38
WWW.ILTANET.ORG | ILTA WHITE PAPER
KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT
Cultivating a Sharing Organization: Incentives That Really Work
Over 115 timekeepers
were provided credit
annually between 2010
and 2015.
administrative department heads. Although nothing changed for the
KM department, other administrative teams could now use the same
incentives that proved successful for KM.
KM continued its internal focus on creating intellectual property
but extended its scope to include two areas:
» Online client service tools
» External training packages
Both required new policies and structural considerations
regarding working aorney credit and taking projects from idea to
execution.
When creating a tool or mobile application that could generate
revenue, the subject maer experts now had some skin in the game to
bring it to market. The firm began providing only 75 percent working
aorney credit to experts working on online service projects. When the
application sold, the Venture Fund would be replenished first, and the
SMEs would receive a percentage of each sale, regardless of originating
or responsible credit.
The firm also developed a matrix for analyzing online service
projects against market value; projects needed to demonstrate
availability in a substantial market not yet saturated and a depth of
subject maer expertise to continue supporting applications going to
market.
Within a few years, online services development took off just as
internal intellectual property development had previously. Lawyers
were clamoring for Venture Fund working aorney credit for every
possible idea, and over 115 timekeepers were provided credit annually
between 2010 and 2015. Submissions for projects substantially
increased yearly, with 2016 submissions seing a record of memoranda
to support projects exceeding $1.5 million dollars.
This extensive growth and development has led the firm to
a few more changes in the Venture Fund Program's structure and
overall investment decisions. All online service efforts must include
a marketing department liaison early in development to help with
branding and marketing materials as content is developed. Similarly, a
project to develop online training for firm members or clients should
engage the training department early on to help build associated
presentation materials. To protect the firm, a subsidiary, Mitigated
Risks LLC, was established to house the online service tools developed
