Every year, as the end-of-year holiday season approaches, we see the famous list of “New Year resolutions” spring up everywhere. Do more sport, spend more time with the family, eat healthily, quit smoking… It is a ritual that seems almost unchanging. But where does this tradition come from, and why is it so deeply rooted in our habits that it even works its way into our professional lives? Before turning to the contract manager’s resolutions, let us take a short historical detour to understand the genealogy of a custom that, far from being a modern invention, has its roots in ancient civilisations.
I. Where do New Year resolutions come from?
The earliest traces of New Year resolutions go back to the Babylonian civilisation, more than 4,000 years ago. At the time, the Babylonian new year fell around mid-March, the period marking the start of the harvest. The Babylonians used this moment of renewal to make promises to their gods, whether to return a borrowed tool or to repay their debts. Through this gesture, they hoped to secure divine protection and favour for the new farming season.
Later, the Romans carried the practice on, notably through celebrations dedicated to the god Janus, from whom the month of January takes its name. With his face turned both towards the past and towards the future, Janus perfectly embodied the idea of looking back over the year just gone and preparing for the one ahead. The Romans used the Kalends of January (the first days of the year) to take stock of their past actions and set themselves new spiritual, political or personal goals.
With the arrival of Christianity, the custom endured, often taking the form of pious vows or moral promises made on New Year’s Eve (and sometimes forgotten the very next day..). Over the centuries the tradition became secular, gaining in popularity and in variety. Today it is practised all over the world, although motivations have diversified and now adapt to the demands of modern life, personal as well as professional.
II. Which resolutions for the contract manager?
In the professional sphere, the start of a new year is often an opportunity to take stock and to look ahead. Project managers, executive teams and sales teams all use this pivotal moment to rethink their strategies, adjust their objectives and consider new developments. The contract manager, as the person steering contracts and safeguarding compliance with legal and commercial obligations, is no exception to this dynamic.
The contract manager operates in a highly demanding environment, at the crossroads of several disciplines: legal, financial, technical, commercial and even interpersonal. Behind the light-hearted title of this article, the search for “good resolutions” is above all a practical way to progress, to keep up to date and to create value for your organisation. That is the spirit in which we wrote this article, and we offer 10 resolutions that will, we hope, breathe new life into your contract management practice.
a. Train in new practices
Today more than ever, keeping watch on technology, regulation and the economy is an integral part of the contract manager’s role. Technologies evolve, legislation grows more complex, and it is everyone’s responsibility to keep pace. Adaptation and anticipation are the two watchwords of a high-performing contract manager. By devoting time to continuous training, you will not only gain credibility but also learn to spot new business opportunities and ways to simplify processes. Remember that there are now countless contract management training courses, as well as online resources (MOOCs, webinars, tutorials, and so on), so there is no excuse for missing out on this resolution!
b. Challenge the status quo
Within an organisation, it is easy to grow used to well-worn processes, to pre-set tools and contract templates, or to routines that seem – more or less – effective. Yet the business world moves fast, and what worked yesterday is not necessarily optimal today. We believe the contract manager has an essential role to play in 2025: that of a driver of change, for example by:
- Proposing new tools and processes: a CLM system, claims automation tools, or simply a new correspondence tracking log can save the whole project team precious time. As a contract manager, you have an overall view of what is needed and you sit at the heart of the issues at stake (e.g. approval cycles that take too long, poor allocation of tasks, and so on): the ideal position from which to audit your contract management maturity and propose new approaches.
- Innovating to stand out: challenging the status quo is not only about questioning what already exists, it is also about anticipating what is coming. Technological innovations abound: artificial intelligence (yes, it again!), digital evidence and new methods of dispute resolution… You are better placed than anyone to assess the benefits of these solutions for your organisation and to convince decision-makers that investing in these new technologies is worthwhile.
c. Fly the flag for contract management
In a good many organisations, contract management does not hold the (prime) place it deserves. Many people think it is only about negotiating a few clauses, drafting a few letters or rubber-stamping matters when a problem arises. Yet contract management has a far greater impact across the whole contract lifecycle. Your role in 2025 could therefore be to multiply the awareness sessions, the reminders and all the small touches that spread a contractual culture across teams.
In short, being the “messenger” of contract management means making sure your colleagues and partners see the discipline as a lever for performance rather than a constraint or a box to be ticked.
d. Be the guardian of relationships
The contract manager often acts as the “safety rail” on a project, helping to keep to budget and schedule and, more broadly, to secure sound contract performance. When setbacks and other difficulties arise and tension starts to show, your role is to walk a tightrope, and to do so without bruising anyone’s ego.
