicators on-track?
- How many different contractors do I have per area?
- I want to be able to see all meetings, agreed actions, decisions per contract and per contractor.
2. Requirements Management
The requirement management feature in our product empowers users to create and organize their project requirements efficiently. The unique configurability of the tiles system allows users to tailor their requirement tracking experience according to their project’s specific needs. This user manual section will guide you through the process of creating and managing requirements using the configurable tiles.
Requirements are regularly updated during a contract period: some requirements become technologically obsolete, others are expanded. New requirements are also added during the contract period at the request of stakeholders. In this chapter of the manual we describe the steps for creating Requirements and making them manageable.
Identify the goal
What’s the objective of the contract? (Pruning grapevines to improve wine quality and quantity.)
Why is pruning necessary for achieving this goal? (Pruning promotes healthier grape growth and better grape quality.)
How can I achieve that?
- Set Clear Objectives: Define the aim of the contract – to enhance wine quality and quantity by pruning grapevines annually.
- Plan Ahead: Determine the best time for pruning based on vine dormancy and local climate.
- Allocate Resources: Arrange the necessary tools, personnel, and equipment for the pruning process.
- Choose Pruning Method: Decide on the appropriate pruning technique for promoting vine health and growth.
- Execute Pruning: Perform annual pruning sessions as per the chosen technique.
- Monitor Consistently: Regularly check pruned vines for proper cuts, vine health, and signs of disease.
- Adapt as Needed: Modify pruning methods if results aren’t as expected and make necessary adjustments.
- Document Everything: Keep records of each pruning session, dates, methods, and improvements observed.
In this part, I will explain how contracts are carried out. I’ll show you how to create requirements using our tool and effectively handle them to get the best outcomes. We’ll also show you how to keep track of completed work. This will cover the entire process of delivery contracts, from start to finish.
Let’s use the example of pruning grapevines for making wine. The idea here is to trim the grapevines regularly to achieve the best wine results.
To get started, the first thing you do in our tool is to create a requirement and define the necessary details.
3. How to manage your compliance management process
3.1 Roles in the requirement approval process explained
Roles in a 2-stage requirement process
3.2 Definition of Requirement statuses
4. How to set up and monitor compliance
Below we will explain the following steps:
Step 1. Create requirements
Step 2. Monitor requirements
4.1 Step 1- Create requirements
In this section, we will walk you through the process of generating a requirement and outline the subsequent steps involved. Let’s use a practical example: “Yearly Pruning of Vines to Enhance the Quality and Value of Wine.”
- Hover your cursor over the ‘Requirements” tab in the menu. As you do so, a ‘+’ icon will appear, providing you with a quick option to create a new requirement.
- Click on the name of the requirement you wish to create. This action will open a list of existing requirements. In the bottom right corner of the screen, you will find a ‘+” button. Clicking on this button will trigger the same popup window, enabling you to input the details of the requirement.
- Requirement Name: Enter the descriptive title for the requirement. In this case, use “Yearly Pruning of Wine to Enhance Quality and Value.”
- Status: The default status is set to “Open.” This signifies that the requirement is active and pending further actions.
- Business Owner: Designate the individual responsible for reviewing the pruning process of the grapes. This person ensures that the pruning is carried out consistently and accurately.
- Owner: Initially, this field should contain the person who will be executing the task. In your specific scenario, Tom will be responsible for performing the grape pruning.
- Reviewer: In a 3 stage approval process this is the person who approves the work.
Once you have filled the above information hit save and then open the overview page of the requirement created by clicking on the name of the requirement.
Additional information required to ensure that the requirement functions as expected:
- Review Frequency: Select the desired frequency for task repetition. (Yearly)
- Start Date: Specify the commencement date for the task. (01/01/2023)
- End Date: Indicate the conclusion date for the task. (31/12/2028)
- Due date: Specify the due date for the task.
