publication of the International Legal Technology Association
Issue link: https://epubs.iltanet.org/i/355985
ILTA WHITE PAPER: JULY 2014 WWW.ILTANET.ORG 31 initiatives (i.e., look back over the past three months, and it might be hard to discern much change; look back over the past three years and see the transformational effect of KM). However, KM must also deliver value. This requires a delicate balance between tactical value — quick wins — and longer-term investment, not to mention an ability to hold steady in the face of often intense management pressure. If you react to this pressure by relinquishing the longer-term goal in favor of short-term expedience, your wheels will soon be spinning in a quagmire. You must be able to understand and connect all activities, both short- and long-term, to the firm's overall strategy and value proposition. Just as important, you must be able to communicate this connection easily and succinctly to anyone who asks. LISTEN, BUT BEWARE THE ECHO CHAMBER Listen carefully to what your stakeholders are saying and ensure they have the full picture. In many firms, the primary direct beneficiaries of good KM initiatives are not the senior fee earners who have the ear of the leadership. Though the firm as a whole obviously benefits from any improvement in quality, efficiency, consistency and risk management, if a particular problem is not obvious to senior fee earners, they might not appreciate the need to invest in addressing it. It comes back to gathering evidence — the right evidence — to fill gaps in information or perception and to inform the process of defining value for your organization. Looking for significant pain points that might not be uniform across all levels of the business — or apparent at all at the decision-making level — you can often uncover opportunities for significant process improvement and associated efficiency gains. EXPERIMENT TO FIND WHAT WORKS BEST In many firms, KM is about efficiency, but it is also about capacity-building, which involves organizational development. Learning from experimentation to drive innovation is a critical aspect of capacity-building. New approaches and prototype systems must be tried out in context so they can be assessed, adjusted and, where necessary, abandoned in favor of a more effective alternative. Being able to do this in the high- octane, high-performance environment of a law firm requires strong persuasion skills as well as an ability to stand your ground. SIGNAL TO NOISE: LOCATE AND FOCUS ON VALUE AMID COMPLEXITY Case Study: Getting the Input Footprint Right A recent comprehensive review of document production efficiency in our firm involved a broader than usual sample of opinion about pain points and measures for change. When the results were presented to senior stakeholders internally, it was clear the extent of some of the "pain" associated with various inefficient work practices had previously been masked by decision makers. The reasons for this are complex, having to do with the culture and expectations. By expanding the project input beyond the usual quorum of influential practice leaders and IT functional heads to include focus groups of fee earners and support staff across a diversity of roles and geographies, previously invisible inefficiencies were exposed. The process improvement and technology enhancement measures arising from this review stand a much better chance of having a genuine positive impact on operational efficiency — as well as improving engagement and reducing frustration — than previous exercises.