More than just an overhead

Karen Battersby discusses what is likely to be top of mind for many knowledge management professionals as we embark on the new year.

As we enter ever increasingly difficult economic times in the new year, the thought on every knowledge management (KM) professional’s mind, working in legal practice, must surely be: how will KM be viewed in the new climate? Will it be seen as a non-essential overhead or as a key business driver to help the organisation survive and thrive in challenging times? The former view leads to the spectre of cuts in investment and job redundancies as firms reduce their cost base in response to the recession, while the latter places KM at the heart of a vital response to the economic climate.

KM professionals reading this column are more than aware of the efficiency gains that effective KM can bring to legal practice, in particular, reducing time spent searching for information and speeding up the research and drafting processes. At a time when clients are likely to challenge every item of charge, having efficient systems in place for producing work becomes vital.

The transfer of knowledge from individual lawyers to teams of lawyers is also essential in a climate where lawyer redundancies are increasing and departments need to operate with leaner resources. Knowledge support systems that help lawyers who are called upon to deal with an increased workload not only aid effectiveness but also help individuals cope better in stressful situations.

Senior lawyer time, which is freed up by KM systems that enable them to delegate more to junior lawyers, can be focused on the essential business of winning and retaining clients. In a tough economic climate the latter is often achieved by offering existing clients more added value services for their money, and providing clients with access to KM resources might also play a part in this.

Indeed, where teams and individual lawyers in certain areas –for example, property and corporate – might not be so busy during the downturn, this is an ideal time to utilise their spare capacity in creating and upgrading knowledge resources for their practice areas. This will not only help avoid redundancy, but also place the firm in a stronger position to meet demand when the upturn in the economy eventually arrives.

There are many ways in which KM assists the organisation in times of recession, and it is the role of the KM professional to implement his or her solutions to serve these aims and to get the message across to senior management and users throughout the firm – that KM is there to help in these ways. The danger in not educating colleagues as to these benefits is that the commonly-held assumption that KM is a ‘nice to have’, rather than a business ‘must have’ may prevail and place KM initiatives and functions at the top of the cost-cutting list.