P2P

44 P E E R T O P E E R : I L T A ' S Q U A R T E R L Y M A G A Z I N E | F A L L 2 0 2 1 practice is to send around a "PTI" email, but those might leave the sender still adrift with no responses or leads. Do you have faster, more efficient ways to find your experienced firm professionals? Beyond the individual level—do you know which departments do what, or at least, where to start your search? Understanding our firm's human talent means knowing how to find out who has the experience you need. Even on our own teams, in this day of digital work, we might only know our teammates as a frame on a Zoom call or a headshot on Skype, and miss out on the chance to learn about each other's skills. A KM department with several teams can benefit from collaborating and communicating with each other, ultimately ensuring that we are making sure the client is getting the best help our firm can provide. How does your department learn about the firm's human talent—both in the firm at large and within your own teams? Encouraging adoption of time- and cost-saving innovations Law firms may have access to incredible technologies—but are employees properly using those technologies? If you have access to tools to help you write briefs, for example, do attorneys remember these tools exist when it comes time to draft their motions? New hires might receive training on a plethora of resources—but sometimes they only learn about the available legal tools in their first week, when they are at a risk of information-overload. Is your firm engaging in follow-up trainings and outreach? Are you delivering knowledge about available tools at the time attorneys and staff need to hear it? Encouraging adoption of time- and cost-saving innovations is a constant process. The legal industry is admittedly not known for its nimbleness or ability to change, and it can be discouraging to feel like we are shouting into a void about available innovations and no one is using them. As KM professionals, however, knowledge-sharing is our job, and we should keep at it because our clients are counting on us to help our colleagues use the best tools for the job. How is your department encouraging your colleagues to adopt new technologies? What kind of communications do you send, and how do you know if they are effective? Creating systems where the firm's knowledge can be efficiently leveraged Law firms may have vast stores of knowledge—but what if that knowledge is contained in individual brains? What happens when your experts leave or retire? We can't use valuable knowledge to help our clients if we can't access it. F E A T U R E S "Law firms may have vast stores of knowledge— but what if that knowledge is contained in individual brains?"

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