Your organisation’s success depends on information and, without an efficient flow, organisations face insurmountable challenges. The legal information function knows how much time and money is saved by using the right tools for the job. But how can we ensure the rest of the firm does? What opportunities are you missing out on, and what might this look like in practice?
Recently a review of a AALL roundtable event made me stop and reconsider the inherent value of an information service. In this discussion, Carolyn Elefant commented;
I always viewed law librarians as a valuable resource for legal research [… when] I couldn’t afford WEXIS, I routinely sought the assistance of law librarians to access legislative history and more obscure journals. But as most legal resources became available online and declined in price, I no longer had the need to visit the law library, so law librarians became less relevant and useful to my legal research.
Although our end-users appreciate our visible work, for example research and administrative skills, we can do so much more. Thankfully she concluded that we are more important than ever before - in ways that our organisations could never previously imagine:
The amount of data being generated globally every minute of every day is staggering. Being online is now a way of life; entertainment, socialising, communicating, interacting with companies. The figures are astonishing; As of April 2022, the internet reaches 63% of the world’s population, representing roughly 5 billion. Of this total, 4.65 billion — over 93% — were social media users. According to Statista, the total amount of data predicted to be created, captured, copied and consumed globally in 2022 is 97 zettabytes, a number projected to grow to 181 zettabytes by 2025.
It’s tremendous time for firms, companies and organisations to seize opportunities and turn this morass of data into something of value to a client. There is a lot of information to hand about competitors, customers, new and developing markets, the regulatory landscape, and even improved workflow and company best practice. But intelligence is only generated if raw data is processed, packaged, disseminated and actively used by the right people.
They can only seize opportunities with the invaluable help of information people who are trained to convert a mountain of data into usable, directly applicable knowledge. In this article I want to take you through some of the ways we can take back control and navigate information chaos. Let’s first look at what the impact is if firms fail to navigate through the information chaos.
There are endless articles and commentary about how ‘innovative legal tech’ is the answer to the profitability of a firm. But it is increasingly apparent that this is the wrong way to look at it; we need to look at what we want to achieve before we implement the appropriate technology. You and your information service can step in with objective advice to help cut through the hype.
Lack of communication between information and business development/marketing teams means you are potentially losing out on opportunities. For instance, by collaborating on business development strategies, information people can be monitoring and producing ‘just before time’ competitor analysis, spotting trends, and keeping abreast of potential markets.
Business research skills are invaluable. You can advise on how to monitor your competitors to find out with whom they are talking, new developments etc. You can leverage news and current awareness to build the brand, pitch expertise or even break into a new market. Your colleagues need to be aware of the opportunities available, not so you can follow the crowd, but potentially anticipate trends and be better prepared.
The success of LinkedIn and other social media demonstrates that meaningful personal connections are vital. If you can start a conversation with a legitimate reason, it is easier to create a collaborative environment to build relationships. This is exactly what information people do within their organisations, so we are well-placed to assist with building external relationships - within the appropriate strategic framework.
Clients are paying a premium for your organisation’s expertise so it is not enough to provide a basic service. In today's competitive marketplace, you should be thinking about how your services can evolve and diversify. And indeed implementing solutions which streamline your existing processes. Take these three examples:
The information function can ensure the organisation is in a prime position to make the most out of the right opportunities. You are an integral part of its success so do not underestimate your importance. Information people are excellent at assessing the needs of the organisation and clients so that everyone has the resources to work towards the same goals and outcomes.