Tuesday, January 28, 2014

Jason Atchley : eDiscovery : Vendor Voice: 8 Reasons Why E-Discovery Projects Fail

Jason Atchley

How to avoid common mistakes, such as unrealistic or poorly defined goals and expectations.
, Law Technology News

A circle of business persons holding hands
It is impossible to deny the competitive advantages of an effectively conducted electronic data discovery project management program. Unfortunately, mistakes and failures in the delivery process cause many to go astray. Certain scenarios have a way of repeating themselves; there are a number of risk points in the EDD process. If you have ever been involved with a project in this area, you most likely have experienced at least one of these problems as well. Here are the top eight issues, and suggested ways to overcome these challenges.

1. Unrealistic or poorly defined goals and expectations.

Any failure to manage a project's expectations can have disastrous outcomes. The inability for all participants to remain on the same page could lead to re-doing work and incurring extra costs, while also damaging reputations. To ensure that this does not occur, the effective project manager will set up at least one scoping call before the project has even begun. A multifaceted project may require several calls.
A well-run scoping call will:
• Include all interested parties.
• Clearly define requirements and expectations.
• Identify and discuss all needs and risks.
• Produce an agreed-upon timetable for the project's completion.
It is vital that each participant leave this meeting with a clear understanding of the project's scope. Documentation memorializing the call should be distributed to everyone and will ensure that everyone sees eye to eye.

2. Insufficient client involvement.

In the heat of planning, it is easy to ignore the most important parties to the project: clients and senior management. Their approval and support is indispensable at every step, and failure to involve them can spell disaster at the outset.
To maintain communication with all stakeholders, the conscientious project manager will:
• Hold conference calls on a regular basis.
• Issue daily or weekly documentation detailing work performed and progress made.
• Ensure every player's full commitment to the project.
• Welcome the input of all interested parties.

3. Scope creep.

No venture is immune to alterations in priorities and requirements. Project plans change all the time, and there is no way to completely prevent this. The trouble starts when minor changes get out of control. The trick is to keep this normal and expected change of scope under control. Constant checking and monitoring is necessary to reduce its impact and stop runaway changes in their tracks. To put the brakes on scope creep, it is vital to document all proposed changes and require each stakeholder to sign off. The knowledgeable project manager will implement a change control process into the workflow.
Unfortunately, these time-consuming stopgap measures will slow down any project. The best plan is to avoid scope creep in the first place by making certain to:
• Institute a formal change application process.
• Determine the impact of all requested changes in anticipation of discussion with clients, stakeholders, law firms, and the project team.
• Subject all such requests to a clearly defined authorization process
• Review the scope of each change with all players before rejecting or approving the request.•Update all project documents and make the team aware of the change.

4. Gold-plated promises.

While scope creep can slow any project, the promise of extras can bring it to a grinding halt. This is particularly true when the project team is unaware that anyone has given these overreaching assurances. Such pledges are normally outside the scope of the project's workflow and unaccounted for in the planning stage. This usually happens either when something is not discussed at the beginning of the project, or as overcompensation to counter a defect or failure during the project..
To prevent overzealous sales or business interests from promising the impossible, it is vital to keep the project management team in the loop and obtain their recommendations at the outset.

5. Unclear rules and roles.

All project participants must understand not only their expected duties but also the way in which they will be interacting with the other players. The project manager must make time during the first scoping call to spell out all such expectations with the interested parties. A detailed declaration of planning, accountability and responsibility will help to clarify the situation. On any project that involves multiple parties, the setting of individual roles and responsibilities will require the involvement and approval of the client.

6. Toxic interactions.

Poor team dynamics can manifest themselves in many ways. The "us versus them" mentality leads to poor communication, inadequate collaboration and nonexistent teamwork. These conflicts can occur as often between a project's multiple participants as within a single organization. The success of any project depends upon the ability of the players to act as a team. It is up to the project manager to resolve these differences.

7. Untrained and inadequate resources.

Too often, inexperienced or untrained resources become a leading cause of problems. When a project's team members lack the experience and skills required to do the job, scalability issues are bound to arise. Financial constraints will often compel a team into doing more with less, forcing leaders to pull resources from disparate locations to get the tasks completed. If these people lack the necessary expertise to get the job done, it will have a harmful effect on the cost and quality of work being performed while wreaking havoc with the project's timeline. Failure is bound to result.

8. Learning from past mistakes.

Problems often repeat themselves. I have seen this occur often in this industry, and it happens across the board. Responsibility falls as often on clients and outside counsel as it does on vendors. The secret is to learn from these mistakes. To facilitate the process, request an end-of-project report. Preparation of such "lessons learned" documents should occur both inside the organization and externally at the client level. The information contained in these summations will help prevent the future repetition of any errors that might have occurred during the project. For an organization that strives for excellence, the exercise is invaluable.
Project management shouldn’t be an afterthought in an e-discovery project; it is key to your organization’s success. When you understand your organization, carefully review your project management processes, implement improvement plans, and avoid these eight problems, your e-discovery project will go more smoothly than you ever thought possible.
Attorney Kevin Clark is vice president of the Client Advisory Group at TrustPoint International,  based in Washington, D.C. 

Jason Atchley

Jason Atchley
Jason Atchley

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