Total and Vocal

“ Total and vocal “ is the kind of support needed from senior management for knowledge management to succeed. In this part of her continuing series, Gretta Rusanow * looks at how knowledge management and business objectives must go together.

Gretta Rusanow

To succeed at knowledge management (KM), law firms must make a substantial investment in time, resources and cultural change. A law firm must be clear on how KM facilitates the achievement of its business objectives to ensure that this investment delivers an even more significant return on investment.

Before embarking on a KM program, law firms should define their business strategy and objectives and then define a KM that is aligned with the business strategy and objectives. For example, understanding whether a firm’s focus is on increasing market share in specific areas, leveraging existing client relationships or creating a more satisfying work environment for staff will influence the KM program at the firm.

Once a law firm has articulated its business objectives, it is then in a position to develop a proper KM strategy.

knowledge management strategy

The KM strategy should provide a blueprint for the firm’s approach to KM over a three to five year timeline. The most successful law firms take a phased approach to KM, understanding that building a leading KM environment takes several years.

The strategy should describe the objectives of KM, closely aligned with the business objectives of the firm. It should also describe the firm’s current approach to KM and critical success factors impacting the implementation of the strategy. Leading law firms around the world take a holistic approach to their KM strategies:

(1) defining the knowledge needs of lawyers;
(2) developing an organisational structure to support KM;
(3) creating a knowledge sharing culture; and
(4) developing a technology infrastructure to support the identification, capture, dissemination and use of knowledge.

The strategy should also describe the investment required to successfully implement KM initiatives and the desired outcomes.

management support, knowledge management team

To succeed at KM, firms must have the total and vocal support of management. Once management has articulated that KM is a key business driver, law firms should create a dedicated team to draft a KM strategy. The KM team should comprise senior, influential partners, together with staff who have a background in information science and information technology.

understand the firm’s knowledge needs

The KM team should then engage staff in the process of drafting the KM strategy for three key reasons. First, it is essential to understand what lawyers do and how they use knowledge to do it. Second, lawyers may already be implementing best practice KM initiatives within their practices that could benefit the whole firm. Third, a key challenge facing law firms is raising staff awareness about the value of KM to a law firm. Because KM often requires substantial cultural change to succeed, lawyers and staff need to understand how it benefits their working life, as well as the firm’s growth strategy.

The process of seeking staff input during the strategy development phase also engages staff in the later implementation phase. Staff feel part of the strategy development process and are therefore more likely to accept the inevitable cultural change that accompanies KM.

The best means of gaining the input of staff in developing the KM strategy is to conduct a series of focus sessions. The composition of focus sessions should reflect the culture of the firm. For example, if the law firm has a strong practice group-centric approach to its work, focus sessions should be practice group-centric. If a law firm is moving away from a regional culture to a national culture, focus sessions should involve staff from multiple regions.

The purpose of the focus sessions is primarily to understand how lawyers use knowledge to do their work and identify any best practices and specific opportunities to improve KM at the firm.

While the initial focus is on the needs of lawyers, law firms should not overlook the important perspective of support staff and key functions at the firm in framing the KM strategy. In particular, Human Resources, Learning & Development, Information Technology, Business Development and Finance are all sources of critical law firm knowledge. These functions also offer a business driven perspective on the KM needs of lawyers.

An important outcome of the focus sessions will be the identification of both firm-wide and practice area KM initiatives based on the identification of opportunities and existing best practices. Successful law firms understand that the knowledge needs of a specific practice group may not reflect the knowledge needs of the wider firm. This discrepancy does not diminish the importance of those needs for either the firm or the practice group. Typically, firms will develop a strategy that articulates a hybrid approach to KM ­ providing a firm-wide KM infrastructure with the flexibility to support both firm-wide and practice group specific knowledge needs.

draft the knowledge management strategy

The KM strategy should address specific scope, culture, organisation and technology issues relating to the firm, based on the findings from the focus sessions and the business objectives of the firm. Given the breadth of these areas, law firms should take a phased approach to implementing the KM strategy.

In the short term, typically a 12 month period, law firms should focus on building a solid foundation for KM and particularly, on raising awareness about the benefits of KM to the firm. Leading law firms focus on implementing “quick wins” ­ simple, high value KM initiatives that demonstrate how KM can improve how lawyers and staff work.

In the mid-term, typically during the 12-24 month period, law firms should focus on addressing fundamental challenges to KM, such as cultural barriers, inadequate KM staff, an under-utilised technology platform or a narrow definition of the scope of knowledge to be managed.

In the long term, firms should move to more sophisticated KM initiatives which enable the firm to meet its KM objectives and support and facilitate the firm’s business objectives.

* Gretta Rusanow is a lawyer and the CEO of Curve Consulting, a New York and Sydney based consultancy, where she advises law firms and law departments around the world on management and technology strategy. Gretta is regarded as a thought leader in legal industry knowledge management and speaks regularly on this subject in Australia, Asia, Europe and the US.

 

Global firm survey A global law firm knowledge management survey of 16 top tier firms from the US, the UK and Australia has recently been conducted by Curve Consulting. The survey is the most comprehensive study ever conducted of how leading law firms are approaching knowledge management. Key survey findings will appear in the next issue of e.law Practice.