All I want for Christmas…… is the most effective knowledge management tool in the world
Technology is a wonderful thing, and it can be utterly transformative. But after nearly 25 years working in Knowledge Management, I remain a firm believer that the most effective KM tool of all is ... the team meeting. Let me tell you why and how.
Team meetings are the context in which knowledge culture is developed and embedded. In a time when so much work is done remotely and where there is concern about how junior lawyers are getting their training, alongside general team-building, if managed appropriately, team meetings can:
encourage in-depth discussion of technical issues, and nurture inquisitiveness and intellectual rigour;
provide a forum for sharing recent experiences (including downloads from client secondments or highlights of recent external conferences team members have attended), including those experiences which would normally be regarded as ‘tacit’ knowledge – i.e. the kinds of things you’re unlikely to find in a document or a textbook;
alert Knowledge Lawyers/Knowledge Managers (and potentially BD colleagues) to interesting work being done in the team, enabling them to follow up with the relevant people and undertake after-action reviews, consider thought leadership opportunities or harvest useful precedent documents;
provide a non-threatening environment for junior lawyers to present on recent work, on new legal developments or recent practice points, giving them useful practice in marshalling their thoughts and delivering presentations;
celebrate team achievements, including contributions to shared knowledge to show how important the leadership team considers this activity to be; and encourage innovative ideas about how to deliver work better and improve client satisfaction.
If the team can keep a record of what is discussed and make that (or parts of it) easily accessible/searchable, so much the better. Up to now, that has required human input (not a bad way for juniors to practise minute-taking) but AI can do a lot of that these days. Even without a record of the meetings, simple attendance helps team members to know who are the experts on particular issues, and where to go for guidance.
This all requires the leader of the meeting to be conscious of these possibilities and manage the agenda and discussions appropriately. There may be some general administrative issues that need to be on the agenda, but it is important to set the tone that:
Team meetings are not optional. There may be occasions when you cannot attend for a legitimate reason, but just being busy is not one.
Participants should come prepared to talk about what they have been doing, in a way that highlights issues that may be relevant for other team members. So it shouldn’t be a slow, blow-by-blow account of your week, but just the key points of longer-term relevance.
Comments and ideas are encouraged. There may not be time to follow up on every point in the meeting itself, but it is good to ensure this is done outside the meeting and reported back the next time.
I admit there are sexier and more exciting KM tools out there, but they invariably come with a price tag. In terms of value for money, you can’t beat a well-managed team meeting. It can make more difference to an organisation’s sharing of knowledge than just about anything else, and help to usher in a prosperous New Year.
If you would like further information about 3Kites KM services, please contact us using the following details:
Melanie Farquharson, 07802 850932, melanie.farquharson@3kites.com
Jenni Tellyn, 07908 252769, jenni.tellyn@3kites.com
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