What is Legal Project Management? “Legal Project Management adopts business

Transcription

What is Legal Project Management? “Legal Project Management adopts business
The Nuts and Bolts of Legal Project Management
for In-House Counsel
FM Panelists:
Guest Panelist:
Sean Morley
Steven Rosenhek
Peter Gutelius (RBC)
Toronto Fasken Martineau Symposium
May 24, 2012
What is Legal Project Management?
FM Panelist:
Sean Morley
Toronto Fasken Martineau Symposium
May 24, 2012
What is Legal Project Management?
“Legal Project Management adopts business
management techniques to the legal
profession to increase client value”
3
1
What is Legal Project Management?
• Practice management tool for in-house counsel to
manage projects and drive internal efficiencies
• Practice management tool for in-house counsel to
monitor and assess external counsel, enhancing
value and maintaining a budget
• Practice management tool for external counsel to
provide better value services to clients
4
What is Legal Project Management?
• Most lawyers, whether in-house counsel or
practicing with a firm, already engage in some form
of Legal Project Management:
• Establishing a budget
• Managing a team to achieve specific tasks
• Managing a schedule
5
What are the Key Objectives of Legal
Project Management?
• Properly implemented and executed Legal Project
Management can deliver:
1. More predictable costs
2. Improved quality
6
2
What are the Key Objectives of Legal
Project Management?
• Properly implemented and executed Legal Project
Management can deliver:
3. Better targeted services
4. Improved communication
5. Reduced risk
7
What are the Key Objectives of Legal
Project Management?
• All ultimately with the objective of delivering
better VALUE as determined by the client
8
Key Components of Legal Project
Management
FM Panelist:
Steven Rosenhek
Toronto Fasken Martineau Symposium
May 24, 2012
3
1. Define Objectives and Scope
Objectives:
• Defining the desired project outcome, based on
client’s true goals/ “success”
• Identify legal and business problems
• Identify realistic/possible/acceptable outcomes
• Lawyer’s role
10
1. Define Objectives and Scope (cont’d)
Scope:
• What is included/not included
• “Iron Triangle”:
• Wants v. needs
• Priorities may change
SCOPE
COST
TIME
11
1. Define Objectives and Scope –
Best Practices
• Listen!
• Scope document:
• Objectives
• Scope of work
• Decision makers
• Timelines/deadlines
12
4
1. Define Objectives and Scope –
Best Practices (cont’d)
• Phases
• Key assumptions
• Contingencies
• Exclusions
13
1. Define Objectives and Scope –
Best Practices (cont’d)
• Buy-in:
• Circulate scope document to client for acceptance
• Circulate and discuss with team
• Incorporate into subsequent communications
• Flexibility to adjust scope/time/budget
14
2. Plan and Schedule the Activities
Project planning:
• Break down project into smaller, manageable
parts-usually organized into phases
• Schedule/timetable
• Budget
• Staffing
• Risks/assumptions
15
5
2. Plan and Schedule the Activities
(cont’d)
• The document:
• Gantt chart/template/ “Waypoint”
• All major tasks/activities in chronological order with
responsibilities assigned, and scheduled in terms of
days/weeks/months
• Can incorporate UTBMS or other client management
systems
• Living document
16
2. Plan and Schedule the Activities
(cont’d)
• Effective work breakdown document achieves:
• thinking through all aspects of project
• preventing work from slipping through cracks
• facilitating communications
• helping prevent unnecessary changes
17
2. Plan and Schedule the Activities
(cont’d)
• focusing the team’s experience on tasks
• providing solid basis for estimating costs
• ability to adapt to future projects
18
6
2. Plan and Schedule the Activities –
Best Practices
• Small, discrete tasks should be manageable, not
overlap
• Work breakdown should not be too detailed or
complex
• “8/80” Rule
• Create complete schedule with deadlines
• Team members commit to deadlines
• Tasks prioritized
19
2. Plan and Schedule the Activities –
Best Practices (cont’d)
• Set internal progress measures and meeting/report
intervals
• Discuss with team and client sequence, schedule
and budget
• Team members commit to deadlines
• Incorporate contingency factors
• Incorporate assumptions (general/specific)
• Assess costs and schedule against baseline
20
3. Assign Tasks and Manage Team
• Goal is to manage teams more efficiently
• Assign tasks to appropriate level of professional
• Choose best professional for the work
21
7
3. Assign Tasks and Manage Team –
Best Practices
• Pick level of professional, then the individual
• Assign primary responsibility to specific individuals
• Review tasks with team members
• Re-assign when necessary
• Keep the team involved from the start
22
4. Plan and Manage Budget
• Goal is to predict and control legal costs
• Estimate time required to complete tasks
23
4. Plan and Management Budget –
Best Practices
• Don’t under-estimate
• Use previous projects as benchmarks
• Reduce costs by improving delegation
• Apply “certainty factors”
• Review budget and expectations with team
24
8
4. Plan and Management Budget –
Best Practices (cont’d)
• Track and communicate performance
• Check work against budget
• Be proactive if exceeding budget
• Be prepared to discuss increase of budget where
necessary
25
5. Manage Risks
• Goal is to increase chances that work will be done
on time and within budget
• Identify and analyze legal/non-legal risks
26
5. Manage Risks – Best Practices
• Do early risk analysis
• Account for variability of unanticipated tasks
• Identify the risks, their likelihood/consequences
• Develop strategies to
avoid/mitigate/accept/transfer risk
• Resolve problems without delay
• Manage client expectations – no surprises!
