Under pressure: Building a solid CLM foundation on a tight timeline 

When the Covid-19 pandemic began, leading biopharmaceutical company Alkermes, like many other organizations, realized that the contracting system that had been serving them for many years had become abruptly insufficient, and they needed to find a solution fast. So, when faced with a tight budget and an even tighter timeline, Alkermes turned to Agiloft for a solution.  

From the start, Alkermes intended to launch the first phase of their new CLM system and then iteratively build additional functionality over time, a driving factor in their partnership with Agiloft. This meant a brand-new contracting workflow was being built in a vacuum, out of necessity, and those ideal stakeholders from cross-functional departments simply couldn’t be included from the beginning.  

So how did Alkermes navigate not only this tight timeline, but was also able to encourage, promote, and even increase usage across the organization despite the initial disconnect?  

“…Engage early, and engage often,” said Alkermes’ Senior Contract Manager, Allison DiBona. 

Throughout the initial implementation process and moving forward throughout the maturation of their CLM system, Alkermes’ team of appointed Agiloft administrators made it a mission to stay in close personal contact with Agiloft users, ensuring that even though they weren’t included in the original process, the solution would be implemented in a way that benefitted all who were involved.

Building your team of change champions 

Despite the tight requirements in the initial evaluation process, it was important for Alkermes to include stakeholders outside of the legal department as soon as possible. So, before organization-wide adoption, the Alkermes contracting team built a group of contracting champions from across the organization, includingcommercial, clinical, research, and more, to participate in the user-acceptance testing (UAT) process.  

Throughout this period, Alkermes was in constant contact with the UAT group – providing them with specific scripts and potential test scenarios to help identify any gaps that might’ve been created or weren’t considered in the initial requirements process.  

It’s been said already but as a quick reminder: this was a tight timeline. These cross-functional users were given one week to complete their UAT scripts and provide feedback. All feedback was then discussed, weighted, and organized for Agiloft to make workflow changes the week after, ensuring all critical feedback was addressed before their go-live date.  

Establishing trust 

With any new software implementation, it’s important to build trust with your users. Ideally, the Alkermes contracting team would’ve been able to start with a solid foundation, having consulted external teams in the software evaluation process. But with time in short supply, the team prioritized to developing a sense of trust while also encouraging overall use of the new process.  

First, the team created that aforementioned team of contracting champions. Being a part of this group was considered a privilege, and managers from external departments were encouraged to nominate members of their organization who had earned the opportunity to work on the project. This “exclusivity” cultivated a sense of pride and care among the UAT group.  

Also, during the one-week UAT testing window, the contracting team held all-day office hours to ensure no one on the team felt alone at any moment. If there was something they couldn’t figure out, they had someone they could reach out to directly. To further establish that trust, the office hours team was manned by members from the Alkermes contracting team as well as Agiloft representatives , ensuring every question could be answered.  

Finally, they held a session post-UAT to discuss the updates made to the system. This debrief included everyone in the exclusive UAT group where they could see their feedback and suggestions come to life, with a new process that they could be confident would work for their larger group once fully implemented. This was also a great way to foster ownership within the group, which “made them feel in charge of a system they had no input in originally,” DiBona said in her presentation at the 2023 Agiloft Summit. 

Building the hype 

In record time, Alkermes was ready to introduce Agiloft CLM to the wider organization. This means going from a completely manual process to a full end-to-end system with the snap of a finger.  

Traditionally, when implementing a new process like this, there are change management best practices that encourages adoption overtime. In this case, however, Alkermes had to combat COVID-19 regulations by mandating the use of Agiloft, no longer accepting any manual contracts after their chosen go-live date.  

So, how do you encourage usage and adoption in a newly mandated software?  

The Alkermes team focused on two methods: passive and active engagement.  

Let’s start with active engagement. In terms of active engagement, the Alkermes team continued holding periodic office hours for the wider group, created live training sessions that were attended by hundreds of employees at a time. Beyond these efforts, they provided direct access to the Agiloft admin team via a dedicated email inbox and help- desk system.  

In terms of passive engagement, the Alkermes team started an Agiloft newsletter, created an intranet page with training resources and how-to guides, and even provided email templates for the contracting team to use when receiving contracts via the old system. This concept of a feedback loop was very important to Alkermes, as they wanted users to see that questions asked in live trainings were then added to permanent training guides for future use. Ultimately, through these efforts, Alkermes saw a positive change in the way that external departments interacted with legal overall.  

Building longevity  

DiBona discussed what happens often after a new software rollout: – there’s a three-week time span of great hype, followed by a slump in discussion, which often correlates to a lull in usage. Tocombat that post-rollout fatigue, Alkermes implemented a number of ongoing efforts to ensure no one ever feels alone along the contracting journey.   

Alkermes continued with both their passive and active user engagement methods. They created a focus group comprised of a few members of the initial UAT group as well as a few new contracting champions discovered during initial rollout. Representing each relevant department across the enterprise, the group discusses improvements, enhancements, new workflow ideas, and more on a regular cadence. The helpdesk continued as well, ensuring users never felt alone. More passively, the contracting team continued producing an Agiloft newsletter that focused on the “fun” side of contract management, pointing out stats and other valuable data, including quizzes with prizes, and other creative information  

Now, in 2024, the Alkermes team’s digital contract workflow is still going strong, as is their focus group and newsletter. Ultimately, Alkermes proved that even up against what seems like an impossible ask, by starting with these change management building blocks, you can create a solid contracting foundation for years to come.  

Have more questions on how you can help your organization in their CLM journey? Let’s talk!