Digital White Papers

29 WWW.ILTANET.ORG | ILTA WHITE PAPER KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT » Incorporate in an existing department: Larger firms and legal departments, as well as successful initiatives ready to expand, may decide to incorporate the innovation function into an existing department such as KM or IT. In this scenario you need to carefully monitor the risk of innovation becoming diluted or under-resourced if the department already works at capacity or lacks the requisite skills and expertise to do it justice. » Create a separate department: A separate unit or department with its own mandate, core team and budget could be created. This allows the department to define its strategy based on its understanding of the organization and its clients and from there develop projects, processes and expertise. If you choose to establish a separate department you will need to consider its relationship to the organization as a whole. Some law firms have developed internal innovation departments whose clients are the firm's practice groups, other business departments and external clients. A handful have created separate but related entities that source their own work, drive their own revenue and build and sell products. Still others have instituted both an internal, project- focused department and an external entity to build and sell stand- alone products. Staffing the Initiative Every innovation initiative needs two engaged sources of support, namely top leadership and grassroots champions. Leadership's support signals commitment to innovation and helps combat the » Create a team: The firm might create a commiee of interested, knowledgeable people tasked with leading the initiative, choosing the first several projects, pulling appropriate people into specific projects and obtaining funding as needed. This structure oen includes a dedicated pool of money from which projects with a compelling business case can draw. » Center in a leader: Smaller firms or legal departments may choose to dedicate one person to lead the initiative and report directly to a senior leader or commiee. A Practical Guide to Disciplined Innovation and Other Oxymorons

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