The Human Side of Strategy

Presented by:

Sally Gonzalez Tom BaldwinDirector Chief Knowledge Officer

Navigant Consulting, Inc. Sheppard Mullin Richter & Hampton

Felicity BadcockOnline Services Manager

Mallesons Stephen Jaques

The Challenge

You have a great idea…

You have the perfect technology…

Now how do you get the lawyers to use it?

Barriers to change in a law firm

Lawyer personalityCompetition for attention / lawyer mindshareBillable hourResistance to trainingResistance to change

Roadmap for leading change

1. Create urgency

8. Anchor new approaches in culture

7. Consolidate gains; produce more change

6. Generate short term wins

5. Empower broad based action

3. Form vision and strategy

4. Communicate the vision

2. Broad-based coalition

Low

Number of

Leaders

Needed

Organizational

Reach

High

Low

High

Source: Leading Change; John Kotter

Tips for success

Understanding what motivates professionalsPulling rather than pushingPlaying to generational differencesStructuring a communication campaignLawyers training lawyers

Case Study – Extranets at Sheppard Mullins

Sheppard Mullin’s extranetWent live in 2005586 matters, 233 clients, 3,105 usersUsed by almost every PG and all offices

ChallengesInitially NO buy-in from managementChanging work habitsMindshare

Case Study – Extranets at Sheppard Mullins

Methods for SuccessFind your Al GoreBecome good at ghost writingPromote anytime, anywhere

Firm retreats, PG retreats, monthly office meetings, road shows

NewslettersMake your users the star

Present a business case

Case Study - Decisiv Email at MallesonsAbout Mallesons

Background - Mallesonsfull service law firmfocus on Australia and Asia> 2,100 people9 offices across Australia, Asia and the UK

Case Study - Decisiv Email at Mallesons The project

Aimimprove client service through behavioral changedeliver productivity improvements

New email filing solution / shared electronic fileDecisiv Email

New policiesNew work practices

Case Study - Decisiv Email at Mallesons The project

Roll outOct 04 pilot of 20 usersApr 05 expanded pilot of 200 users – FS and M&A teamsNov 05 “went live” with gradual roll out – initially 40 users a weekMar 06 700+ usersMar 06 pilots in DR, Property and Tax teams and London officeAug 07 1,500+ users

Now22,200 projects/matters271,600 folders8.5 million unique items (emails, documents etc) 5 million unique emails293,000 email addresses27,600 domains

Case Study - Decisiv Email at Mallesons Challenges

Not a technology projectpolicy change

the electronic file = the official record for electronically generated items

work practice changefrom paper files to electronic files – mandatory electronic filing of emails

cultural shiftsharing emails and documents with colleagues

Usage and compliance not optionalHigh user impact – every user, every day

risk of a backlash if implementation not well managed

Case Study - Decisiv Email at Mallesons What worked for us?

What we didform an implementation team of experts from all areasexpress a vision and need for change use the influence of leaderssolve a problemcommunicatetrain and support

What we didn’t doburden the user with extra work and effortstick to the plan no matter what

Case Study - Decisiv Email at Mallesons Vision

Articulate a clear visionenabler for service delivery (not a “technology” project)

exceptional client service

clear marketleadership

new tools andprocesses to enable behavioural change

What? Why? How?

What if we do nothing?lose leadership position in the market create a sense of urgency

Case Study - Decisiv Email at Mallesons Leadership – getting buy-in

Leadership key to overcoming resistance to changeLeadership at all levelsLeadership at all stages of the project

analysis

business case

Before implementation

test technologytest new work practices

pilotpractice group champions

During

engage, guideand support teams

partners, attorneys, secretaries influenced decisions performed leadership roles throughoutproject sponsor (CEP) active and public support throughout Board approval at each stage of the project

what’s not workingand why?

ongoing training

user group

After implementation

monitor uptake and change issuesresolve issuessupport users

Case Study - Decisiv Email at Mallesons Solve a problem – what’s in it for me?

email management a burden200,000 emails sent and received dailyAttorneys

compliance with filing policies near impossiblewhere’s that email?

Secretaries15% of time spent filinglow value, low return activityeach email filed on average 12 times on hard copy filemostly filed in the wrong place

Case Study - Decisiv Email at Mallesons Make life easier not harder – the time-poor attorney

New tools must work and be easy to usetest the acceptance threshold – higher for attorneys take the time to get it rightstaged development and deployment

New processes must be straight forward to put in placemanage and support

do not burden attorneys with additional work

Case Study - Decisiv Email at Mallesons Be flexible and honest

Only 16% of software projects finish on time and on budgetChange projects are unpredictableBe prepared to make adjustmentsManage expectationsA compromised timetable is better than a failed project

Case Study - Decisiv Email at Mallesons Communication

Have a planDifferent messages for different audiencesDifferent communication tools

road show (office by office), email, print, video, information sessions, 1:1 discussions

Keep communications short and simpleCommunicate early successesUse champions and pilot groups to communicate key messages

testimonials video

Case Study - Decisiv Email at Mallesons Training

New policies and work practicesemail communications video as part of compulsory trainingpractice team meetings – hand holding

New technology“how to” training courses < 1 hrtip sheets – take awayintranet FAQsquick guides (1 page topic based guides)

Case Study - Decisiv Email at Mallesons Ongoing support

Small project team maintainedOngoing training sessions

short topic-based half hour sessions - optional

Feedbacksurveys - incentive to participate (iPod give away)monitor user acceptance

User grouprepresentatives from all practice groups and officespartners, attorneys and secretariesfeedback on work practices and technology enhancements

continuous improvement

Case Study - Decisiv Email at Mallesons How did we fare?

User uptake and acceptanceclose to 100% uptake – as good as email and BlackBerrypartners the most active filers (7 of top 10 filers are partners)over 90% of users agree that Decisiv is easy to use and helps them to do their job

Productivity improvementssecretarial workload reduced by 14%improved organization and retrieval of emailsimproved communication and information sharing amongst teams

Client service improvements - faster client response timesPolicy compliance - improved compliance with filing policy

higher email capture rate

Training program96% of users came away from the course with a clear understanding of the technology and work practices96% of users rated the course as meeting expectations or better> 10% rated the course as exceptional

Reading List

Leading Change; John P. Kotter; 1996The Heart of Change: Real-Life Stories of How People Change Their Organizations; John P. Kotter and Dan S. Cohen; Harvard Business School Publishing; 2002 The Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference; Malcolm Gladwell; Little, Brown & Company; March 2006