The quarterly publication of the International Legal Technology Association
Issue link: http://read.uberflip.com/i/57001
that region. A cohesive group of senior managers and stakeholders should use globally agreed-upon methodology to design the overall products and services, make budgetary decisions and undertake project management. At the same time, retaining autonomy in areas such as support and service is important. To ensure a truly cohesive support model, senior IT managers must build and maintain teams and invest in training and growth. Kristin Gorman: I believe a global training model is possible if all parties agree to follow a consistent organizational structure and the same policies/procedures, while at the same time having the flexibility to allow for business-critical regional differences. What tips can you share on effectively communicating with global user communities? Nina: I don't believe that one size fits all. To be most effective, we have to consider the audience, the topic, the urgency, the impact on users and any action required by users. Where possible, having the communication distributed "personally" by a local or business resource is more effective. We are also trying to develop a more branded style for our communications so that our community can more readily identify the type of message they are receiving. Kristin: Nina is spot on. I would add that you need to strive to understand the culture of the region and office as well. This helps with crafting a more effective message. Michele: Having someone in a lead role to oversee global communications helps with decisions and the coordination of global versus regional messages. However, having a lead communication contact (with responsibility and decision-making authority) in each region is also key to helping review, vet and confirm both applicability of the messages and any region-specific adjustments that need to be made. Cultural considerations come into play not only internationally, but sometimes from office-to-office. We try to develop consistent communications globally whenever possible, but also consider the best delivery method (email message, voicemail, PIN messaging, intranet, hard copy, etc.) for the content and the culture. What are the main challenges in trying to deliver global support across your three regions? Jeff Linnert: Providing global support is broken down into two main components: technical support and customer service. We have a technical support challenge of supporting two desktop configurations (full and thin client, as a result of one of our mergers). This currently works best for each of those environments, but presents challenges for the support teams retaining knowledge and awareness of the differences (setup and policies). The support teams also need to be well-versed in all applications, even the region-specific ones. This could present challenges in timely delivery of service when a service desk is addressing region-specific issues or applications for a region other than their own. Providing quality customer service is just as important as resolving the technical issues. There are various native languages within our offices around the world, which can be a challenge when providing telephone support. This can also impact response times if the user needs hands-on local support and the support team member is juggling multiple requests. Nina: As Jeff mentioned, the support of localized or bespoke applications can be problematic. Another challenge is consistency. With all large teams, ensuring that everyone is on the same page when it comes to delivering service, updating tickets, responding to users/ customers in a timely fashion, etc. can be difficult — more so when you are working across regions. Our support structure has some variations (e.g., some offices with large teams across all disciplines and others with remote support teams or no onsite support). Making sure every user gets the same service, response and priority ranking can be challenging. 42 Peer to Peer