How to master post-award contract management

Your team just spent weeks negotiating a contract. All parties have signed. Everyone's happy. 

But now comes the part that many organizations overlook: making sure the contract actually delivers its promised value. This is also known as post-award contract management.

What is post-award contract management?

Post-award contract management describes the process that happens after a contract has been signed by the parties involved. It’s a common term in the procurement industry, and is also known as post-signature contract management.

Typically, this post-award contract management process is comprised of several stages:

1. Storing the agreement securely: the signed version of a contract is uploaded to a shared drive or saved securely by default in a contract management system. ‍
2. Capturing key contract data: the key data points from the agreement are extracted - manually or using AI - and pulled into a contract management spreadsheet or contract database.
3. ‍Performing the obligations outlined: the contract is performed, with each of the contractual obligations fulfilled on time, and in line with expectations.‍
4. Securing contract renewals: if the relationship has positive outcomes, the vendor can negotiate terms for the contract to be renewed.

The contract being signed marks the conclusion of negotiations and the start of a formal, legally binding relationship between the relevant stakeholders. It also represents the contract being “awarded” to a chosen vendor - hence the name. 

But winning the contract is only the beginning. Vendors need to fulfil their contractual obligations and keep the client satisfied if they want to retain the contract for the months and years to come. 

The importance of effective post-award contract management

Post-award contract management transforms legal documents into tangible business outcomes, making it perhaps the most crucial phase of the contract lifecycle.

Here’s why it matters.

It prevents contract value leakage

Poor post-award contract lifecycle management bleeds revenue in ways that often go unnoticed. Missed contract renewal dates lead to unwanted contract extensions or terminations. Overlooked price escalation clauses leave money on the table. Untracked volume discounts never materialize into savings. 

Research shows organizations can lose up to 9 per cent of a contract's value simply through inadequate post-award oversight – a number that becomes alarming when multiplied across your entire contract portfolio.

It results in positive relationships

Effective post-award management transforms vendor and client relationships from transactional to strategic. 

By actively tracking performance metrics, scheduling regular reviews, and maintaining open communication channels, you create opportunities for relationship growth and value creation. 

This proactive approach helps identify issues before they become problems and spots opportunities for expansion before competitors do.

It enables you to manage resources more efficiently

Without proper post-award management, teams waste countless hours manually tracking obligations, searching for contracts, and responding to urgent issues that could have been prevented. 

Smart post-award contract management processes (supported by the right technology) free up your legal and procurement teams to focus on strategic work instead of administrative tasks.

It gives you better visibility into performance

As management guru Peter Drucker once said, "What gets measured gets managed". In other words, you can't improve what you don't measure. 

Strong post-award management provides clear visibility into contract performance, supplier delivery, and value realization. This data informs future negotiations, helps identify high-yield contracts, and guides strategic decision-making right across the organization.

Key challenges in the post-award phase

While organizations generally recognize the importance of post-award contract management, actually gaining effective oversight poses significant challenges in practice. 

Most companies struggle with fragmented contract storage, scattering their agreements across shared drives, email folders, local computers, and physical filing cabinets. Teams waste valuable time searching for documents and risk missed deadlines. In many cases, they neglect it altogether.

The challenges compound as contract volumes grow. While spreadsheets and calendar reminders might suffice for managing a small number of agreements, they quickly become inadequate when tracking obligations, renewal dates, and performance metrics across hundreds of contracts. 

Communication presents another hurdle. Post-award management requires seamless coordination between legal, procurement, finance, and business teams to get the things you promised to do done. 

Without reliable communication channels and automated notification systems, crucial updates often get overlooked. Even seemingly small oversights, like missing a renewal notice, can trigger significant financial repercussions.

Perhaps most concerning is the widespread lack of structured performance monitoring. Many organizations operate without formal processes for tracking contract performance and compliance, creating dangerous blind spots in their operations. 

This makes it nearly impossible to identify underperforming contracts, demonstrate return on investment, or capitalize on opportunities for improvement.

Best practices for effective post-award contract management

It’s not all doom and gloom. There’s a lot you can do to improve contract management during the post-award phase. 

The even better news is that successful post-award contract management isn't necessarily about working harder – it's about working smarter. 

Leading in-house legal teams follow these proven practices to maximize contract value while minimizing risk and resource drain.

1. Create clear ownership structures: Establish clear responsibilities for post-award oversight, including who monitors performance, tracks obligations, and manages relationship development.
   ‍
2. Develop standardized monitoring processes: Ad-hoc contract monitoring invites risk. Implement structured processes for tracking key dates, reviewing performance metrics, and ensuring compliance.
   ‍
3. Establish regular review cycles: Don't wait for problems to emerge. Schedule regular contract performance reviews to assess value delivery, identify potential issues, and spot opportunities for improvement.
   ‍
4. Document everything: Maintain clear records of all contract-related communications, decisions, and changes (contract amendments). This documentation proves invaluable during disputes, renewals, or when transitioning responsibilities between team members.
   ‍
5. Make use of software: Contract tools like Juro can automate a lot of the heavy lifting associated with post-award contract management, as we'll explain now.

How contract tools transform post-award contract management

Modern contract management software has revolutionized how organizations handle the post-award phase. In fact, it’s estimated that automating these processes can reduce the cost of managing contracts by 10 and 30 per cent. 

Let’s break down how a solution like Juro can empower you to master post-award contract management in 2025.

Centralized contract repository

Centralized repositories eliminate scattered storage by providing a single, searchable home for all contracts and related documents. This enables instant access to agreements, version control, and the extraction of key contract metadata.

This delivers instant visibility into the execution of contracts, who they’re owned by, and where they are in the contract lifecycle. 

Real-time contract collaboration

Collaborative workflows enable teams to work together seamlessly to review, negotiate, and eventually approve an agreement, all while maintaining proper access controls and audit trails.

This makes it easier than ever to follow up on contracts post-signature and collaborate to agree new outcomes, whether that’s the decision to push for a renewal, renegotiation, or a termination. These conversations can happen in one unified workspace.

Contract analysis and extraction

Juro’s AI-powered extraction transforms contract data into actionable insights, helping teams identify risks, spot opportunities, and make more informed decisions. 

In other words, you can harness the power of AI to analyse incoming contracts, tag metadata and act on it. The AI extracts key datapoints and uses them to populate smartfields in seconds, subsequently triggering workflows, automating calculations, and providing summaries if you want them. 

This makes it easier than ever to surface and act on the data within your agreements. 

Optimize post-award contract management with Juro

Juro's intelligent contract automation platform streamlines post-award contract management for businesses like yours.

Teams have access to a centralized contract repository with powerful search capabilities, and AI that identifies key datapoints within an agreement and sets actions based on these.

"I can set reminders for contracts about to be terminated, and follow up to ensure those contracts are renewed before their expiration" - Okechukwu Eke, Head of Legal, Moniepoint

Ready to transform your post-award management from an administrative burden to a strategic advantage? Fill in the form below to get started.