For the new year, one of your resolutions could be to become the guardian of healthy communication, with well-established rituals and a few well-judged touches of humour to preserve what matters most: the quality of the relationship!
e. Resist brandishing the “I told you so”
Following on from the previous resolution, here is a pious wish that could save many a relationship within a project team. How many times have you had the feeling, or even the certainty, that a decision taken by a project manager or an executive would cause problems, without anyone listening to you? And when the problem does materialise, the temptation to fire off an “I told you so” is strong… and it usually only makes things worse.
In 2025, we change our stance, we smooth things over and we save our best punchlines for meme Wednesday 😉
f. Strengthen ties with legal and procurement
While the contract manager generally has solid knowledge of contract law and a firm grasp of the commitments made by the suppliers on their projects, it is rare to be able to cover everything 100%. That is why collaboration with lawyers and buyers must be as strong as possible.
Pooling knowledge, building on each other’s experience, anticipating better: the benefits of closer cooperation need no further rehearsal. Now is the time to act, by inviting buyers and lawyers to workshops, to lunches and to any other initiative that will tighten those bonds in 2025.
g. Develop your soft skills and your leadership
To be a good contract manager, it is not enough to be a contract specialist; you also have to be a facilitator, a negotiator and, in some cases, a genuine internal thought leader. Fulfilling that role takes more than mastery of contract clauses: the qualities of a contract manager also include communication, negotiation and the power to persuade.
Working on your public speaking or your conflict management skills is therefore an excellent idea for the year ahead, one that will allow contract managers to showcase their expertise far more effectively and to earn the trust and respect of their peers.
h. Keep perspective and know when to switch off
In a professional world in constant motion, where deadlines follow one another and the pressure never lets up, it is vital to know how to step back in order to protect your personal balance and your mental health. Contract management, with its share of setbacks and emergencies, can be a source of intense stress and even burnout if you are not careful.
For the new year, remember to look after yourself, to talk to your colleagues and those close to you when you are struggling, and to trust others and delegate. You will become more effective and better prepared for the contractual challenges ahead.
i. Put the phone down and get (back) into sport
Following on from the previous resolution, between urgent emails, instant messaging notifications and endless calls, the contract manager tends to stay glued to phone and screen. Yet at Prime Conseil we are firm believers in the virtues of sport for boosting body and mind alike!
Indeed, studies show that regular physical activity stimulates the production of endorphins, the well-being hormones, and helps you manage stress better, with real gains: improved productivity, a steadier mood and a greater ability to take a step back. Whether you opt for a morning run, a yoga session at lunchtime or a kickboxing class after work, what matters in 2025 is to disconnect for the length of a workout. You will come back to your contracts with a clearer head, ready to negotiate coolly and to solve problems with renewed clarity.
j. Cultivate curiosity and the ability to laugh at yourself
Let us finish on a lighter but equally essential resolution: cultivating your curiosity and your ability to laugh at yourself. Contract management is a discipline that tolerates no approximation, where a single word can carry significant consequences, and it is easy to fall into over-control and become locked into your own certainties. Cultivating curiosity means allowing yourself to step outside your comfort zone, to discover other professions, other sectors, other ways of thinking.
In practice, that may mean leaving your desk, looking up from your contract to take an interest in what your colleagues do during workshops, attending trade fairs and professional events, or taking part in a range of cultural activities. The point behind this last resolution is to exercise your curiosity, which will feed all the other resolutions, and also your sense of self-deprecation, so that failures or misunderstandings are turned into learning and lessons.
Conclusion
That brings us to the end of these ten resolutions for contract managers. As you will have seen, they range from serious issues to lighter advice, reflecting the many facets of the profession. The contract manager has to train continuously, adopt new technologies and methods and innovate in their processes, while keeping an open mind and unfailing good humour.
Finally, let us not forget that resolutions are only worth making if you stick to them… or at least if you try to put them into practice once 10 January has come and gone. Start by choosing one or two that look easiest to implement, then widen the scope as the months go by. You will see: with enough small steps, you could achieve great things. And if, halfway through the year, you realise you have rather neglected your list of resolutions, it is never too late to pick it up again. After all, the aim is not to reach an impossible perfection, but to keep moving and to keep learning.