Digital White Papers

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 21 F U T U R E O F K N O W L E D G E M A N A G E M E N T : F R O M T H E P E R S P E C T I V E O F T H E N E X T G E N E R A T I O N O F I N D U S T R Y L E A D E R S W H A T D O Y O U T H I N K W I L L D R I V E C O L L A B O R A T I O N W I T H O T H E R D E P A R T M E N T S A N D S E R V I C E P R O V I D E R S ? The need to deliver quality solutions and thought leadership. KM is a cross functional discipline; it is naive and arrogant to assume you can do KM effectively without collaboration. It's a business imperative now and will become more so in the next five years. KM professionals who want to work directly with clients will find many more pathways to do so in the near future, as firms expand client-facing technolo and knowledge offerings. KM professionals who are also technologists will increasingly be sought after as more and more KM projects have technolo components and have to 'play nice' with other firm systems. MB AR H O W D O Y O U T H I N K T H O S E C H A N G E S W I L L I M P A C T T H E C L I E N T E X P E R I E N C E ? Clients will have transparency in a way they never have before. They will be able to see work getting done at their law firm, not just by attorneys, but staff as well, and see how their legal team is interacting with other providers they use (accountants, legal staffing companies, etc.). There will be more touch points between clients and their law firms, across all levels. I anticipate the coming changes will greatly enhance the client experience, as the maturation of KM functions will enable law firms to not just provide sounder legal and business advice, but also to do so much faster and much cheaper. An increase in value- added services (e.g., free legal summaries, reports, whitepapers, dashboards, training materials, etc.), AR ES often prepared or maintained by KM personnel, will further benefit clients (and increase client stickiness). Clients will also be the beneficiaries of increased transparency in the way their matters are handled, the way their cases are staffed, and the way they are paying for those services, with law firm portals providing even greater insights and analytics into the clients' litigation experience, both current and historical. W H A T A D V I C E W O U L D Y O U G I V E A K M P R O F E S S I O N A L T O B E P O S I T I O N E D F O R F U T U R E S U C C E S S ? Network with peers inside and outside of KM in legal and ideally other industries; be curious and interested in continuous learning across disciplines; read and follow thought leaders. You need to be a pragmatic strategic leader who understands cultural constraints. If the firm for whom you work doesn't have a professional development budget, find one that does. The shift from "management" to "leadership" will require even closer collaboration across the entire enterprise. Specialists will contribute context from their areas with KM professionals at the center of it all, transforming data into information and, ultimately, into intelligence. To prepare for this future, these KM professionals will need to understand as much MB KC You need to be a pragmatic strategic leader who understands cultural constraints. If the firm for whom you work doesn't have a professional development budget, find one that does.

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