Project management is a fascinating world in which deadlines always seem too short and budgets too tight. A world dotted with hazards, headaches and hold-ups (and every other unpleasant word beginning with an “h”). In this environment, project teams juggle a multitude of tools and processes, competing in ingenuity to hold their course through the storm. Out come MS Project, Gantt charts, Agile methodologies, Trello, Monday, Asana and other such delights.
What if, beyond the tools and the processes, the key to sailing calmly through this ocean of uncertainty lay in a dynamic duo, in the manner of Batman and Robin, Mario and Luigi or even Starsky and Hutch? Imagine a world where the contract manager and the project manager join forces to keep all your projects on track. A world where complementary skills intertwine to create a symphony of effective, harmonious management.
In this article, we explore why and how this pairing makes managing your projects easier, turning challenges into successes and sighs of exasperation into sighs of relief.
1. Complementarity in the service of project management
A. A natural division of roles
In business, a project’s success often depends on the complementarities and synergies between key players. Among them, the contract manager and the project manager stand out for their distinct skills, expertise and experience, forming a duo that is essential to the success of any project.
The project manager, often an engineer, focuses their expertise on planning, resource coordination, organisation and progress monitoring. Their overall vision and their ability to manage teams and coordinate the project’s successive phases are crucial.
On the other side, the contract manager, a specialist in contracts, finance and negotiation, brings a complementary perspective. Their role is to manage contractual matters, to identify project risks (whether technical, schedule-related or financial), to anticipate potential difficulties and to optimise every stage of the contract management cycle.
This natural division of roles lets each player focus on their area of expertise and bring specific added value to the project. Combining these distinct skills ensures fuller coverage of the project’s many aspects, from design to completion. This complementarity also allows the two to take different roles and stances with a client, ring-fencing contractual difficulties and limiting their impact on day-to-day project management.
B. The contract manager’s independence
As in any duo that works, to guarantee effectiveness and objectivity in project management, and particularly on its contractual side, it is crucial that the contract manager keeps a degree of independence from the project manager (and vice versa).
Ideally, the contract manager does not report to the project manager, nor even to a project department, but to a different function, such as legal, operations or even finance.
This independence lets the contract manager keep the right stance, have a voice that carries alongside the project manager and, more broadly, maintain an objective view in every situation, whether assessing risks, delays, additional works or developments, or performance issues.
In short, independence preserves the duo’s complementarity and effectiveness, not least by preventing the contract manager from becoming a mere drafter of claims and letters of every kind.
2. When should you call on this power duo?
A. Ideally, from the pre-sales phase
When responding to tenders, or more generally when building complex commercial bids, bringing in the contract manager and project manager pairing – even temporarily – can prove crucial. Their expertise in analysing contract documents (SOW, penalties, schedule, general purchasing conditions, SLAs and performance, etc.) and in grasping their impact on pricing and on how a project unfolds can be invaluable.
While the project manager brings technical expertise in understanding the specifications, SOW and other related material, as well as the project’s sequence and timescales, the contract manager has a part to play in identifying risks, negotiating the contract and in the supply chain.
This early collaboration therefore makes it possible to anticipate the contractual risks identified and to find alternatives and workarounds, to strengthen the competitiveness of the bid and, above all, to avoid the traditional lag at project start-up, when the project manager and contract managers discover the contract, its annexes and its risks.
B. At the very least during project execution
Let us assume that our power duo has not – much to our regret – been formed during the pre-sales phase: then it must be brought together at project launch, “whatever it takes”!
It is during project execution that the contract manager – project manager pairing becomes even more relevant. Their continuous collaboration first ensures that the project’s boundaries, and in particular the parties’ contractual obligations, are properly understood and communicated to the project team. In practice, the pair will often produce a memo covering the essentials (schedule, payments, KPIs/SLAs, penalties, changes, claims, etc.) and circulate it widely to everyone involved in the project.
Then, as the project runs, the duo brings proactivity and speed in handling the many bumps along the way. Whether supplier claims, late delivery of goods or services, or more generally a lack of alignment or understanding between project players, our pair will be everywhere at once to make sure these small irritations do not turn into claims, risk provisions and litigation.
In summary, the pairing creates a modern approach to project management, one that is both operational and contractual, and that supports sound project delivery. In practice, while the project manager drives the project forward, making sure objectives are met on time and on budget, the contract manager works to keep that progress aligned with the contract clauses and, where necessary, handles changes, contract amendments and (pre-)litigation.
The score played by these two therefore supports project success, on-time delivery, proper treatment of changes and additional works, minimised liquidated damages and, ultimately… project profitability. Full circle!
Conclusion
Pairing a contract manager with a project manager is an undeniable strategic asset for any company. Their close collaboration, from the pre-sales phase through to project execution, optimises performance, reduces risk and secures project profitability. By combining technical expertise and contractual skill, this pairing becomes a key driver of success for a company’s projects.