Editor's letter: A break from the ‘norm’

Just over three years ago IK’s sister publication for the legal profession, KM Legal, was born. Now reincarnated as KIM [Knowledge and Information Management] Legal, it’s been going from strength to strength and it’s not difficult to see why, considering the leaps and bounds that law firm knowledge professionals have made in their work in recent years.
In her June 2005 cover feature for this magazine, former editor Sandra Higgison charted the progression of know-how and knowledge management within law firms; saying that the legal profession was experiencing something of a transformation. ‘From laggard to leader’ was the headline and it was at about that point that we decided it was time to show our support for the knowledge professionals working in this challenging environment.
Now that both these publications are on ‘my watch’, the temptation to bring in a little cross-pollination has proved too hard to resist. So – if you haven’t noticed already – there’s a bit of a legal ‘feel’ creeping into this issue, with case studies and insight from KM practitioners working across the professional services.
David Fitch, director of KM at international law firm Simmons & Simmons, discusses his career drivers and walks Stephanie Ramasamy through some of the projects he has been working on over the past 12 months. And – something of a hot topic – we also hear about Reed Smith’s recent implementation of enterprise search technology to help optimise the work of its lawyers.
Elsewhere, we dip a toe into the sometimes murky waters of virtual 3D worlds, with commentary from Lee Hopkins on the rise of the business presence in Second World – plus advice on how to ensure that your staff don’t waste precious time disappearing down virtual rabbit holes during core working hours.
Finally it’s that time of year again... Ark Group’s KCUK event is taking place on the 8th and 9th June and IK will be coming along to report on proceedings. It would be great to see you there, too.
In the meantime, I hope that you enjoy this issue and will look forward to hearing your feedback and article ideas at the usual address above, or in person at KCUK!

Kate Clifton,
Head of Editorial

Features

Case study: BDO Stoy Hayward LLP This article is for subscribers only
Mark Tilbury provides insight into the 12-stage rebuild of BDO Stoy Hayward’s intranet, highlighting the importance of sponsorship and engagement throughout the project.

Case study: Tata Steel This article is for subscribers only
How Tata Steel’s long-term commitment to evolving knowledge maturity and performance has established it as a trailblazer in knowledge-leadership capability development.

Case study: Reed Smith This article is for registered users only
Finding a search solution for a rapidly growing network, especially in the law firm environment, is no simple task. Tom Baldwin discusses Reed Smith’s recent technology implementation, and how the characteristics of the new system are enabling lawyers to perform more effectively.

Feature: Exploring virtual worlds This article is for subscribers only
Three-dimensional virtual worlds are no longer merely a pastime. Businesses are investing time and resource in building an online presence in environments such as Second Life. Lee Hopkins explores some examples.

Cover feature: (PROBABLY) THE LONGEST RUNNING KM EXPERIMENT IN THE WORLD! This article is for subscribers only
Knoco Ltd’s Nick Milton and Tom Young share their experiences with the ‘Bird Island’ KM workshop – an experiment that has been running for the past 10 years.

The profile: David Fitch This article is for subscribers only
Stephanie Ramasamy chats to David Fitch about industry recognition, career drivers and what it takes to succeed in knowledge management in the legal profession.

Regulars

The Gurteen perspective: Enabling conversation Free
One of the reasons I started to run my knowledge cafés was in reaction to ‘death by PowerPoint’, ‘chalk and talk’, or ‘sit and git’ style presentations and talks. These are endemic in conferences: the speaker has a fixed-time allocation to present, plus a short time for Q&A. Normally, he or she presents, runs over and eats into the Q&A segment, then a few questions are asked and answered and everyone goes home.

Thought leader Free
Becoming a knowledge manager was not something I ever imagined myself doing for a living. The profession didn’t really exist until I completed my undergraduate education, and when I did come to learn about knowledge management (KM) in graduate school, I had a hard time believing that organisations would need a ‘knowledge manager’ to facilitate or codify what I thought of as good old-fashioned common sense.