- Due date frequency: Select the desired due date frequency for task
- Business Owner: (Edward)
- Owner: (Tom)
- Status: (Open)
You can also bulk import your requirements by using an upload template
4.2 Step 2- Categorize your requirements
There are four Requirement types:
- Evaluation criteria (Tender process = selection)
- Contract/ITT (Tender process = requirements how to submit an offer) Not part of the contract
- External/Committed Obligations = Mandatory external requirements, ie. Don’t use any form of bird trapping to stop them picking your grapes, or cannot use pesticides a, or b, or c cannot use ground or river water between date a and b for any purpose. Another example. When you drive a car you need a valid driver’s license (reminder)
- Stakeholder = What I want done and how I will evaluate completion / compliance
Requirement flow since the created to the end of the contract
If the user enables the mailing of the requirement, our tool will help to remind you of the time when to “Prune the grapes”.
5. Dashboard page
On the dashboard page, we’ve allocated two separate sections or tiles specifically for requirements: “Delivery Commitments” and “Requirement Status.”
To effectively distinguish between these two tiles and showcase different sets of requirements, it is crucial to configure the specific requirements accordingly.
5.1 Delivery commitments:
What are the requirements in “Delivery commitments”
When you choose the requirement type as “Committed Obligations,” this particular requirement will become visible within the “Delivery Commitments” tile.
5.2 Requirement Status
Conversely, within the requirement status tile, we showcase requirements characterized by the type “Contract ITT” and the priority designation of “Must Have.”
5.3 Update your requirement status
There are two ways to update your requirement status: via the dashboard and via automatic email updates
5.3.1 Updating your requirement status via the dashboard
To update the status of a requirement from the Requirement Status tile, follow these steps:
- Navigate to the Requirement Status tile on your dashboard.
- Click on the three-dot menu (⋮) located on the right side of the requirement you wish to update.
- Select Add Status Update from the menu.
- You will be redirected to the Status Update page.
- On this page, enter the necessary details and update the status of your requirement as needed.
This feature allows you to keep track of the progress and maintain up-to-date information for each requirement.
Once a status is selected, the requirement will automatically move to the corresponding tab based on its status.
- Open: A new requirement that has not yet been reviewed or acted upon.
- Submitted: A requirement that has been proposed and is awaiting further review or action.
- Implemented: A requirement that has been successfully incorporated into the system or product.
- Accepted: A requirement that has been reviewed, approved, and is ready to be implemented.
- Cancelled: A requirement that has been terminated or removed from the project.
- Waiting: A requirement that is currently paused or delayed, awaiting a specific condition or event.
- Disputed: A requirement that is under discussion or disagreement regarding its validity, feasibility, or priority.
5.3.2 Requirements next review date
The tile also displays the requirements for the next review date. By default, these requirements are listed in ascending order. If you prefer to view them in descending order, simply click the icon next to the next review date, and the list will reorder according to your preference.
The next review date is displayed as follows:
- If a requirement has a frequency and a next review date, the next review date will be shown.
- If there is no “Next review date,” the end date of the requirement will be displayed.
- If neither a next review date nor an end date is available, the field will remain empty.
If the due date is in the past, we will highlight the date in red so it is more visible for you to know that you need to take action.
If you have a start date and end date for a requirement, as well as a review frequency and a review start date, you may want to check a requirement after the year ends (sometimes you need certain results first). In this case, you would set the start date to, for example, January 15, 2025, and the reminder would be sent out after the year is up.
It could also be that you want the compliance completed by the end of the year. In that case, you could set the start date to December 1.
The Business Owner will receive a notification if the Owner is late. They can choose to manually send a reminder or discuss it with the owner.
Currently, it is not possible to send out reminders. If you specify exactly how it should work, we can create a change request for that. Keep in mind that sending reminders repeatedly can also become annoying.
What is possible is to periodically send a compliance report (Excel) to someone (link to timed report). This will provide an overview of your requirements and their current status and delivery date. You could send this quarterly, for example. This gives a good picture of the workload.
5.3.3 Requirements Next Due date
The Next Due Date field tracks when a requirement is due for action based on its schedule. It is determined as follows:
- If a requirement has a due date frequency (e.g., monthly, quarterly, annually) and a due date, the system will automatically calculate the next due date based on the frequency.
- If no due date frequency is set, the due date remains unchanged.
