COLLABORATIVE DECISION MAKING IN CONTRACT DOCUMENTS
A method implemented at least in part by a computing device for presenting a contract document for collaborative decision making comprises displaying a contract document, providing an interface adjacent the contract document for initiating a collaborative discussion activity, receiving a designation of at least one clause of the contract for collaboration and at least one recipient to be invited to participate in the collaborative discussion activity, receiving a call for a decision to be made relating to the at least one clause of the contract, sending the call for the decision to the at least one recipient in a communication, and updating a database to store at least the communication, an identity of a sender and the at least one recipient and any discussion or decision received in response to the communication.
1 . A method, implemented at least in part by one or more computing devices, for presenting a contract document for collaborative decision making, the method comprising:
displaying a contract document;
providing an interface adjacent the contract document for initiating a collaborative discussion activity;
receiving, within the interface, a designation of at least one clause of the contract for collaboration and at least one recipient to be invited to participate in the collaborative discussion activity;
receiving, within the interface, a call for a decision to be made relating to the at least one clause of the contract;
sending the call for the decision to the at least one recipient in a communication; and
updating a database to store at least the communication, an identity of a sender and the at least one recipient and any discussion or decision received in response to the communication.
2 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising receiving a decision comprising an approval of the at least one clause of the contract, and automatically updating the contract to include the at least one clause.
3 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising receiving a request to re-open decision making, and prompting at least one recipient for a decision.
4 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising sending the recipient a reminder communication if the recipient's response to the communication is not received within a desired time period.
5 . The method of claim 2 , wherein receiving a designation of at least one clause of the contract comprises specifying a clause with the displayed contract document by highlighting the clause and dragging the clause to a field of the interface adjacent to the contract document.
6 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the communication to the at least one recipient comprises voting buttons.
7 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the communication to the at least one recipient comprises pro and con tables.
8 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising displaying SWOT analyses for use in decision making.
9 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising presenting at least one polling question to the recipient.
10 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the at least one recipient comprises multiple recipients, further comprising receiving responses from the recipients and displaying a tally of the decisions in the responses.
11 . One or more computer-readable storage media storing computer-executable instructions for causing a computing device to present a contract for collaborative decision making, the instructions comprising:
receiving a designation of at least one clause of a contract stored in memory;
receiving a designation of at least one recipient;
initiating a communication related to the at least one clause of the contract to the at least one recipient;
prompting the recipient for a decision related to the at least one clause of the contract;
receiving a response to the communication from the recipient, the response including a decision; and
storing the communication, response and decision.
12 . A method of presenting on a display a user interface for collaborative decision making on a contract, the method comprising:
presenting the contract document such that a user can designate a clause of the contract document; and
in response to input from the user, initiating a separate discussion panel visible adjacent the contract document.
13 . The method of claim 12 , wherein the input from the user is actuating a discussion button or icon.
14 . The method of claim 12 , further comprising displaying a topic field in the separate discussion panel for the user to specify a topic.
15 . The method of claim 12 , further comprising displaying a content field within the separate discussion panel for the user to specify a contract clause for discussion with recipients.
16 . The method of claim 12 , further comprising displaying a recipients fields within the separate discussion panel for the user to specify one or more recipients of a communication initiating a collaborative decision making session about the contract clause.
17 . The method of claim 12 , further comprising receiving an input from a user to generate an activity and generating the activity, the activity being a separately trackable event.
18 . The method of claim 17 , wherein the activity is automatically updated with any decisions made by recipients.
19 . The method of claim 17 , wherein the activity is automatically updated and displayed with decision history.
20 . The method of claim 17 , wherein, following communication of decision and updating of the activity, further comprising presenting recipients with a control actuatable to re-open a decision.