Learn About E-Discovery Project Management

Lately, I’ve been writing most of my e-discovery project management posts on my other blog http://www.learnaboutediscovery.com … Here’s a quick round up of the most recent posts and I invite you to visit me over there some time!

 

  1. Being the Project Manager
  2. How important is COMMUNICATION to e-discovery projects?

  3. “New Job Title, Same Job? Becoming an E-Discovery Project Manager”
  4. Recently, I recorded a live training on e-discovery project management… the link on this post will soon convert to on-demand registration. Here’s a few extra notes from the webinar.
  5. I delivered a CLE last month on this topic. Here are a few notes from that lecture.
  6. Electronic Discovery Metrics: Why Metrics Matter

 

Check out my other blog: www.learnaboutediscovery.com or send me an e-mail erika at learnaboutediscovery.com

 

 

Podcast: Looking for EDPM template ideas?

EDPMs (e-discovery project managers) have to be creative thinkers but we also have to find ways to stick to a defensible routine. Templates and forms help us to mitigate the risks of project management in the often unpredictable world of litigation. Check out this podcast from a respected project management trainer as he recommends some of his favorite template collections… be creative as you think of ways to apply and modify some of these templates to your work as an EDPM.

 

Leave a comment and let us know which ones you liked best and why!

Take control of YOUR career

I recently read the article, “Don’t be the victim in your career” on TechRepublic’s site. It was interesting how the author could have been writing about an e-discovery project manager instead of an IT professional in general. There are so many parallels to be drawn here. I encourage you to read the article in its entirety.  The author’s ideas about leadership, management and career planning struck me as hugely beneficial.

Plan your career as if you’re planning a business, detailing your profit requirements, skills you want to acquire, and geographies and industries you want to experience. If a leadership role is what you’re after, determine how you’ll learn basic management and advanced leadership and approach people around you whose skills you admire. Rather than waiting for HR to approve training budgets or launch a formal mentor program, seek the best and most talented and establish a rapport. At the very least, you’ll feel far more empowered by taking control of your development, and you’ll likely mystify those around you as you advance while they’re waiting on HR or some contrived “training fairy” to build their skills.

Evaluate your performance against this personal “business plan” each year and change the plan or correct your course as necessary, but never let circumstances batter you through life like a piece of driftwood on a stormy sea.

In the law firm or corporate legal environment, there is not a lot of room for upward mobility within the organization. You are hired as a paralegal. You can become a “senior” paralegal or the paralegal “manager” in most firms. Larger organizations may have more structure levels.  Lately, many career bloggers have suggested that litigation paralegals can find great opportunities as e-discovery specialists or e-discovery project managers. (In fact, I will discuss this in more detail at my upcoming webinar, April 24th on e-discovery project management. (Click here to register and send me an email for the discount code, erika@learnaboutediscovery.com) )  What does it take to become an e-discovery project manager? The author of the article suggests that if you are going to proactively execute a personal business plan for your career, then you must take ownership and initiative to seek the training you need to achieve your goals. My upcoming webinar is one way you can learn more about e-discovery project management. Another is to work with me directly to develop a custom learning plan that meets your skill building goals. Finding a mentor within your company or the industry is another highly recommended way to advance your skill set. There are also several training companies and organizations that offer certification programs if that is part of your career business plan.

Leadership is learned. It’s not magic either. The article ends with an illustration of manager disasters.  Do you wish to become the next paralegal manager or director of project management for your firm? Start learning all you can about leadership and management best practices NOW. Often, people with leadership skills who demonstrate them in non-leadership roles are promoted.  Disasters in management occur (according to the article, and I tend to agree) when someone with exceptional skills at a task are promoted with no leadership or management skills and the organization has no learning path planned for them to attain the necessary “soft” skills to be successful in their new position.

Commit to yourself TODAY that you are going to take a proactive approach to managing your career like a business. Draft a business plan. Review it with a mentor. Take a class. Watch some leadership videos. Read a book. Listen to a podcast. Subscribe to my blog. *smile*

Are you SURE you are communicating clearly?

Have you ever wanted to scream like Chris Tucker’s character in “Rush Hour?” Are you assuming your audience doesn’t know what you’re saying? Are you assuming they do understand what you are saying?  Are you sure that you are communicating clearly?

We all THINK we are communicating clearly. However, I have observed lately on a project that I am working on that I was not communicating as clearly as I thought I was. I frustrated one of my team members because I asked open-ended questions when he needed me to be more specific. Fortunately, we realized what the stumbling block was and corrected it before it became a real problem. This led me to think about e-discovery project managers who communicate so frequently that we may lose sight of the mechanics of communication.

Communicating effectively is about starting the conversation with the other person outside of your head.  As the “sender” you are responsible for presenting information to the “receiver” that is clear, unambiguous and specific.  It is the “receiver’s” responsibility to ask questions for clarification if the sender is not clear, specific or vague.  We are all either the sender or the receiver of information so we all carry the responsibility towards the success of our communication with one another. This is especially important when you are working as an e-discovery project manager because you will (not might, not maybe) have people on your team who are unfamiliar with the terminology, technology, and/or process you are using for the project.  As the project manager, you will want to make certain that you provide opportunities for everyone to learn and understand and truly “receive” the project plan.

