Long ago, when I started my business career designing teletype machines from the back of my covered wagon (well, maybe not that long ago), technology training was fairly simple. When you wanted to learn something, you'd sign up for a class. Or, if you were particularly motivated, perhaps you went out and bought a book. Then you'd apply yourself to master the concepts as presented by the instructor and/or author. Pretty straightforward stuff.

But now, as the platforms, technologies and processes we rely upon have exploded in complexity, training needs have shifted in lock step with those changes. It's no longer enough just to understand the general capabilities of a tool. And we no longer need to rely on classroom-type instruction to expand our horizons. So, in the more intricate environment in which we live and work in today, what are some of the emerging considerations in the technology training realm? Here are a few.

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Business Process Training

For many legal operational functions, using experience and judgment to select the proper tool is now just as important as one's ability to operate any specific tool. What exactly do I mean by that?

Well, consider a task that requires the transmission of plaintiff information to another law firm. First, one needs to decide what data to include and exclude (think personal identifiable information, financial information or medical information) from a transmission. Selecting the transmission method is vital. Why? If one really needs to share a Social Security number (which hopefully is a rare occurrence these days), a transmission method that examines and filters content like Mimecast may not be the most seamless tool for that purpose. Additionally, one may want to impose other restrictions on the shared content, including prohibiting printing, allowing limited downloads or protecting content with a password.

These requirements would surely encourage a technologist to train users on systems like Citrix ShareFile, Mimecast, iManage Share and others that provide this type of functionality. But hopefully we also can all agree that a general understanding of business considerations is equally important, if not more so, in making optimal technology calls.

Accepting this hypothesis leads one to a mindset where training programs integrate topics such as business, legal and regulatory considerations into any functional training on a software tool. An inclusive, all-encompassing approach is clearly the type of training structure that will best position employees to make ideal choices for common situations of this nature in the legal operations field.

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Constant Awareness

To state the obvious, the velocity of change in the legal technology field is tremendous. In my world, working with technology in the litigation boutique law firm Tanenbaum Keale, the pace of change is tremendous. This is primarily because we view technology as a key driver to helping provide clients with superior service. To do this, like many law firms, we've introduced or expanded the use of many advanced platforms over and above the usual suspects (Office 365, OneDrive, Mimecast, etc.) to include offerings like Amazon Web Services, Okta, Nessus and other cloud platform providers.

This is great, but what does it take to accomplish this? Well, the organization must imbue in all of its employees a culture that embraces technological entrepreneurship. The problem is, there's not really a class one can take on this topic! But what one can do is promote free thinking, be willing to take the time to explore new ways of doing things, and make a personal commitment to stay connected in the legal technology field via professional social media, reading and other outlets.

That's certainly not easy to do in times when we all have plates full of improvement projects, upgrades to complete, users to support and the like. However, the best of us will find a way to carve out a chunk of our time every week to lend an ear to the marketplace and listen to those who bring new thinking and ideas to your company.

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Training Methodologies

This might be the biggest sea change of all. As I mentioned, back in the olden days, classrooms and books were what training was all about. Today, a multitude of other options are available.

To state the most obvious of all, let us learn from our millennials. YouTube or other outlets for videos is a huge training option. Setting aside work for a moment, I myself have used Youtube to fix the flame sensor in my furnace, open the jammed hood of my old Volvo and whip up exciting new recipes to impress guests at a dinner party. And vocationally, I can't overstate how useful this avenue has been for me expanding my horizons with technologies such as Okta, Mimecast, GitHub, Oracle, Office 365 and others in the recent past.

However, if YouTube is not your thing and you prefer more established content, that's out there too. Legal technology companies commonly offer loads of specified content—which can be in the form of instructional videos, white papers or an exceptionally well-constructed knowledge base—directed to engineers to help them learn more about supporting and better using their products. Okta, Ringtail, iManage, Mimecast are just a few who do this, but almost everyone does it to be honest.

Furthermore, for the typical legal industry worker (e.g. attorneys, legal professionals), software companies in the legal space provide a myriad of free end-user training options. Office 365 and Adobe are a few which come to mind on that front, their public-facing training videos and content are impressive. With respect to distribution options, some companies like Citrix ShareFile extend their training to common video platforms such as Youtube while others choose to make instructional materials available only on their own website. But whatever the platform, companies tend to get a lot of free content “out there.” After all, they do want you to use their products.

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Wrap-Up

So, what are some of the key lessons learned here? Well, I think there are a few.

One which jumps out at me is the belief it is important to instill in others the spirit of learning. Sure, classes are great but there is so much one can learn if they just put their mind to it. Awareness and encouragement is key, for there are surely employees who want to learn who just need some direction to start the learning process. Sometimes it just takes a small push to get the ball rolling.

But, perhaps this final lesson is the most important of all. Make the time to promote a culture of learning and skill expansion. It's truly mutually beneficial—it's great for your organization to improve the skills of your people, and it's equally great for any professional to increase their value in the marketplace. We are all winners when it comes to learning!

Kenneth Jones is Chief Technologist of Tanenbaum Keale LLP, a boutique litigation law firm and Chief Operating Officer of the Xerdict Group, a SaaS legal collaboration software company. Xerdict is a wholly owned subsidiary of Tanenbaum Keale.