Issue link: https://epubs.iltanet.org/i/74024
Article Title Goes Here "What about a document or some email messages that lay out what the goals, scope and deliverables are for the project. Do you have that?" "Oh, no. That wouldn't be possible. They keep changing." "Alright. Do you have anything that shows what the budget is supposed to be and what the firm expects from its investment?" "No. Sorry." The conclusion that we inevitably come to is that the clients should not be surprised that they have failed projects. Their approach is akin to taking a road trip without knowing where they are, where they're going, what vehicle they will be driving, how much money they have, how many people will be going with them, or even if anyone has a driver's license. This isn't a good idea for a vacation, and it's not a good idea for a project. While "project management" as a concept has become much more accepted in recent years, projects large and small — initiated in any department — have been a fact of life in law firms for a very long time. They just hadn't been recognized as such. What has changed is that more firms now recognize that the effective delivery of their administrative initiatives, as well as their client work, can save their firms time and money, and that the appropriate level of project management contributes to that effective delivery. Every project can benefit from effective and appropriate project management processes, but project management for its own sake can be both boring and counterproductive. The challenge, therefore, is to determine the level of process ILTA White Paper 15