Throughout my career I have consistently been asked similar questions by in-house legal teams who want to make change happen in their business. How do I get the tech ball rolling with my company? It’s a question for which the long answer is personal to your circumstances, but here’s my short top tips to get the ball rolling on getting the ball rolling – so to speak!
1. Get on top of your data
Think about what data is required internally within your department, as well as what data your customers and wider business needs. What data is already available and how can you access it? How will you measure cost, efficiency, and quality?
2. Find the right people
Work with experts that understand the required effort and complexity involved in implementing technology. Think about the capability you have in your teams already – do you need support on the tech project itself or do you need external resource to support your BAU while you put your best people on the change project?
3. Challenge your processes
Always look for new ways to improve how you work. Reward ideas and ask your customers what their expectation and experience is; do not assume. Think about what low-risk tasks can be achieved via automation or low-cost service providers in the future, including elements that can be simplified and trusted to business teams to manage themselves. You may want to enlist an outside legal operations expert to help you do this.
4. Choose the right technology
The right tech that truly enables, removes and/or automates non-core tasks will free up huge amounts of your team’s time. Think about integration into the wider business, who are the stakeholders and influencers you need to get on board to make the implementation a true success?
5. Have fun!
Making change happen is hard, enjoy and reward the failures and learn from them, that’s true innovation, but most importantly have fun along the journey.
At SYKE we pride ourselves in speaking to you in plain English (or plain Mandarin, plain Dutch, or plain Tajik – you get the idea). We know that getting a good return on investment is key for our clients and that’s why we make sure they’re saving more by working with us than they ever spend in fees.
Our partnership with LOD also allows us to offer our clients fully rounded solutions. We can help to flexibly fill gaps in your team’s capacity or expertise during the project and beyond, meaning you can make the change process as smooth and efficient as possible.
I’m always willing to have a no-obligation and confidential conversation, so if you’re looking to kick start your tech strategy, please get in touch with me using the form on this page or at tyson.ballard@syke.tech
Tyson has more than 12 years of experience working with in-house legal and law firms. His consulting background has included legal operations and technology-enabled continuous improvement to create legal departments of the future. He is Prince II certified, and a Lean Six Sigma Master Black Belt, with expertise in developing continuous improvement programs. As a serial entrepreneur, he has founded and co-founded multiple companies in the automotive, hospitality, electronics, and surf industry; all with a sustainable environmental focus.
