Overcoming ‘change fatigue’ with legal tech

Duties to mitigate fatigue

Legal professionals in Australia have, of course, experienced myriad changes in recent years, even before the onset of COVID-19 over two years ago. The global pandemic has, of course, accelerated the uptake of technological processes and platforms, as well as seen the advent of mainstream remote and flexible working arrangements and, as a consequence, more scattered workforces.

On the question of the extent to which legal tech providers have a responsibility to help mitigate any change fatigue that those professionals may be experiencing – whether it be related to tech evolutions or otherwise – Ms Farmer responded that it is as much a duty as it makes real commercial sense for those providers.

“Legal practitioners are incredibly busy people. Running a conveyancing practice, for example, is high stress,” she detailed.

“Any legal tech provider should make it a priority to help practitioners through further change – providing a clear understanding of the support they will receive and the benefits they will derive in making the change to reward the investment in time, training and other resources that will be required.”

As part of making such help a priority, Mr Howlett added, is acknowledging that the ways in which firms have needed to evolve “have been hard – at both an organisational level, and also for the individuals in those firms”.

“Providers must be sensitive to the fact that the last two years have been uncomfortable and difficult for many firms and that there is now a common perception that further change might be unnecessarily disruptive and a distraction from day-to-day operations,” he opined.

“It’s incumbent on legal technology providers to work closely with firms to mitigate the potential for ‘change burnout’, and this starts with gaining a deep understanding of the challenges firms have faced, where they’re currently at in terms of their operations and what they need to address going forward.”

It is also important, Mr Howlett went on, that providers only recommend change where there’s a tangible benefit for firms and can demonstrate the value.

“Providers that don’t do this, risk being perceived as part of the problem, not the solution,” he said.

Practical strategies

In order to better address emerging fatigue, Mr Howlett deduced, legal tech providers need to start thinking of themselves as “partners”, and not merely as providers.

“Firms are highly focused on returning to stability, and while they may be reluctant to take on more change, there’s a role for technology to play in achieving that. As a technology provider, it’s crucial to evolve the way we work, our products and the services we provide in line with the changes in the industry,” he stressed.

“This includes everything from new product development to enable remote working, renewed focus on effective project management to take the ‘pain’ out of change and new online learning and service delivery models to make it easier for firms to adapt.”

By doing this, Mr Howlett concluded, providers can add real value when firms are transitioning through change.

At Sympli, Ms Farmer said, the task at hand involves truly understanding its customers.

“Our customers want to know that their everyday stresses and worries are acknowledged, understood and catered for within our platform. At the end of the day, we all prefer to buy from people we like and trust and the legal tech space is no different,” she reflected.

“Relationships and support are critical to build confidence, provide reassurance and minimise any disruption to our customers’ businesses. It’s about providing practitioners with a clearly articulated value proposition, to understand how our platform makes their lives easier, the benefit which comes from their investment to switch, and to have us prepare and guide them through what happens next at each stage of their journey with us.”

Thinking creatively

Furthermore, and for Ms Farmer, there are two areas where legal tech providers can look at creative solutions in this way.

The first, she said, is to focus on ways that solutions can drive efficiency gains, and the second is to slot as easily, intuitively, and seamlessly into a practitioner’s existing ways of working as possible.

“Compelling and meaningful integration into practice management systems is a great example of a way to achieve both,” she submitted.

The most important thing, Mr Howlett said in support of Ms Farmer’s earlier point, is for providers to understand their customers well, their current pain points and the challenges that are likely to emerge in coming years. “By anticipating this, providers can drive innovation that genuinely makes life easier for practitioners,” he believed.

“Adopting this customer-centric approach results in not just good product design and service delivery, but the best customer experience which is crucial in a very competitive environment where firms are averse to change.

“It also builds trust with customers which is one of the best ways to overcome scepticism to change.”

Grasping opportunities

Reflecting on whether the presence of change fatigue presents chances for legal tech providers to better position themselves moving forward, Ms Farmer said that “it absolutely does”.

Many firms, Mr Howlett mused, still acknowledge the value of technology and its critical role in becoming or staying competitive, but after what they’ve been through during the age of coronavirus, he said, there’s often a reluctance to take on more change.

“A degree of trust needs to be established between firms and providers that the impact of change can be mitigated and the transition will be smooth,” he posited.

“Providers that differentiate on the basis of customer experience and can demonstrate to firms that they’re the right partner to help them implement new technologies will have a distinct advantage. At LexisNexis, this means centring our customers in our product development and service delivery, and working with them to establish and build trust as the right provider to support their team.”

For a provider like Sympli, as a “second mover” in the e-conveyancing space, Ms Farmer said, there are many lessons to be learned from the transition from paper to digital, and in those lessons, lie opportunities.

“There is real appetite for competition but this on its own is not enough to mitigate change fatigue – so we have to try harder,” she noted.

“It’s about having a compelling offer, it’s about the personal touch in a technology world, it’s about really understanding the humans involved in these processes, it’s about being responsive and agile.”