Teamwork concept

 

This article first appeared in the October print edition of The American Lawyer and Corporate Counsel as “The Hot Trend of Adoption.”

Every year, at ILTA, there's some hot new technology that everyone's talking about. Hype reigns supreme. In 2016, it was about security. 2017 was artificial intelligence. This year, I was pleasantly surprised.

Today's hot new tech trend was making previous years' hot new tech actually work.

This is good news. Nothing is more frustrating than investing time, energy and money in new technology and then having it fall on deaf ears, yet tech providers love pushing new features and buyers love shiny new objects. None of it means anything unless the tool actually works to solve a problem.

Building, selecting and deploying tools that will actually deliver value does not happen by accident. There's got to be a ­formula. So on the heels of ILTA, I reached out to Lucy Bassli, who may be the very best at this in the entire legal technology space. Lucy spent 13 years at Microsoft, with her last role as assistant general counsel, legal operations and contracting, before going out on her own last year. While at Microsoft, she revolutionized the way the company reviews and executes its contracts. Want to get good at change management? Totally reinvent a function that touches thousands of different people in dozens of different departments across the globe at a $58 billion company.

I began by wondering if perhaps organizations were starting to think about change management too late. Maybe it should start all the way back with the RFP? “That's about seven steps too late,” she informed me. I could almost hear Lucy's eyes rolling over the phone. “The first question I always get is, 'Which contract management system should we buy?' Starting there is a prescription for failure.”

The first step, she told me, is to know what problem you are trying to solve. “I hear all the time, 'We want to explore artificial intelligence and some cool bots.' You can't look at cool tech and say, 'I want that.' Don't jump to solutioning. Instead, listen to your internal clients. They are frustrated. Find their pain points and work to heal them.”

Next she says, is find the low-hanging fruit. “These problems can get very big, and there's not a one-stop solution.” A good strategy is to find a specific use case that's causing headaches for some influential stakeholders who would be useful to get on your side. Finding a stakeholder ready for change can be extremely valuable.

With some stakeholders in place and some problems to solve, focus on scope, and watch out for scope creep. “Identifying what you are not trying to solve is as important as identifying what you are.” Spend a lot of time and energy outlining exactly what you are trying to do.

The fourth step is process mapping, and it's important to start with the current processes, even though it may seem like a waste of time. “It's painful to walk through a process that clearly isn't working. But there's no way to draw a roadmap to where you want to be without starting with where you are.”

Next, map your “to-be” state and identify the delta between the two. “That informs your change management. It also allows you to help people clearly understand the change.” Again, all of this needs to take place before selecting technology. Understanding the problem, the current workflow and what the workflow should be is critical before choosing the technology to solve the problem. Finding cool technology, then looking for a problem to solve with it, is the devil's playground.

Perhaps the biggest mistake of all is not thinking about change management until it's too late. Like voting in Chicago, change management needs to be considered early and often. “Start with the culture,” says Bassli. “How will people best accept the change? What's the best way to communicate? What can you do to get them to come along? How do you set up people for success?” This is the time to build your business case, ideally including a return-on-investment analysis, and a communication plan to get buy-in.

The seventh step is to document the requirements of the new system. Start prioritizing with the critical aspects. “If we can't have this, then there's no point in implementing.” Then add the elements that really should be included, followed by the “nice-to-haves.” She explains, “Listing nice-to-haves is more important than you might think. Key stakeholders sometimes have their own priorities, and knowing what horse trading you can do can make all the difference.” Most important is remembering that there is no magic button and no tool will solve every pain point. “The keys to success are selectivity and prioritization. And if it's not a natural process, a dedicated prioritization exercise can often do the trick.”

Now you are ready to go through the RFP process.

Doing the homework beforehand will set you up for success, but identifying the right vendor—not just the right technology—can make all the difference. Of course you're going to send a long list of requirements. And of course they are going to say they can do them all. So how, I asked, do you really get under the hood?

Start by asking for references, case studies and stories of implementations. “No client is 100 percent happy, so testing the vendor's transparency and willingness to be honest is important.” Those with cutting-edge technology may not have case studies, so instead ask precise questions like “how do you solve it if [some specific problem] happens. Their professional services skills are critical success factors. A lot of vendors are good at technology. That's just not enough.” With any luck, you're going to be working with this supplier for several years to come. “But it won't be perfect, so how they respond when you have issues will make all the difference.” Bassli suggests asking about how they measure customer success, what their engagement models are, and how they will ensure your success after implementation (see below).

I pointed out that if it's part of the sales process, the vendor is going to promise you the world. “Of course they will.” I could hear Lucy's eyes rolling again. “Draft obligations, KPIs and SLAs into the contract. Do as much diligence as possible. It's easier than cleaning up afterwards. The most important thing to remember is there is no magic button. Put people and process before tools.”

Of course, don't forget to be as thoughtful after a selection as you are before you issue the RFP. And keep these steps in mind next year, when ILTA reverts to form and you walk into what may as well be named the International Legal Blockchain Association Annual Conference.

 

Brad Blickstein is principal at the Blickstein Group and is the publisher of the Annual Law Department Operations Survey, which is now in its 11th year.