P2P

25 I L T A N E T . O R G information in new ways. Drawing connections across documents and data sources, it finds and enables access to relevant information, from multiple sources, all delivered in a single search index – when and where it's needed. A glimpse of the far-reaching benefits can easily be seen in this example: If a lawyer is looking for firm merger agreements that relate to a specific industry, it is not likely that the document management system will have matter data at that level. Data on a variety of merger agreements will be easily found, but to narrow the scope to the particular information in need could require significant time and a tedious, manual process that is prone to human error. A Measure of Success Having new KM capabilities that present the right insights at the right time is one thing, but the ability to measure how the knowledge is being accessed by end users helps takes KM to a next level. Let's go back again to our tech giants like Amazon or Netflix. Part of what makes them so effective is that they can see how people are using the system, and then use that knowledge to refine the offering. In that way, there's built-in evolution towards a more advanced offering that better meets the needs of end users. Similarly, it's now possible for KM departments to monitor the usage of their system and use those insights to optimize how knowledge is being served up. What path are lawyers taking to get their hands on knowledge? What terms are they searching on? What results are they clicking on? What did people search for, but didn't find? It's now possible for KM managers to answer these questions. They can see which members of the firm are most active in using the knowledge management system, what type of searches they're carrying out, which results are being returned, and where there might be any gaps in content or other areas that require attention to enhance the flow of knowledge within the organization. We're already seeing law firms take a data-driven approach to KM. At Swiss law firm Walder Wyss, the knowledge management team can make statistical connections between users and data, which helps to identify "power users." This assists not just in uncovering and replicating best-practices and precedent document templates, but also in expanding usage across the organization. Additionally, data regarding what documents and knowledge are not being accessed on a regular basis helps guide improvements for how documents can be refined to better meet the needs of the firm's lawyers. All this means that rather than relying on casual observations about what documents and other knowledge assets its professionals find most valuable, Walder Wyss' knowledge management team can rely on data to see how people are using the system. This comprehensive data-driven approach allows for continual quality improvement and helps determine where they need to invest in content that will deliver "We're already seeing law firms take a data- driven approach to KM."

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