27
9
6. Manage Quality
• Ensure team works together to achieve successful
completion
• Be prepared to make adjustments based on
relationship between cost, schedule and quality
• Needs more attention where schedule
changed/budget cut
• Pay attention to “critical path”
28
6. Manage Quality – Best Practices
• Look for warning signs
• Work together and keep team informed
• Be vigilant when over budget
29
7. Communication
• Understand client needs, priorities (general and
specific)
• Keep client informed
30
10
7. Communication – Best Practices
• Give client what it wants: face to face meetings/
periodic and/or regular reports/extranet
• Monitor work performed by team members
• Ask client for feedback
• “Lessons learned” session
31
8. Manage Change
• Changes are inevitable
• Develop process to respond to change
• May need to go back to client to negotiate change
of scope
32
8. Manage Change – Best Practices
• Understand full impact of change on project
resources/ time/costs before agreeing to it
• Changes that require more funding v. those that
can be accepted without funding increase
• Both team and client should understand impact on
project
33
11
Concluding Thoughts
• Toolbox – use what is required
• Keep it simple
• Good communication is key
• It’s worth the effort!
34
Legal Project Management
An In-House Perspective
Fasken Martineau Symposium
May 24, 2012
Peter Gutelius
Assistant General Counsel
Royal Bank of Canada
Legal Project Management
Why?
36
12
Why?
1. Planning
2. Metrics
3. Expectations
4. Communication
5. Value
37
1. Planning
- using a project management tool requires a
consideration of the process
- identification of the resources
- time frame for the activity
- an opportunity to talk internally and externally
about the objectives
38
2. Metrics
- metrics allow in-house counsel to evaluate,
compare and manage files
- creation of a library of information setting a
foundation for making recommendations internally
or providing instructions externally
- helps answer the “hard” questions:
-
How much will it cost?
How long with it take?
Which of my executives will have to be involved?
What does success look like?
39
13
3. Expectations
- you have a plan
- you have identified milestones
- you are able to give your business partners a clear
picture of what to expect
- you and your external counsel are in sync
- you have an opportunity to manage expectations
40
4. Communication
- consistently referenced as one of the most
important factors in managing … almost anything
- the development of a project plan sets a point in
time to engage in a discussion about the retainer
and gives you the framework for the discussion
- it’s an opportunity to effectively manage
41
5. Value
Often cited, rarely defined
-
cost?
results?
internal impact?
future benefit?
development of “trusted advisor”?
makes me look good?
It depends ….
42
14
5. Value (continued)
- It can help in-house counsel and external counsel
identify and create value file by file or across a
relationship
- It can help in-house counsel manage staff, allocate
resources, reduce surprises
- It can also mislead
43
5. Value (continued)
- Legal Project Management is not the destination,
it’s a tool
- consider the most common approach:
-
identify the steps usually followed
identify the person who usually performs the activity
identify the amount of time usually expended
calendar the events
cost the time
allocate the resources
44
5. Value (continued)
What’s missing?
- critical review of the what, by whom, for how long?
- populating a project plan with historical data
assumes that the management of a file was
historically efficient
45
15
5. Value (continued)
- ask why an activity (or more likely its component
parts) is necessary
- question whether the person performing the
activity is the right person (and this does not mean
push work to the lowest cost individual)
- decide whether the work is consistent with the
objective or is necessary to achieve the objective
46
5. Value (continued)
- stop thinking “budget” and start thinking “plan”
- value from in-house counsel is as important as
value from external counsel
- value will be the result of achieving the desired
outcome and being able to demonstrate that you
managed the process while balancing cost, risk and
results
47
Sean Morley
+1 416 865 4362
[email protected]
Steven Rosenhek
+1 416 865 4541
[email protected]
Peter Gutelius
+1 416 974 3435
[email protected]
For this accredited session,
please ensure you sign the attendance
sheet located outside the room!
16