One of the first projects I undertook here at Sheppard Mullin, was to develop a 'menu' of potential knowledge management projects that a department or practice in the firm could take interest in. Often times lawyers would ask 'What can my department do with knowledge management?' The menu, or KM Matrix, was designed to give the lawyers some starting points. I worked with Mark Keller, a consultant with a lot of experience in these projects, to help define the matrix and also attach a level of 'competitive advantage' to each project. While subjective, it would at least help guide them to projects that would potentially yield the greatest return.
Some KM initiatives have universal appeal, while others naturally lend themselves to benefit specific groups. This menu of KM options was designed to expose the world of possibilities within Knowledge Management. The idea was that we would identify projects of interest to a practice group, prioritize the various initiatives and build a KM Project Plan for the firm. The menu is not meant to be all-encompassing of every conceivable option within KM, but provide a starting point in the process.
I've attached the menu, but have omitted much of the detail as it's our IP. What's not included is more detailed descriptions of each project, highlighting the pros/cons, business issues addressed, level of attorney involvement, etc. I included the first few, so you could see what details we tried to include for the lawyers.
