Why do law firms still struggle to adopt new tech?
I've been working with firms of all sizes for 7 years. Here's a story I've seen many times:
🤓 A motivated partner finds a tech solution that makes sense for the firm
💰They buy licenses and the software gets switched on
📧 The partner emails their fellow lawyers, telling them about this magical new tech
❌ No one ends up using it
It's not only a challenge for small law firms. Replace "partner" with "IT team" or "innovation team" in my story, and you've got a common scenario for many big firms too.
Law firms have been on innovation hiring and tech shopping sprees.
But they need to spend more time setting the organisation up for change. Otherwise, these expensive investments go to waste.
What's the solution?
- Recognise the need for a change management role
- Put users at the centre of the change, involve them early and make their life easy
- Speak to them to understand the existing ways of working and how the technology may change this
- Follow a generous comms plan, which includes articulating a clear vision and "why?"
- Create interactive training
- Get senior leaders to lead by example
- Don't change too much at once