CRAFTY LEARNS

Problem statements

Before "people, processes & technology", what challenge are you trying to solve?

Facilitated by Konexo:

Barbar Hayat, MD, Head of Tech & Transformation (babarhayat@konexoglobal.com)
Matt Scott, Senior Tech Consultant (matthewscott@konexoglobal.com)
Robbie Smith, Senior Tech Consultant (robbiesmith2@konexoglobal.com)
Dr Winnie Leung, Tech Consultant (winnieleung@konexoglobal.com)

The top three questions or themes explored in this session were…

Why problem statements are important: before looking at technology to solve problems, we explored why it is crucial to define your problem statements to fully understand what you are trying to solve.
What happens without a clear problem statement: when problem statements are not defined, issues can arise. We discussed several examples and case studies where projects and initiatives fail due to a lack of understanding of the problems they are trying to solve.
What makes up a good problem statement: having a structured framework to defining problems makes it easier to fully consider them in detail. We identified key areas to define problems as part of a framework and what the next steps are once you have clear problem statements.

The top three things that attendees should take away from the session:

There is a lot of legal technology out there to support in-house teams, some promising to be the silver-bullet to tackling all problems. However, without fully considering the problems you are trying to solve, often technology can make things worse.
Without defining problem statements, there can be some disastrous outcomes on your transformation initiatives, including misaligned objectives, ineffective solutions, poor adoption and scope creep.
When developing a problem statement, it is important to fully consider:

a. How to identify problems b. How to put problems into context c. How to find the root cause of a problem d. Describing the ideal outcome to resolve it Once you have your problem statements defined, they can be used to formulate a business case for change. Outlining the problem statements, different options for solving the problems and any costs or effort required for each option.