Implementing new technology in legal departments isn't easy, but ongoing encouragement and engagements with users can be key to overcoming resistance, according to a panel of legal department tech directors speaking on the second day of iManage's ConnectLive conference.

The discussion was moderated by iManage's chief marketing officer Dan Carmel and included panelists Jeelna Karia, Fidelity's technology management director; Tony Curzio, technology strategy and projects program manager at MassMutual; and Heather Sands, strategic business solutions director of the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers.

Although the road to new tech may be laborious, the tech directors agreed there are some universal objectives that, if met, could deliver high usage. According to the panel, strategies to successfully implement new technology include: obtaining the GC-level blessing that'll sway the c-suite and employees, and training that takes the suggestions and concerns of users seriously. In addition, it's also important to encourage a perspective of adopting new technology as part of a new culture in the legal department and not a project with an eventual end date, and ensuring the new process focuses on storing and collecting data in a central location, the panel said.

To be sure, high hopes and enthusiasm around trading in inefficient tools and processes for newer ones can quickly fade. But in-house tech teams should be vigilant in reaching out to users to find out why adoption rates are low, the panel said.

“You do all this training and you overwhelm them with this information and there's excitement in the air, but you see the adoption rates aren't where you expected them to be,” Karia explained. “You realize the struggles are different from when you started.”

To mediate that disconnect, Karia said her team went to users and asked them how they routinely managed documents and what their concerns were with the new system. In response to their answers, her team personalized features, such as renaming and rearranging file folders. Karia noted, “slowly they'll start to try it, and once they get hooked on it then they are fine and the excitement kicks in.”

Curzio added that because any technology implementation is also a cultural change, new tools can't be ignored by users with the expectation that they're only a passing fad. Such reluctance should be met with “a lot of ongoing continuous encouragement and you have to be responsive,” he said.

While the path to adopting new tech can be a long, winding and expensive road, it shouldn't scare tech directors from championing for changes, Carmel said. He noted that since tech directors are the ones that witness the disconnect between users and software, they must find a better solution that fits users needs and the organization's goals.

“Your organization looks to you to explain those ideas,” he said. “If we don't bring these new ideas into the organization, nothing will change.”