The quarterly publication of the International Legal Technology Association
Issue link: https://epubs.iltanet.org/i/21494
Going Native with Word? Better Beef Up Your Training Budget! involved? Are we sacrificing ease of use? Are the results consistent? Finally divide all the add-in components into three categories: those you can safely get rid of, those you anticipate needing in the foreseeable future and those in transition. It’s this last group that is most interesting to the training and support team. It may be that you can’t afford to eliminate a particular add-in as part of the upgrade, but the long-term goal is to transition to the native functionality. Rather than overloading the initial training class during a rollout, the training and support team can be charged with organically growing skills in the native tool, while beginning to wean the users off the add-in. As you evaluate your reliance upon third-party tools and start to put together a plan for your next migration, remember that functionality is not the only consideration. More important, remember that the goal is not just to survive from one software version to the next. The desktop is constantly evolving and it requires a vision that encompasses the desktop you will deploy today, as well as the one you would like to deploy tomorrow. By investing in training your users and focusing on building the skills required to take advantage of Word’s native functionality, you are taking control of that future desktop. Is there an app for that? ILTA ILTA Needs Your Expertise! We are always looking for ILTA members and vendors who are experts in specific areas of focus to speak at ILTA’s annual conference, at a seminar or webinar, at a regional meeting, or to author articles for our award-winning publications. If you are an expert in a particular area of focus, please enter your credentials in our Expertise Database — it will only take a moment and the benefits to ILTA members are immeasurable. Please visit the ILTA website at iltanet.org and click the login button. After logging in, you’ll arrive at the MyILTA page. Look for the link titled My Expertise on the right side of the screen, under the heading for My Participation. Please indicate the Areas of Focus you are MOST expert in speaking in or writing about and click Save. Note: if you do not have a login account to the ILTA website, you’ll find the option to create an account on the login screen. Jeffrey Roach is President of EncoreTech, where he works with top law firms and training departments around on the country on maximizing the value of their training and support dollars. He has been working with law firms for the past 20 years designing and delivering learning strategies. A frequent speaker on training and support topics, Jeffrey holds a B.A. degree from Depaul University and an M.A. from New York University. He can be reached at jroach@encoretech.com. Please contact TJ Johnson (tj@iltanet.org) if you have any questions or concerns. www.iltanet.org Peer to Peer the quarterly magazine of ILTA 63