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CCCA_V2No3_Knowledge-FIN.qxd:CCCA_V1No1_DriversSeat-FIN.qxd 9/18/08 1:54 PM Page 26 Feature management is key to starting a knowledge management system. Getting buy-in With more than 140 lawyers in multiple locations in several countries, How to convince bosses and colleagues Bell saw that Royal Bank’s legal group needed to work together more that KM is worth the effort. effectively to share knowledge. One of the sales pitches he used was to Because the most important and often most chal- look at the bank’s outside law firms. lenging part of implementing a KM system is getting “If you check their rosters, I think you’ll find that there’s a knowledge people to use it, in-house counsel should encourage officer or a director of KM, something of that ilk,” he says. “If we were employees’ input from the beginning and show them going to be effective partners with our outside counsel, I think it makes how they can benefit. Overworked employees who sense to start to build that kind of capability internally as well.” don’t see the point of taking the time to create and Bell began by building up the bank’s pool of templates and prece- build documents for a database can provide formida- dents, and encouraged everyone within the law group to take a little ble resistance. more time at the front end to create templates that they’d reuse in their But getting buy-in from upper management is also daily practices, or hand off to business clients within the organization to a high priority. If those at the top recognize the build a knowledge base. added value of KM, they’ll be in a position to con- Another successful KM initiative saw Bell’s team post more than 300 vince everyone else to use it. frequently asked questions on the bank’s intranet that employees could The next step is to implement a system that’s so access when dealing with clients. “We’ve had rave reviews from the useful and easy to use that everyone will want to front-line tellers and people who are facing the public that this has been access it. Although that requires more work up front, a great tool and they find it very, very useful,” says Bell. “That’s an exam- “it’s going to make everyone more efficient and it will ple of solving something that’s very real for our business partners. It saves make life a bit easier by being able to access docu- time and effort.” ments or research more quickly without spending half a day hunting for it,” says CIBC’s Linda Wright. In-house leadership At CIBC, the person or group that added a precedent If no one at the corporation is already overseeing the KM function, in- to the database owns the document and is responsible house counsel can often position themselves to lead the charge, or at least for maintaining it. “It makes life easier,” Wright says, have a say in its overall implementation. “I think it’s ripe for lawyers to be “because you know that you’ve got these documents there, because it’s all about providing better service and aligning yourself that are up-to-date and you can rely on them.” better with your internal partners,” says Bell. It takes time to look at documents and think about He suggests starting small by solving a particular knowledge issue, where they should go and what the important facts “something that actually is going to get you some traction within the are. “Once you become bogged down with all those organization.” If legal gets it right, “there’s no reason why some of the questions, you say, ‘Ah, maybe next week,’ says things they’ve built or processes that they’ve designed and implemented Jolie Lin at Vale Inco. “Make sure that they can see couldn’t help out compliance or risk management or HR or tax or the some benefit — the next time they look for some- businesses,” he says. thing, it’s really at their fingertips. You’re trying to Once that happens, it becomes an exponential gain. “It’s no longer just create a benefit that’s tangible, so you have to have the law group, but the law group was the pioneer, and that’s more kudos small wins, when people can say, ‘Oh, right, that’s for you as in-house counsel,” says Bell. “And it also allows you to reach really helpful.’” out and have meaningful dialogues with your business partners. It gets The best-case scenario in building a KM system is you out there.” that resistance will become futile, that everyone will Once senior management sees KM’s potential — and counsel’s abili- see its usefulness and buy into it. “Anybody who ty to lead such an initiative — the next step is to take a knowledge or works in this area recognizes that the biggest chal- information audit of the organization, its culture and its information lenge is addressing the culture,” says Bell at Royal practices, such as how knowledge is found, shared and stored. Bell plans Bank. Like many things in the business world, he says, to engage a wide cross-section of his department and conduct internal try to find the most enthusiastic champions within the group and individual interviews on an ongoing basis. larger group. Discovering their views on various topics will help him better gauge “I think it’s not a bad thing to focus on certain pock- how they conduct their daily practices and help him build from the bot- ets of enthusiasm and to build gradually and not to tom up the types of programs that would really meet their needs. This could worry too much about getting everyone to come on include how they use technology, or how they network with other lawyers board all at the same time,” he says. in their immediate practice groups, their immediate offices and beyond. 26 CCCA Canadian Corporate Counsel Association FALL 2008