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Ten ideas to... measure success
I was inspired to write this series of short articles when I was facilitating a workshop on professional support lawyer (PSL) skills and challenges at Knowledge Network West last month. It was a privilege to see PSLs from various firms sharing their ideas, tips and techniques freely, in order to help to improve each others’ practice. Obviously not all the ideas were innovative and not all would work with different teams or in every practice area, but the PSLs at the workshop found it inspiring to spend some time exploring them. Hopefully you will, too.

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Supply and demand
In the last edition, I wrote a flowery article about two cultural hindrances to the flow of knowledge. First we looked at ‘tall poppy syndrome’ where people are reluctant to share for fear of getting ‘cut down’ by their peers. Then we explored ‘shrinking violet syndrome’, where people are overcome by a sense of corporate humility, and don’t believe that they have anything worthwhile to share with others.

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Ten ideas to... Improve your technical training
Don’t always train your team or department as a whole. Think about dividing them into different groups for different topics. Try mixed ability sessions (large and small) and single ability sessions, depending on the subject matter. Sometimes you will want to cascade down wisdom or experience from the partners to the junior staff and sometimes you simply need to bring everyone up to date on black-letter law. People can be reluctant to speak up in larger groups and sessions can be hijacked by certain fee earners: dividing groups up can minimise these problems.

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The genesis of iFreshfields
The concept of successful knowledge management (KM) has changed radically over the past 15 years along with the need for efficiency and improved profitability. Social networking and Web 2.0 tools enable like-minded people to collaborate remotely around the globe, which contributes to enhanced business performance and efficiency. As professional services firms rely heavily on the intellectual capabilities of their employees, improvements by such firms in the provision and accessibility of rich knowledge to their workers are critical to the delivery of effective business strategies and cost savings.

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Q&A
Harriet Creamer discusses how KM can help firms drive efficiency with respect to alternative billing arrangements

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Case study: Mills & Reeve
Before becoming KM partner at Mills & Reeve, Duncan Ogilvy spent a period as managing partner of the firm. Perhaps it is this dual experience that gives him a high-level strategic outlook that makes it easier for him to translate KM activities to broader business concerns such as succession planning. Although some might view succession planning as sitting outside of the box of traditional KM, Ogilvy not only views it as an essential business consideration, but one in which KM can offer some solutions. “Succession planning is a very serious consideration although I suspect that it often gets overlooked in all firms,” he says. “My particular responsibility is knowledge management and there are aspects of that experience that can be brought to the smooth running of a law firm – for example, in ways of avoiding reinventing the wheel or helping to make internal connections.”

Regular
Thought leader: Land of promise
The enduring market for legal services, with supply significantly exceeding demand, means that law firms are being challenged by their clients to deliver their services better, faster and cheaper than ever before. Impending deregulation seems set to be a further catalyst for this now established trend. A wide range of conversations with managing partners reveals that increased activity is not being commensurately matched with increased revenue. Firms are running harder to stand still and the long term prognosis for profitability is bleak, unless a different operating model can be introduced.

On your bikes
Everyone’s talking about the ‘Boris Bikes’ cycle hire scheme in London. If you work in the City you have no doubt seen the docking stations popping up all over the place – and an impressive number of people whizzing about, with briefcases secured in the front baskets and lights flashing. Although, I have noted that Mr Johnson himself is sticking with his own trusty ‘steed’, on the occasions where he has pedalled past me on London Bridge.