Winning The Battle: When It’s Time To “Modernize” But There’s One Holdout

Guest Debbie Foster is the CEO at Affinity Consulting, delivering custom business strategies for legal teams. With her years of experience helping law firms modernize, she explains how to overcome internal roadblocks to modernizing. How do you recognize, and overcome, bottlenecks?

It comes down to how people, often unintentionally, keep firms from using the best available new tech. It can be anyone from top leadership to support staff. But by understanding the reluctance, you can win them over.  

The world of legal tech offers myriad solutions. True they cost money, but that should never hold a firm back if there’s ROI on the other side. Modernizing a firm’s tech can advance a firm, create efficiencies, and push the firm ahead. But fear of the unknown, and not understanding an investment’s potential, even if that’s coming from a single person, can hold everyone else back. 

Hear how “absolute clarity” and a laser focus on what your firm needs can clear those roadblocks by helping you explain exactly what solutions you need and how new tech will meet them. Fear and uncertainty are the enemy. Start with defining a problem, then educate everyone on how a solution will solve it and how you will support the adoption process.

Questions or ideas about solo and small practices? Drop us a line at NewSolo@legaltalknetwork.com  

Topics:

• Today’s legal tech is getting better, and faster, and more efficient. But sometimes a “this is how we’ve always done it” from a single person – anyone from a managing partner to a bookkeeper – can block upgrades.
• Don’t let one person hold back an entire firm. Hear how it all starts with identifying a problem and helping your “human roadblocks” overcome their concerns and get onboard.

Fear of the unknown is real. Fear of looking “dumb” in the face of a tech upgrade is real. Fear of overspending is real. Empathize. Educate. Elevate. Help those resisters feel empowered and excited. 

Mentioned in This Episode:

Ben Schorr, LinkedIn

Microsoft Designer

Microsoft Bookings

“Legal 3.Oh!” podcast archives

Affinity Consulting

“Pardon the Interruption: 2023 Edition,” Kennedy-Mighell Report

“Prioritizing Progress: Building a Roadmap for 2024, with Debbie Foster,” Lawyerist Podcast