Dan Ahern was the featured speaker at the April 2018 meeting of the Massachusetts Association of Public Purchasing Officials (MAPPO). His topic was “Contract Management: Selected Issues and Best Practices.” Dan provided an overview of contract management, including the primary tasks involved in contract management during the initiation, execution, and closeout phases. The principal takeaways from his presentation were that:
• Effective contract management is key to success in high-stakes, expensive, and complex procurements
• Effective contract managers require clear authority, expertise, resources, and soft skills including communication and collaboration skill
• Contract management plans should be risk-based, specific to the nature and size of the contract as well as the contractor and any subcontractors
Dan also addressed the differences inherent in using staff or outside consultants for contract management.