My career is partially owed to a lawyer. I reported to a Chief Legal Officer. The top spot.

Thanks to him, I had the opportunity to prove myself. He supported me and, in many ways, showed how important it was to build strong relationships within the business, especially legal.

Companies are made up of contracts. I mean, think about it. Fundamentally, business transactions are contractual. Most involve signing legal terms that ensure each party is held accountable for their side of the deal. Without them, people are less inclined to do business. Handshake deals aren’t as cool as they used to be.

You know, the ol’:

For context, I was standing up our procurement function from scratch. We were a private-equity backed firm and looking to be purchased. It was an unique time and working closely with legal opened my eyes to how important a role they played. Too often procurement pros often only see this relationship from a purchasing perspective, but to see them more holistically is critical to creating a successful partnership.

Like us, legal teams are often lean and tasked with doing everything for everyone. One minute they’re reviewing a vendor contract and the next a sales contract. And in the case of a potential merger or sale, they review due diligence on other companies. Again, a lot with a little.

This is why it’s so important to partner and build together. Procurement and legal teams are naturally connected through contracts. And because each function does so much for the business, it’s important to have a strong foundational relationship. That means open communication and transparency. Without it, you’re working in the dark. Hello, black box.

What’s also helpful are simple, easy to use workflows between the two departments. Modern technology has helped tremendously here. It gets both teams out of antiquated tools and working together in a shared platform. They can see what each other is working on, make edits, share work, find deadlines, and complete contracts together.

There’s strength in teamwork. We’ve seen it play out in sports. Winning teams have a knack for bringing together people with different strengths and collectively supporting one another. No different in a business setting.

Reminds me of this quote:

“If you want to go fast, go alone, if you want to go far, go together”

Time to lawyer up.

See you next week,

Mat

ps. I’m hosting a webinar tomorrow with Tom Mills and Laura Garcia about this very topic, come join us!