Ask yourself before you click send on the next e-mail:

  • Are any of my statements or questions open-ended? Vague? If so, can I restate to be more clear and specific?
  • Have I used any terminology that my recipient(s) is unfamiliar with? If so, can I take a few minutes to hyperlink to a definition on dictionary.com or Wikipedia? Or perhaps define the word parenthetically?
  • If I’m responding to someone else’s e-mail, have I asked any follow up questions for clarity?
  • If I’m describing a process or workflow, would a picture or flowchart be better?
  • Is the time and date due clearly stated? Or agreed upon?

What else would you recommend that e-discovery project managers do to improve communication with their teams and stakeholders?

In a few weeks, I will be delivering a webinar training on e-discovery project management for paralegals (and anyone else who’s interested). Send me an email for a discount code (erika@learnaboutediscovery.com).  Click here to register.  I will cover additional best practices for communication, documentation and project success.

The Value Proposition of E-Discovery Project Management

It’s been over five years since the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure were revised to clearly instruct and encourage litigators to engage early in managing electronically stored information. I’ve been in the litigation support industry since 1995 and project management skills have always been important to the success of litigation matters for which technology was involved. The Sedona Conference published a proclamation a few years ago stating the value of cooperation and project management methodology best practices in e-discovery. Recently, I shared this article outlining the value of project management with my students and thought you might like to read it as well. Here are the key points with my commentary… you can read the whole article here.

The value proposition for project management goes something like this. It takes time and effort to proactively manage a project. This cost is more than made up for over the life of the project by:

  • Completing projects more quickly and cheaply. – Cost and litigation budgets in general are typically the focus of the client. Most corporations have project managers within their business model and expect that their lawyers and legal teams do also. It’s not just about being quick and cheap but more so about not wasting time and money.
  • Being more predictable.    How can we predict costs and schedules if every litigation or e-discovery project reinvents the wheel? Project documentation includes metrics.
  • Saving effort and cost with proactive scope management. How much data (ESI) do we need to review? How much of it is relevant? What tools and resources exist to help us only review what we need to? An experienced e-discovery project manager can help you to navigate these waters.
  • Better solution “fit” the first time through better planning.  –
    My motto in litigation support has always been: The tools are not as important as the process. Define your process, then select the right tool for the job.
  •  Resolving problems more quickly.  Project management includes a communications and problem solving plan/ protocol.
  •  Resolving future risk before the problems occur.
    Experience and metrics will allow you to assess risks and plan a solution or solution options in advance.
  • Communicating and managing expectations with clients, team members and stakeholders more effectively. Managing expectations is a big deal. This is extremely difficult to do without the guidance of a project manager and a documented plan of action.
  •  Building a higher quality product the first time.  Improved financial management. This article is targeted to an audience of software developers but this sentiment applies in e-discovery, too. Think: document production.
  • Stopping “bad” projects more quickly. If a project is being effectively managed, someone will notice a problem before it turns into a train wreck.
  • More focus on metrics and fact-based decision making. Decisions based in facts derived from well documented metrics will provide the consistency of methodology, the courts are looking for.
  • Improved work environment. Who doesn’t want to work with a bunch of happy people?

 People who complain that project management is a lot of ‘overhead’ forget the point. All projects are managed. The question is how effectively they are managed.

A lot can be said for the value of project management in e-discovery… if you don’t have a project manager on your litigation team don’t worry, you can learn… keep reading this blog. 😉

 

Documentation Basics

Learning about project management methodologies may seem a bit overwhelming at times but if you start out simply with an Excel spreadsheet or a notebook/ legal pad, the basics can be achieved.  Project management is really about keeping track of what you did and planning what you are going to do.

Here are some tips from a recent article by Brett Burney, an industry expert on e-discovery project management:

You can document your actions on a Word document, an Excel spreadsheet, a yellow legal pad, or using one of the tools mentioned above. It doesn’t matter the medium, as long as it’s being done and can be referred to at a later date.

At a minimum, a documentation protocol should include:

  • client, matter, and task;
  • who requested the task (e.g., stakeholder, lawyer, client);
  • date and time the task was started and completed;
  • name of person who engaged or completed the task;
  • notes, summary, problems encountered, resolutions;
  • software and hardware used; and
  • chain-of-custody considerations (where were the results delivered?).

 

What advice do you have for someone just getting started in e-discovery project management?

 

 

Do you want to learn more about e-discovery project management?

… or e-discovery in general? I recently launched a new idea at www.learnaboutediscovery.com — dynamic custom lesson plans to help you meet your e-discovery learning objectives at your own pace in a completely self-directed learning environment. These lesson plans take advantage of my many years of research as a litigation support / e-discovery project management trainer and the easily accessible information already available on the internet today.

The concept is simple: if you’re new to e-discovery or if you’ve been working in the industry for years, you may not have the time to do the research to learn a specific topic(s) or perhaps the funding to attend a conference or training class. First we discuss your learning goals, then I draft a custom plan just for you that helps you meet your learning objectives. It’s that easy. You learn what you want, on your own time.

By the way plans can be developed for entire litigation support teams, too.

21 Ways to Excel at Project Management | Project Smart

The team at Project Smart in the UK has republished their e-book,21 Ways to Excel at Project Management | Project Smart as a website. Here’s the summary from their website where you can still download the original e-book.

Project Management is the dynamic process that utilises the appropriate resources of the organisation in a controlled and structured manner, to achieve some clearly defined objectives identified as strategic needs. It is always conducted within a defined set of constraints. Learn more with this eBook, written in a question and answer style, containing 21 pieces of valuable advice for making your projects a complete success.