My prior post asked Do Lawyers Collaborate as Much as Others? Two data points suggest opposite answers.
Lawyers may view skeptically the eWeek article I cited, Wikis Are Alive and Kicking in the Enterprise. If so, they need to ask if Allen & Overy is the exception that proves the rule? Case study: Wiki’s law in Managing Partner magazine (August 2006, UK, $) shows that Wikis have traction in at least one global law firm. The article discusses how Allen & Overy is using wikis; highlights of the A&O wiki roll out include:
– Studied a successful wiki roll out at another organization
– Used outside consultants to tune the deployment to A&O needs
– Focused initially on groups likely to use the tool
– Identified 3 types of uses: internal work communities, project teams, and general office
– Combined blog and wiki functionality in the same interface
– Used e-mail alerts from posts to generate initial interest
– Included tagging features (with social bookmarkgin) to make it easier to find content
– Achieved 500 members using wikis in several months
With support of senior partners, the firm moved quickly from 3 test groups to pilots in a few practices. One immediate impact was a drop in e-mail traffic.
Now for another data point. One frequent expert witness wrote in response to my collaboration post:
“Although, my view is limited to that of an expert witness, I can state without reservation that:
1. Basic collaboration tools are seldom used (IM, journaling, etc.).
2. Tendency to believe that consultation with others is redundant.
3. Evidence of “I am right and don’t tell me what you think.”
4. Tendency for division of labor rather than sharing.”
In management consulting (and in 10th grade geometry), I learned that any two points make a line. But here, I’m not sure I can connect the dots!