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mal set of requirements for continuing edu-cation. Yet their jobs require knowledge andunderstanding of the latest procedural rulesand ever-changing technology applications.Managers are now faced with finding creativeways on limited budgets to ensure thatthey and their staff keep abreast of the latesttools and processes for successfully support-ing their firms or law departments.

Traditional training forums for litigation

support personnel, including formal class-room settings with certification programsand conference sessions, are still popular forprofessionals seeking a thorough introduc-tion to or a higher level of knowledge ofa specific topic. Some newer methods oflearning or professional development alsoare available today, such as online or remotelearning forums.

Learning is not a linear process; it includesexploration and connecting the information

Creative TrainingStrategies

CAREER FOCUSCAREER FOCUS

Improving ROIwith a Tight BudgetImproving ROIwith a Tight Budget

By Erika Santiago

n law firms and corporations of all sizes, thenations economic downturn has promptedsignificant budget cuts, and often among theitems slashed are training and development.In an employment market where even themost educated and experienced people arehappy just to have a job, many organizationsforego professional development activities

altogether. Companies are wise to maintainsome development priorities, even on asmaller scale, to remain competitive and well-positioned when the employment marketswings back to where it was a few years ago.Attracting and retaining the best employeesstill requires some investment and it is almostalways less expensive to invest in existingemployees than to hire new ones.

Unlike attorneys or paralegals, litigationsupport managers and their staff have no for-

Published by Conexion International Media, Inc. All rights reserved.

Litigation SupportLitigation SupportTODAYTODAY

MAY/JULY 2009 R E P R I N T E D W I T H P E R M I S S I O N F R O M

A M A G A Z I N E F O R T H E L I T I G A T I O N S U P P O R T P R O F E S S I O N A L


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that is available. Many learning opportu-nities are available to litigation supportprofessionals today, not all of which arelabeled training, and in todays economic

environment, the key is to leverage everyeducational opportunity to maximize itsreturn on investment (ROI). Additionally,managers can help their employees takegreater personal responsibility for theirown professional development to benefitthemselves, the entire department, andthe organization as a whole.

Creative Alternatives to FormalTraining

People have different learning styles

but we know that one of the ways inwhich adults learn best is when they arechallenged to share knowledge with some-one else. It gives learning a purpose. Beingtoo busy is never a good excuse to avoidlearning something new especially inour industry. Litigation support moves attoo fast a pace for us to sit still. So howcan litigation support managers help theirteams filter the extreme volume of infor-mation that is available?

By moving the focus from formaltraining to learning experiences, litigationsupport managers can provide educationalopportunities that both challenge andteach necessary skills. Here is one 4-steplearning exercise that is easy to imple-ment:1. Define the learning objective.Is it to learn a skill that will increaseefficiencies? Project management?Communication? Industry best practices?Presentation skills? Leadership skills?2. Define the research topic. Forexample, industry best practices for data

collection andpreservation.3. Assign aresearch

resource.Assign eachteam mem-ber a typeof resourceto researchand report backto the group onthe information found.Continuing the example aboveof best practices for data collection andpreservation, some sources might include: Web sites

Blogs

Articles and publications

Published research studies

White papers

Podcasts

Webinars

4. Present your findings. Establisha time for a final report on the learningexperience to be presented as a round-table or brownbag discussion for your

team. This information can later be rede-livered as a presentation for your attor-neys and/or paralegals.

The objective above was to learn andshare information about best practicesfor data collection and preservation. Theresearch may also generate discussion

about how the teamexplains these bestpractices to theirattorneys and

paralegals. Thislearning exerciseallows everyone totake away from the

experience greaterknowledge about the

topic.An alternative to the

process outlined above mightbe to assign each team member

a singe research resourcearticle, blog,webinar, podcast, etc.on different topics.

Each team member is required to reportback to the group at the next team meet-ing on his assigned topic. This exercise alsocan be done in small teams in which two ormore team members (think team-buildingproject) research a topic to share with therest of the department and/or case teams.

To encourage critical thinking, ask abouteach persons thoughts on the motiva-tion behind the resource researched. Forexample, was the author of the article a con-

sultant? A lawyer speaking from experienceor important lessons learned? Or was thewebinar an educational marketing presenta-tion from a software company or serviceprovider? Discuss how the authors or spon-sors motivation might have played into thepresentation of the information.

In regard to these sources, keep in mindthat some of the industrys most expe-rienced and knowledgeable experts andthought leaders happen to work for technol-ogy developers or service providers. Theseindividuals often share their expertise in agenuine effort to educate and improve theindustry as a whole, so their insights shouldnot be discounted strictly based on whotheir current employer might happen to be.Having said that, some vendors do provide


Ultimately, it is the responsibility of theindividual to identify his career goals andset learning objectives to meet those goals.

