Most agreement workflows weren’t built for how teams actually work today. They're full of handoffs, disconnected tools, and outdated processes that waste time and frustrate everyone involved. 

What’s worse is that fixing these workflows often gets deprioritized because they live in the background—until something breaks.

But this stuff matters. Agreements are where business happens. And when the process is slow, scattered, or error-prone, it creates friction at the moments that matter most.

Here are ways teams are rethinking the agreement process with smarter tools and clearer systems.

• Fix the front end of the process: Most agreement problems start with inconsistent or outdated data. Pulling from a reliable source of truth early on can prevent downstream issues. Docusign Agreement Preparation helps by pulling real-time data from systems like Salesforce or HubSpot directly into templates.

• Make version control effortless: Too many teams still rely on email attachments and spreadsheets. A shared, cloud-based hub helps everyone stay aligned and reduces friction. Workspaces keeps everything in one place with full visibility and collaboration across teams.

• Search shouldn't slow you down: Teams waste hours looking for the right contract or clause. Smarter search tools—especially ones that understand context—are game-changers. Navigator uses AI and natural language search so you can find the exact language you need fast.

• Workflows need to work without you: Automating repetitive steps (like notifications, approvals, and renewals) frees up time and reduces the risk of dropped balls. Maestro lets you build no-code workflows that move agreements from one step to the next automatically.

You can read more about these tactics and tools here. 

🎧 Community chat: Drop your thoughts or questions below—we’re all figuring this out together.

• What part of your agreement workflow feels most outdated—or unnecessarily manual?

• Are you using AI tools to handle contract search or review? How’s that going?

• If you could automate just one part of your agreement process tomorrow, what would it be?