If there is no due date, but an end date is available, the end date will be displayed as the next due date. - If neither a due date nor an end date is available, the field will remain empty.
- If the next due date is in the past, it will be highlighted in red to indicate that action is needed.
- A requirement with owner that has mailing enabled
- Status update frequency with the desired option selected
- Status update start date defined
The email types are:
- TODAY An email on the measure date itself: “This is a request to update the status of the requirements assigned to you, with a status update date today.”
- REMINDER An email X days prior to a measure date telling that: “This is a request to update the status of the requirements assigned to you with status update on.”
- OVERDUE An e-mail one day after the set date if no actual value is filled in: “The status updates of the following requirements assigned to you are now overdue. The deadline for the status update date was before today. Please submit a status update for each requirement now.”
The number of days the reminder email is sent prior to a measure date depends on the object frequency, and the defaults are:
- DAILY, ADHOC – no reminder
- WEEKLY – 2 days
- BIWEEKLY, QUARTER_WEEKLY, SIXWEEKLY – 4 days
- MONTHLY, MONTHLY_END – 7 days
- QUARTERLY, QUARTERLY_END, QUADRIMESTER – 14 days
- HALF YEAR, YEARLY, YEARLY_END, THREE_YEARS, FIVE_YEARS – 30 days.
The status update emails contain a token-secured link to a Single Update page accessible without the need to login into the tool.
5.4 Edit your requirement
You can now edit a requirement directly from the Dashboard without navigating to a separate page.
Steps to Edit a Requirement:
- Go to the Requirement Status tile on your dashboard.
- Click on the three-dot menu (⋮) on the requirement card you want to edit.
- Select Edit Requirement from the dropdown menu.
- An Edit Requirement modal will appear.
Editable Fields in the Modal:
From this modal, you can update the following fields:
- Owner
- Business Owner
- Reviewer
- Requirement Name
- Parent Requirement (Add/Update)
- Start Date
- Due Date
- Department
- Contract
- Review Start Date
- Review Frequency
- Validation Criteria
- Validation Method
This streamlined process allows you to quickly make updates without leaving the dashboard.
6. Monitor your requirements
In this chapter, we will explore three essential features designed to help you effectively track the progress of your requirements. These tools enable you to refine your view and locate specific items with ease, ensuring that you can stay organized and up to date on all activities. The features covered include:
6.1 Filter: Date range
You can filter by a specific date range by selecting one of the suggested options on the left or by manually choosing a start and end date. Once the range is selected, all requirements with a due date or a next review date within that range will be displayed.
6.2 “Me” and “All” filters
By default, all requirements are displayed. When the ‘Me’ filter is selected, only the requirements where you are listed as the Owner and Business Owner will be shown.
6.3 Search
Next to the other filters, you’ll find the search icon (loop icon). Clicking on it will open a search field, allowing you to search for a requirement by name from the list.
If a requirement has child requirements, they will be displayed under the parent requirement in the “All” tab. In other tabs, the child requirements will appear separately but will indicate the name of the parent requirement.
7. Requirement email notifications and forms
There are two possible requirement approval processes: a 2 stage and a 3 stage approval process. A 2 stage approval process involves a Requirement “Owner” and a “Business owner”
7.1 2-Stage approval process
7.2 3-Stage requirement update flow
7.3 Reminder email notification
In order to receive an email, please follow given check list:
To ensure that emails are sent successfully, please verify the following settings:
Workspace Email Setting
Confirm that email functionality is enabled for the workspace.
Person-Level Email Setting
Check if email is enabled for the individual user.
Email Address Availability
Ensure the user’s email address is correctly filled in.
For more details, please refer : Administering OGSM software – OGSM
- While a reminder is triggered, the assigned user will get an email notification to update the status of the requirement.
The number of days the reminder email is sent prior to a measure date depends on the object frequency, and the defaults are:
DAILY, ADHOC – no reminder
WEEKLY – 2 days
BIWEEKLY, QUARTER_WEEKLY, SIXWEEKLY – 4 days
MONTHLY, MONTHLY_END – 7 days
QUARTERLY, QUARTERLY_END, QUADRIMESTER – 14 days
HALF YEAR, YEARLY, YEARLY_END, THREE_YEARS, FIVE_YEARS – 30 days.