Take Advantage of Free Tutorials and Product DemosFree software training resources may be available online for specific applications, such as

Microsoft Office. Polish your Access skills, for example, by taking advantage of their free train-ing catalog (http://tinyurl.com/2lrw37).

Even if your firm has a vendor host all of your projects, it cant hurt to avail yourself to the

free training offered by traditional litigation support software companies:

nConcordance: http://tinyurl.com/dhtl5wnCTSummation: http://tinyurl.com/cr823yniCONECT: http://tinyurl.com/cqeymanAttenex: http://tinyurl.com/d4dvg8nClearwell: http://tinyurl.com/crb4la

nRelativity: http://tinyurl.com/c52cuonIpro: http://tinyurl.com/dkua75nCaselogistix: http://tinyurl.com/djvcaxnNexidia: http://tinyurl.com/c2xf5j


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educational material as part of a sales ini-tiative which is why its useful to considertheir motivation and whether the informa-tion is presented in an objective manner.

Maximizing the Return on YourTraining Investment

Formal training can become a train-the-trainer opportunity for your firm, corporatelegal department or government agencywhen the budget is tight. If there is enoughmoney in the training budget to send some-one on the team to a traditional trainingprogram, that person should be expected toshare their learning experience with the restof the team upon their return. For this rea-

son, it is important to choose the attendeewisely if you have the budget to onlysend one individual. The attendeeshould be someone with good listen-ing and presentation skills, to ensurehe or she is capable of effectivelycommunicating with and training theteam on what hes learned. This pro-cess of sharing of information itselfcan be a professional developmentopportunity for some staff.

Other traditional trainingresources are trade shows and con-ferences. However, to achieve themaximum return on your train-ing investments, be sure to assesshow each of your team memberslearn new information. The tradi-tional classroom setting with a singleinstructor is ideal for some learnerswhile the standard conference styleof many presenters or panelists coveringseveral topics is better for others. Take thetime to evaluate and ask questions to deter-mine the best learning environment for

each of your team members.

Take Advantage of Free TrainingOpportunities and Products

Dont forget that a lot can be learnedfrom a product demonstration. Ask yoursoftware vendors to send you a flash demo oftheir product that provides a basic overviewof what it does and how it can be used (seesidebar on page 26 for a list of free tutori-als and product demos). This free demo

can become a foundational starting pointfor one-on-one training on how the tool isused within your department or firm. Theseproduct demonstrations can be useful for

responding to case teams about what eachtool does and some firms even incorporatethis information into paralegal and attorneytraining programs. Many vendors have demosavailable on their corporate Websites or onvideo sites such as YouTube.com. If you havea customized implementation or wish to havegreater control over training content, youcan easily record your own software demo orwebinar using tools like TechSmiths Camtasia(www.techsmith.com).

YouTube is another great up-and-coming

resource for free training. Some organiza-

tions post conference town halls and semi-nars on YouTube, and you can find things likerepresentational video clips from a meetand confer training video starring the judge

from the famous Zubulake case. Becausesome firms may not allow access to sitessuch as YouTube from office computers, yourteam may have to view such informationfrom home. It is important to have groupdiscussions about YouTube content becausenot all of it is entirely accurate. Other videoor presentation hosting sites have a lot tooffer as well. For example, check out www.Vimeo.com and www.brighttalk.com.

Thanks to todays technology, you may

have options for customized programsor alternative delivery formats of theworkshop(s) in which you and your teamare interested in attending. For example,

many independent software consultants/trainers have the flexibility to offer web-based training as well, and some are offer-ing training programs on a CD. Otherorganizations are offering their training inlocations outside of their headquarters.

Free or low-cost webcasts are availablethrough a number of industry organizationsincluding the national and regional litigationsupport associations and the InternationalLegal Technology Association (www.iltanet.org.) Kai Williams-Slaton, ILTAs

Atlanta Volunteer City Representative

(VCR) noted that, In addition to educationthrough free webinars, ITLA holds localmonthly meetings on a variety of topicsto expose our membership to trends and

technology available in the marketplace.A number of service providers and soft-

ware developers such as Clearwell, Anacomp(Caselogistix), Exterro, and iFramework alsooffer free webinars either on-demand or asscheduled events. Some of these may be partmarketing and part education, but as long asyou understand the motivation behind themessage, you and your team can glean goodinformation about technology, trends, bestpractices and what your litigators and clients



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1242399439 creative training strategies lst

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