Digital White Papers

KMMKT20

publication of the International Legal Technology Association

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I L T A W H I T E P A P E R | K N O W L E D G E M A N A G E M E N T & M A R K E T I N G T E C H N O L O G Y 31 The change of the profession and market conditions has shifted the role of the knowledge manager significantly. The line is blurred between managing knowledge, leading innovation projects, and being a technical expert. Adding to the challenge, the need to focus on what can comfortably be called "traditional" knowledge tasks (managing DMS, organizing precedents, running portals, leading document automation efforts, etc.) remains just as important. There is now an additional requirement to become comfortable with a wide range of disciplines and new initiatives. Many of these new initiatives aren't new concepts. They are often transformational changes to existing workflows, dramatically morphed by development in technology. Some examples include leveraging data analytics, better-using litigation analytics, and leveraging transaction management platforms to collaborate with and provide transparency to clients actively. What's the impact of all this? It means as a business, you should be aware of the role/impact the knowledge function will have on training users, selecting & implementing "traditional" IT projects, and driving digital transformation and innovation at the firm. Indeed, the KM professionals can sometimes be seen with "innovation" appended to their titles. The function will continue to evolve and will continue to play a significant role in the delivery of legal services. Projects for all maturity Regardless of whether the KM function at your firm has been delivering value for decades, or was something that was spun up just this year - it's vital to have a project pipeline that supports business decisions. Irrespective of resources - whether you are a KM team of one or one hundred - it can be challenging to determine the effort required for projects. To help, below is a framework to vet the importance of projects, and three example projects to suit all maturities. F R AM EWO RK In thinking about any KM project/initiative, it's important to keep the value stream in mind. This includes the steps and processes from the start of the creation process to delivering output to the client (internal or external). At a minimum, I would recommend asking the following questions: 1. What problem are we trying to solve?: it is often too easy to dive into the project before understanding the problem - ensure that you understand the problem before rushing to find the solution. 2. What business decision will this project help support?: is there a tangible business impact to be realized by solving the problem; 3. How can we measure the impact/result?: what are input and output points; 4. What technology can be leveraged?: this could be pre-owned technology or yet to be procured; 5. What insights will the solution produce? And how can this be converted into repeatable knowledge?: one way to think about this is to consider the desired output(s) (as the saying goes 'begin with the end in mind'); 6. Who needs to be involved?: mapping stakeholders early will ensure alignment.

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