best practice
Learning rounds: knowledge sharing is a new professionalism
Best practices of SIBUR Legal Support in developing a culture of mutual learning
If you have ever received an invitation from Legal Support to a webinar, then you already know that this team is a wonderful example of a culture of internal knowledge sharing. Well, if you don't know yet, now you will see this.
We have talked to the director of Legal support Aleksei Nikiforov and a senior lawyer Alla Generalova about how LS managed to create an entire ecosystem for knowledge sharing. Here we give the main ideas that the colleagues have told us: you can also apply these in your team.
We have talked to the director of Legal support Aleksei Nikiforov and a senior lawyer Alla Generalova about how LS managed to create an entire ecosystem for knowledge sharing. Here we give the main ideas that the colleagues have told us: you can also apply these in your team.
"The culture of knowledge sharing have already been existing in the department for a long time. The basic principle: if you know the thing then teach others.
If you are not preparing a successor, do not transfer your knowledge, you will not be able to grow professionally. There is a clear-cut attitude in Legal Support: you can be the coolest expert, but if you do not grow someone who owns a topic no worse than you, then you will not be able to build a career. Why is it important? Because otherwise, the situation is unstable."
If you are not preparing a successor, do not transfer your knowledge, you will not be able to grow professionally. There is a clear-cut attitude in Legal Support: you can be the coolest expert, but if you do not grow someone who owns a topic no worse than you, then you will not be able to build a career. Why is it important? Because otherwise, the situation is unstable."
Aleksei Nikiforov
Head of Legal Support function
PRINCIPLES OF KNOWLEDGE CULTURE
IN THE LEGAL SUPPORT TEAM
IN THE LEGAL SUPPORT TEAM
1
Action learning
Observe, try, create and share best practices. Team-members can join other interest projects and tasks in addition to their main area of responsibility.
2
Cross-functinality and a strong back-up
The leader always has a deputy, who, if necessary, picks up the project, so that the expertise is not lost.
3
Knowledge management
It is important how tha work is organised. In a very large flow of information, it is important not to miss anything. All accumulated experience is structured at Share point and in Confluence. Each member of the team understands his/her responsibility for formalizing experience and practice, transferring it to a document, checking its quality, and saving it in a shared folder - for creation and maintenance of methodology.
Examples of materials: check-lists, lessons learned.
Tasks are fixed in the Jeffit system. The rule is that smth is not in the system than it doesn't exist at all.
It is the matter of a culture of knowledge sharing.
In addition, there are many internal chats, where there is no such thing that the question is not answered.
Examples of materials: check-lists, lessons learned.
Tasks are fixed in the Jeffit system. The rule is that smth is not in the system than it doesn't exist at all.
It is the matter of a culture of knowledge sharing.
In addition, there are many internal chats, where there is no such thing that the question is not answered.
4
Learning rounds
A circle is a leader and 4-5 people, where the first one has the task to develop a specific competence of a function. Each circle has a key topic in which best practices are accumulated.
Now there are 20 rounds in LS. Examples of tasks: the round for M&A (mergers and acquisitions) sets as its task the development of M&A competencies, the round for licensing - the task of developing standard license forms, the round of construction - standard contracts.
Principles of rounds:
Dynamics - the teams and the content of rounds are regularly changing, adapting to external needs
Responsibility - leaders of the rounds get complete freedom of action to achieve their goals
Evaluation - each quarter the effectiveness of rounds and their participants are evaluated.
Philosophy of a round - you can be in several circles, develop yourself and a team, adequately evaluate resources. The goals of the round are necessarily set in KPI. Evaluation of your work depends on what you and your round's team have achieved.
Now there are 20 rounds in LS. Examples of tasks: the round for M&A (mergers and acquisitions) sets as its task the development of M&A competencies, the round for licensing - the task of developing standard license forms, the round of construction - standard contracts.
Principles of rounds:
Dynamics - the teams and the content of rounds are regularly changing, adapting to external needs
Responsibility - leaders of the rounds get complete freedom of action to achieve their goals
Evaluation - each quarter the effectiveness of rounds and their participants are evaluated.
Philosophy of a round - you can be in several circles, develop yourself and a team, adequately evaluate resources. The goals of the round are necessarily set in KPI. Evaluation of your work depends on what you and your round's team have achieved.
5
Transparent and in-time communication
Informational newsletters, weekly online hourly Legal Talks for the legislative changes discussion, closed deals, as well as news from the learning rounds, weekly newsletter of the function manager.
6
Engagement of newbies and learning
A buddy (mentor) is sure to work with each new employee. And the knowledge management system helps to quickly organize training, since there is usually no time for traditional education. Therefore, we give an access to the necessary documents, practices, if you have questions, please contact, but on top of what you have already learned on your own.
7
Adapt to each other
This is about an active communication and an understanding of the workload of another. Simply put, we try to meet each other and we feel that we are one team.
8
Thank the team
We always thank each other for completed projects, for the development of others, for the transfer of expertise.
9
Co-operation with the functions and
internal training
internal training
All of these principles work particularly revealing in collaboration with functions. We carefully monitor and identify the needs and requests of client functions for proactively offering support and training. We carry out up to 3-4 sessions per month.
10
We help each other
A culture of active communication is very helpful in remote work. The principle of "next please" (joking with the announcement in McDonalds when a cashier is ready to got another client): if you see that colleagues need help, it's absolutely normal to raise your hand and solve problems regardless your are of responsibility or level of your position.
11
Promoting self-confidence
Nowadays LS prepares internal trainers through performances both on the internal and external levels (universities, forums - platform LF Academy). Here the rule is as this - we trust the team-member, she begins to believe in herself, others also pull themselves up and begin to engage in training. Such practices are encouraged and promoted within the department.
Due to the established culture of knowledge sharing and support, the transition to remote work for the Legal support team was not a big challenge: even before the crisis, online meetings and work in systems were introduced as working tools, and the team's value at the forefront allowed them to quickly adapt to the increased flow of tasks.
Alla Generalova
Senior lawyer
"We are starting to help our colleagues on urgent matters, picking up the tasks. Everyone understands the current situation. We even got such a principle - "next please" (typical announcement in McDonalds when a cashier is ready to got another client), when someone who is less busy or underloaded writes to everyone in the mail "I am ready to help". People are used to working with a high degree of dynamics, and if colleagues say "we are overloaded", the lawyer, regardless of the level of his position, says that he is ready to take other tasks. The practice of mutual help helps people actively adapt to each other."
As you noticed, the above principles of knowledge transfer existing in the Legal Support team are aimed at ensuring that all knowledge in the department are formalized (explicit). This ensures the efficient transfer of tasks between employees and the accumulation of experience in the work of business processes. The terms "explicit" and "tacit" knowledge are basic in the knowledge management. Watch a video about the theoretical basics of knowledge sharing in this block.