Digital White Papers

37 WWW.ILTANET.ORG | ILTA WHITE PAPER KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT Cultivating a Sharing Organization: Incentives That Really Work Teams of lawyers pitch ideas for new ways to deliver legal services using online tools, and the practice group chair and CKO select winners. (CKO). If a timekeeper failed to complete a project in a satisfactory manner (or at all), hours entered under the billable maer number assigned to the project would be transferred to a non-billable number or wrien off or down. Although generally required to be completed within a fiscal year, projects could receive approval for a multi-year duration; credit in these cases would be awarded for an interim fiscal year. Geing projects from idea to execution was kept simple. The firm was the client, and a client number was created for all KM projects. Anyone interested in working on a project would submit to the KM department head a memorandum that: » Described the proposed project » Identified the timekeepers to be tasked with completing the project » Estimated an overall budget Every project also needed to identify a practice group leader as a sponsor. The head of KM and the associated practice group chair reviewed and approved projects, which then received a maer number. Once work started, timekeepers billed all time to the newly created maer with time entries describing the work performed in detail. The head of KM managed the program. The CKO continues to serve as director of all projects and receives pre-bills every month for each project, just like any other maer in the firm. Each pre-bill is reviewed to verify all time entries warrant the credit; any that do not identify the work done are wrien down or off. Timekeepers have learned that Venture Fund client maer numbers are not a place to park hours. Building Innovation into the Firm's DNA In its early years, the Venture Fund Program focused heavily on creating forms and practice guides and developing online portal sites. Labor and employment, mergers and acquisitions, and health care litigation were the first practices to tap into the program –– each had a need triggered by the type of work and emerging alternative pricing arrangements. Labor and employment developed over 50 practice guides, while mergers and acquisitions created over 30 forms. Health care litigation streamlined the portal for more efficient teamwork and beer data-sharing. The Venture Fund Program provided working aorney credit to roughly 45 timekeepers. With changing client demands from 2007 to 2009, KM went from a nice-to-have to a must-have, and the submissions to the Venture Fund Program nearly doubled, causing demand for management to expand substantially. KM aorneys were added to serve as liaisons for the practice groups and manage all Venture Fund projects. Content continued to focus on forms, practice guides and portal sites, but projects also expanded into document assembly and training materials. During these years, the Venture Fund Program provided credit to over 60 timekeepers annually. Baker Donelson decided to substantially broaden the program in 2010 to support more initiatives needing timekeeper participation. Extending the program beyond KM to support legal project management and other efforts to enhance client services and further economic and professional interests, the program soon covered the development of market opportunities and strategic or tactical initiatives. To manage the overarching program, the firm created a Strategic Planning Commiee, which delegated authority to the

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