The quarterly publication of the International Legal Technology Association
Issue link: https://epubs.iltanet.org/i/34686
BEST PRACTICES Learning professionals can be strategic contributors to law firms positioning themselves for 2020’s “new normal.” Once the Office 2010 deployments are past us, we predict many firms will begin to focus on ways to ensure the firms are leveraging existing technology to create optimal organizational performance. That begins with creating agile and adaptive performance support mechanics. It also means creating internal performance consultants, or business analysts, who study and observe the various practice groups and work teams to gain understanding of their needs. Once the needs are identified, these consultants can prescribe new or existing technologies, workflows and skills development for teams and individuals. Trainers who have been in the traditional “sage on the stage” role can become more ingrained in the business of the firm and make it their number-one priority to tie all learning to the business needs of the learners. This will be an incredibly valuable role in the firm of 2020. GETTING STARTED There is a lot of work to be done to reinvent the learning programs in law firms. Here are some ideas for getting started: • Brainstorm ways to push the learning resources to learners, when and where they need them • Work with professional development and human resources on the big picture of developing a learning culture • Look at the new-hire moment and determine what parts could lend themselves to informal learning • Get “social” with the firm’s LMS and learning portals and find ways to allow peer-to-peer ratings and comments • Research ways to identify peer experts in the firm • Start with just one or two new concepts and learning assets and explore how they might work • Optimize learning content so that it is searchable and quickly discoverable “in the moment” of need • Create a performance consulting proof-of-concept with one work team • Link the training team into what the KM group is doing with SharePoint and other knowledge-base and sharing technologies According to Hildebrandt Baker Robbins’ 2011 Client Advisory, 81 percent of firms surveyed in 2010 expected to increase investments to make their practices more efficient. And 76 percent ranked the areas of innovation in talent acquisition, training and management as particularly important, while 64 percent ranked practice tools and technology to be of particular importance. Are the years leading up to 2020 really to be considered “The Learning Decade?” Learning2020 sees law firm management learning new models and new ways to compete for and service clients. It sees lawyers learning new concepts like Legal Project Management (LPM). It sees administrative staff learning new roles and skillsets. It sees technology teams learning emerging technologies for KM, LPM, collaboration, practice management and so on. It sees trainers learning about new modes of learning, like social, mobile and consultative. So, yes, learning will be a critical and strategic component of the successful law firm in the year 2020. ILTA Char LeMaire is Chief Learning Officer and principal of Traveling Coaches. A co-founder of the company, Char heads up the company’s talented team of learning specialists, content developers, user experience consultants and futurists. Considered to be the “trainer’s trainer,” Char travels the country consulting law firms on developing learning programs designed to effectively communicate change and teach technology best practices to the legal user community. Char and her team are focused on developing solutions designed for “Next Generation Learning” in law firms. She can be reached at clemaire@travelingcoaches.com. 22 www.iltanet.org Peer to Peer Brie Stampe serves as Director of Market Strategies at Traveling Coaches, where she leads the company’s strategic marketing and research efforts. Pairing 11 years of legal technology experience with an expertise in user adoption and change management, Brie works to explore trends and collaboratively define the changing needs of legal technology learners, striving to create the movement toward “Next Generation Learning” in law firms. Brie has an MBA from Thunderbird with a concentration in global strategic marketing and business intelligence. She can be reached at bstampe@travelingcoaches.com.