Reprinted from the May 2002 issue of "Lexpert, the business magazine for lawyers." Used with Permission
Cashing in on your KM Investment
by Dan C.
Felean |
Printer Friendly Version
Anyone who has taken on a knowledge management
(KM) project in a law firm knows that creating an effective process is
easier said than done. The grander the scale of the project, the more
likely it will encounter obstacles. With experience, KM professionals have
realized that knowledge management is more of a people-centric process
than an information management project. Success is determined by the
vigorous participation of the majority. Therefore focusing on how the
individual interacts with knowledge is essential.
When the individual is a busy lawyer, there are additional challenges. Any KM process that requires additional time and effort from the professional or interferes with the way he or she works will reduce the likelihood of participation. A law firm needs to think through every step of the process to consider how to make it evident, easy and natural for the individual to participate.
Connecting People to Knowledge
The return on investment (ROI) in
knowledge management comes from connecting people to the key information
and expertise they need, when they need it. After you invest the
substantial time and effort necessary to create a valuable repository of
knowledge (notes, precedents, expertise, etc.), how can you be sure that
your lawyers will notice, find and use what is there?
One would think that delivering the information to
lawyers would be the easy part. After all, lawyers are trained to work
with multiple reference tools. Yet gaining acceptance for a new source of
knowledge can be difficult.
Building a reservoir of knowledge is not enough.
If you assume that lawyers will treat an internal knowledge base like any
other library resource, you may miss the mark. This new source of
information has to compete for the lawyer’s attention along with many
other sources.
So, after you launch the knowledge system and
distribute the memo, don’t be surprised that most people will revert to
old habits unless they are consistently reminded of new resources. This is
not the fault of lawyers. We all tend to forget about a new resource
unless it is proximate and evident in our daily routines.
Also, unlike a published reference book, your
knowledge base is dynamic and constantly growing with the experience of
the firm. What if a lawyer checks the new source and sees nothing
immediately useful? Will he or she remember or bother to check again for
new information?
Notification Connects the User
A dynamic knowledge management system
needs a built-in notification system that advises users of new relevant
contributions as they are posted. It is not enough to simply file new
knowledge in a database. To tap the full potential of your knowledge
initiative, users need to be immediately notified.
A notification system is different from a delivery
system. The role of a notification system is to unobtrusively alert users
to newly posted information, precedents, knowledge notes, etc., that are
relevant to their area of practice or interest. It leaves the information
in the knowledge base where it is classified and categorized for long-term
use. Much like a notice in an extranet, it says “There is something you
should see on this topic, so go to this area to view it.” However it does
not clutter your system with that information, it simply points to it.
So, what are the right circumstances that facilitate vigorous lawyer contribution and participation in the KM process? Let's look at the four most important factors: Timeliness (When), Proximity (Where), Simplicity (How) and Payback (Why).
Knowledge Feeds and Subscriptions
Even a knowledge notification
system would be too disruptive if it delivered notice of every new
knowledge entry to every user. Too much information can be as much a
problem as not enough. Therefore, a filtering subscription system must go
hand-in-hand with the notification process. Knowledge subscriptions allow
the individual to control the types and categories of knowledge he or she
wishes to receive.
The model for knowledge subscription dates back to
“clipping” services, where a company would monitor and clip any mention of
its name or that of its competitors. “Push” technologies, developed for
the Internet, now allow for automatic selection and delivery based on the
pre-existing subscription choices of the user. This is the model for
establishing knowledge subscriptions and feeds in your internal knowledge
management system. When an item is posted to a knowledge category, each
subscriber to that category should receive automatic notification without
human intervention.
How can knowledge feeds and subscriptions improve
your knowledge delivery system? Let’s look at five fundamental criteria
for effective knowledge management:
1. Timeliness. In a notification
system, the latest entries are highlighted for attention, so you can
target the most current information. If you ignore the notifications, the
entries still become part of the knowledge base for ongoing reference.
2. Proximity. Notifications are
quite portable, so they should appear where you are most likely to see
them. Depending on your system, a notification can be placed in your
e-mail, in a special folder, on your intranet, on your desktop, etc.
3. Simplicity. By separating the
notification from the actual knowledge entry, the knowledge user is
removed from the storage and classification tasks.
4. Control. Voluntary
subscriptions allow the user to control the volume and frequency of
notifications to suit his or her style of work or practice. Essentially, a
subscription is a “permission-based” knowledge system.
5. Quick payback. With a simple
subscription, a lawyer can stay connected to growing knowledge without
changing work habits and without disrupting work.
Law firms must find innovative methods to
incorporate knowledge sharing as part of the lawyer’s normal work, so the
process becomes self-sustaining. By integrating knowledge feeds into the
daily flow of information, the law firm can create an obvious, easy and
natural means for lawyers to become aware, consume and leverage the
collective knowledge of the firm.
Dan C. Felean a principal of PensEra Knowledge Technologies, a national consulting firm that specializes in knowledge management strategies and technologies for law firms and corporate law departments. See www.pensera.com.