- Reminder email – email is sent 7 days before dueDate
- Overdue email – email is sent 7 days after dueDate.
Email to owner – reminder of due date
Email to owner – Requirement is overdue
7.4 Requirement Status update emails
7.4.1 Why requirement status update notifications?
- The Owner will receive an email on the review date
- The Owner can update status to Waiting or Implemented
3. While the owner changes the status to Implemented, the Reviewer will receive an email
4. The Reviewer can update status to Disputed or Ready for review
5. While the Reviewer changes the status to Disputed, the Owner will receive below email and can update status to Implemented again by selecting open requirement button
6. While the Reviewer changes the status to Ready for review the Business Owner will receive below email
7. The Business Owner can update status to Disputed or Accepted
8. While the business owner changes the status to Disputed, the owner will receive below email and can update status to Implemented again by selecting open requirement button
9. While the Business owner changes the status to Accepted, the Owner will receive below email
Note: If a requirement has not been set to “ACCEPTED” and its due date has passed, the system does not automatically reopen it or set a new due date.
Instead, You must manually:
- Update the due date.
- Provide the requirement update.
8. How to upload a requirement file
To upload requirements using file, follow below steps:
- Create one sheet with below column names and worksheet name.
- Worksheet name = Requirement
- Column names : code, name, description ,project, assignedTo, businessOwner, parentRequirement, status, requirementType, dueDate, reviewFrequency, latestReviewDate, validationMethod
- Now, Go to Administrator > Import data from Excel file
- Select file and click on Import from Excel button
- The requirements will be uploaded and you can verify in the requirements tab.
Note: If you need to upload requirements as parent and child requirement, you can add requirement code as 1.1, 1.1.1.
9. Transfer of requirements (and other objects) to a new owner
When someone leaves the company or changes roles, you want to ensure that all requirements, tasks, projects, and other objects assigned to that person are transferred or archived.
Should this person no longer have access to the software?
Delete the username. Keep the person in the software so you can retain visibility of past actions.
Step 1: Go to the person’s page tosee which tasks they are responsible for.
In the left-hand menu, select “People” and choose the relevant person.
Manually update the responsible person
Open the objects assigned to the person one by one and change the name. This is often the easiest way.
Update the responsible person via upload file
Step 2: Download the Requirements Report (Reports at the bottom of the requirements)
Run the report.
Step 3: Select the requirements for the person in the report
Check the exact relationship the person has to the objects (e.g., requirements).
A person can be: owner (assignedTo), business owner or reviewer of the requirements.
Step 4: Find the code of the new owner
Go to the person, navigate to “Advanced,” and under “Reference Code,” you will find the code of the person. In this case, “TH.”
Step 5: Download an Upload file from “Documents”
Paste the necessary information into an upload file:
- Requirement code, name. These elements are the minimum required.
- AssignedTo or businessOwner in the upload file by using the Reference code (do not use the person’s name).
Step 6: Import data
You can use the “Import data from Excel” button to make the changes in one go.
Note: This action will overwrite the current data. It will always be visible in the log files, and you cannot undo it via the software. If a requirement has a specific status and you overwrite that status, undoing it can be difficult. If you’ve made a download before performing the upload, you’ll have the original data in one overview. Otherwise, you will need to open the requirements one by one and check the history to retrieve the original statuses, then upload again.
10. Email in requirement module:
10.1 Watch Email
When Owners, Business Owners, Reviewers are assigned to a requirement, any changes made to its fields can trigger a Watch Email notification. Users who have enabled the Watch Email option for a specific requirement will receive an email whenever such changes occur.
To enable Watch Email for a requirement:
- Go to the Requirement Overview page.
- Click the three-dot menu located in the top-right corner.
- Select Watch.
Once enabled, any field changes made to the requirement will trigger an email notification to the user. The notification will detail what changes were made and by whom.
Note: the “watch” email is being sent only once per day per entity.
