Issue link: https://epubs.iltanet.org/i/34417
KM STRUGGLES TO SURVIVE WHILE LEGAL PROJECT MANAGEMENT THRIVES “Project management requires a structured approach to accomplish a set of deliverables” lawyers can create a plan to closing. Whether or not they can stick to it is a different discussion… Project management requires a structured approach to accomplish a set of deliverables. The Project Management Institute (PMI) defines a project as “a temporary endeavor undertaken to create a unique product or service” and project management as “the application of knowledge, skills, tools and techniques to project activities to meet project objectives.” While textbook definitions are helpful, the reality is that project management is part art, part science — a combination of people management and the management of various factors such as scope, time, cost, risk, quality and communication. It can also be described as a toolbox to be used as appropriate. Not every project requires every single tool, which makes it highly scalable. To compare it to construction, truly unique projects such as Three Gorges Dam and the Channel Tunnel require a much higher degree of project management oversight as compared with the construction of a four-bedroom detached house that is largely formulaic and repeatable. Similarly, in the context of legal services, pharmaceutical class actions require far more project oversight as compared with the commercial lending deal that already has a term sheet supplied. According to PMI, projects can be divided into 4 phases: initiation, planning, (controlled) execution and closing. Initiation is the phase in which project participants attempt to answer the question “Should we do this?” In the context of a law firm engagement, initiation is pretty simple: Has the client signed an engagement letter and has the lawyer done a conflict check? Planning in LPM is no different from the traditional PM context as it is the phase during which it is agreed what the final deliverables www.iltanet.org Knowledge Management 49