publication of the International Legal Technology Association
Issue link: https://epubs.iltanet.org/i/550988
ILTA WHITE PAPER: JULY 2015 WWW.ILTANET.ORG 13 By this point, you will have built the foundation for change while assessing your environment by asking lawyers about their pain points and what changes they would welcome most. The communication strategy focuses on capturing and maintaining lawyer engagement. A good communication plan addresses the following questions: • Is our audience supportive, undecided, uninterested or hostile? • How will we articulate the benefits of KM? • How will we respond to lawyers who ask, "What is in it for me?" • What barriers obstruct change in our organization, and how will we overcome them? • What risks are associated with change, and how will we mitigate them? Even when simplifying and improving cumbersome and ineffective work processes, a familiar process with all its crazy workarounds might be preferred to changing a daily routine. Part of communicating will involve reporting on success, so the last step before embarking on your KM initiative will be to determine what metrics you will use to measure success. Metrics are critical to accountability and demonstrating return on investment. Unfortunately, KM's benefits often are intangible and difficult to articulate. Take heart, though; effective methods exist. When launching a technology, tool or resource, make sure you can generate usage statistics. Capture and communicate anecdotes and success stories when significant projects are completed, and follow up with more at regular intervals. IMPLEMENT THE PLAN The culmination of all your visioning, mapping, strategizing and planning is implementation. This is an excellent time to circle back and make certain you still have sufficient buy-in and support, because you never can have too many KM champions. People come and go in firms, and you do not want to finally wade into implementation only to find that your key promoters have moved on to other interests or places. Take this last opportunity to drum up additional enthusiasm. When you are ready to advance your first KM strategy or project, implementation should include: • Assessing your available resources and assigning explicit tasks; making sure everyone on the team knows who is doing what • Scheduling regular team meetings to ensure everything is moving forward • Vigilantly promoting KM throughout the organization, continuously communicating KM's value • Delivering quick wins and boasting broadly, frequently and loudly GET COOKIN' Remember: KM is never done. Successful KM entails continuous reassessments, gathering and actively listening to feedback, and changing course when warranted. Like good cooking, designing good KM involves doing the prep work, assembling the ingredients, measuring properly, following each step and adjusting to taste along the way. Bon appétit! A RECIPE FOR SUCCESS: COOKING UP KM FROM SCRATCH