By Evgeniya Fedoseeva, Director of Knowledge Management at OneAdvanced
Knowledge management (KM) is not a new discipline for law firms, where lawyers routinely process hundreds of words and sentences as they support clients with the best legal advice, thus elevating their own personal and organisational reputation and brand. The challenge can be finding quick and efficient ways to locate, process, and contribute accurate and relevant knowledge that is pertinent to each case.
The process of knowledge management may sound straightforward, but executing the process well is not easy. KM is like an ecosystem of information held within an organisation – its internal intelligence engine composed of technological solutions, content cycles, data, processes and procedures, as well as human behaviours.
Effective knowledge management therefore relies on many factors for success. First and foremost, it requires a collaborative organisational culture and way of working, enabling legal professionals to leverage all of the organisational and individual knowledge held with the firm.
Traditionally, many successful legal experts have leveraged the power garnered by their experience to secure the best cases and clients, to further their own career progression, and enhance remuneration accordingly. If they decided to change employers, their knowledge then left with them.
“Leveraging combined organisational wisdom in a collaborative way will help to achieve maximum impact and growth”
For law firms seeking to future-proof expertise, they must seek to break the legacy of previous human behaviours and encourage an organisational mindset shift among all individuals. Leveraging combined organisational wisdom in a collaborative way will help to achieve maximum impact and growth.
Effective knowledge management therefore requires a change in the organisational culture – from siloed operations and ways of working to a connected and cross-functional collaboration between teams and individuals.
There is no place for knowledge hoarding if the firm wants to differentiate in the market fast.
Verified knowledge and expertise built upon collaborative experiences have an increasingly elevated status within firms where the practice of knowledge management is now a key part of the business process for ambitious legal practitioners.
“There is no place for knowledge hoarding”
Successfully navigating the shift from knowledge held by individuals to a fully collective access to a knowledge system enables firms to benefit from all the experience and information held in the organisation. It can help set the entire firm apart as a force to be reckoned with – no longer the home of a very few ‘superstar’ lawyers, and instead a source of powerful, transformative, collective legal intelligence, where every lawyer can be exceptional.
Effective knowledge management ensures everyone can learn from the experience and expertise of others. To succeed, firms must establish an authentic KM culture with behaviours modelled by leaders– in their conversations, and in their actions as they demonstrate the practices that they want all of their teams to adopt, until the process becomes easy, automatic, and part of everyday workflows.
A knowledge management expert – a dedicated Chief Knowledge Officer or similar – can help firms to foster this new approach and cultural shift. In a sector where billable hours drive income, no lawyer can afford to waste valuable time hunting down crucial information.
“In a sector where billable hours drive income, no lawyer can afford to waste valuable time hunting down crucial information.”
OneAdvanced’s recent research shows there is a big issue with fee earners failing to actualise billable hour targets. The largest group in the survey, 33%, say they only achieve between half and three-quarters (51-75%) of their targets. This highlights the imperative for firms to adopt effective knowledge management now.
Of course, it is crucial that firms develop simple processes to ensure new ways of working are not seen as onerous add-ons, taking up even more precious billable time. Implementing easily repeatable processes with carefully curated templates and guided workflows can simplify and accelerate knowledge creation and sharing processes, helping standardise them so they become automatic for all users.
Effective knowledge management is critical for improved organisational productivity and increased innovation. It flourishes within an authentic culture of collaboration, where a learning and sharing mindset is embraced by everyone from leaders and ‘star’ lawyers to new starters and legal support professionals. Individuals, firms, and clients all benefit. Put simply, everyone’s a winner.
Evgeniya Fedoseeva
Director of Knowledge Management
OneAdvanced
