Awards time!

Posted on August 8, 2025 by knowledge4lawyers

Looking forward to the CILIP K&IM group’s annual virtual awards in November.

Book a free space here.

a golden statue award
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Stepping Up to Leadership

Posted on August 1, 2025 by knowledge4lawyers

A fabulous in-person learning day for law firm partners.

Sharing ideas around leadership in law firms - Next Gen Partner Alliance.
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Enhancing connections using random networking initiatives

Posted on February 4, 2025 by knowledge4lawyers

I find connections which are outside my usual sphere are often the most useful for stimulating innovative thoughts. Being part of the Knowledge Mobilisation Forum has been a great learning experience for a legal sector knowledge professional.

How do you bring some serendipity/randomness into your network? Not networking to sell, but networks inside your field of work for learning and community.

I’ve been a fan of the random coffee trial for a while now. And, when I can (usually around conferences and distant client meetings), I try to build in an in-person coffee for an on-line connection.

I’ve also previously written about “Happy to Chat benches”, which were an anti-loneliness project in Wales, but which I thought could be a useful tool inside organisations, along with lunch-fours, especially now that people are often hybrid office workers, so don’t see the same faces for coffee/lunch anymore.

Volunteering in our profession obviously serves a dual purpose, and professional groups like Women Lawyer’s Network, CILIP or Law Consultancy Network, or my own groups, Knowledge Network and Next Gen Partner Alliance, enable us to step outside our organisations for support and community.

What else works for you? How do you meet interesting people outside your usual network, but who are still relevant to your work? I’d love to hear.

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Introducing the Next Gen Partner Alliance: Empowering Future Leaders in Law

Posted on January 6, 2025 by knowledge4lawyers

The transition from associate to partner is both a significant achievement and a formidable challenge. Recognising the need for comprehensive support during this pivotal career phase, Michelle Howard and I are excited to announce the launch of the Next Gen Partner Alliance—a dedicated initiative designed to equip aspiring and new partners with the essential skills, insights, and networks to lead with confidence and competence.

What is the Next Gen Partner Alliance?

The Next Gen Partner Alliance is an exclusive collaborative group tailored for senior associates and newly appointed partners within law firms. Our mission is to facilitate professional development, knowledge sharing, and network strengthening, ensuring that emerging legal leaders are well-prepared to navigate the complexities of partnership roles.

Key Features of the Alliance:

Expert-Led Workshops: Engage in interactive sessions led by industry experts, covering topics such as strategic decision-making, client relationship management, finance, and effective team leadership. Whilst the majority of events will be online, for convenience, there will be two in-person events each year.

Collaborative sessions: Benefit from deeper discussions and peer-to-peer learning from a diverse but closed community of peers and leaders across the legal sector. Foster deeper relationships for learning, collaborative opportunities, and career advancement.

Resource Library: Access a curated collection of articles, case studies, and tools focused on the competencies required for successful partnership.

Why Join the Next Gen Partner Alliance?

Transitioning to a partner role demands more than just legal expertise; it requires a nuanced understanding of business development, leadership acumen, and the ability to drive firm growth. The Next Gen Partner Alliance is committed to providing the resources and support necessary to excel in these areas, empowering you to make a meaningful impact within your firm and the broader legal community.

Get Involved/Do you qualify?

We invite law firms and individuals to become part of this transformative initiative. By joining the Next Gen Partner Alliance, you are investing in the future leaders of the legal profession, ensuring they are equipped to meet the challenges of tomorrow with confidence and capability.

Those who are new partners and senior leaders (within 3 years in role) and senior associates preparing for partnership, qualify for membership. If you are a more seasoned partner, an in-house lawyer or another senior leader who feels that they would benefit from enhancing your leadership skills, get in touch with us for a discussion.

For more information click here and to express interest in joining the Next Gen Partner Alliance, contact Michelle at michelle@michellehoward.co.uk or Helene at helenerussell@theknowledgebusiness.co.uk.

Law firm partners discussing and collaborating.
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Join the Knowledge Network: Boost Your KM Skills Today

Posted on December 11, 2024 by knowledge4lawyers

This year we have several fascinating sessions lined up that promise to be informative and engaging for all participants:

  • Janine Weightman will be discussing how we can better articulate the benefits of Knowledge Management (KM) to our stakeholders. This session aims to enhance our ability to engage and convey the significance of KM, ensuring that its value is recognized across various levels of our organizations.
  • Ian Rodwell is set to delve into the realm of emotional intelligence and its profound impact on knowledge sharing. Understanding emotional dynamics can significantly enhance communication and collaboration among team members, ultimately leading to more effective knowledge exchange.
  • Tiger Eye will be sharing their experiences from their AI pilot programmes, offering insights into the integration of artificial intelligence in KM practices. This session will provide a unique practical perspective on how technology can facilitate knowledge sharing and improve operational efficiencies.
  • Ian Pfaff, Chief Knowledge Officer, is poised to share invaluable lessons learned from his experiences in KM with the US Army. His insights are likely to offer a unique angle on how knowledge management can influence decision-making in high-stakes environments.
  • I will also be running the annual Bring-A-Problem workshop, where participants are encouraged to share challenges they face in their knowledge sharing processes and find crowd-sourced solutions. In addition, I will lead a discussion on complex knowledge sharing amongst diverse teams, sharing the outcomes of my research into effective knowledge sharing tactics.

If that line-up sounds interesting to you, consider joining the Knowledge Network. Membership provides access to a rich array of learning opportunities—members can take part in six learning events or workshops, engage in two Community Calls, and benefit from two coaching sessions each year. All events are conducted virtually, during UK lunchtimes. You also gain access to a private LinkedIn group for knowledge sharing, a 20% discount on my open training, booked via TheKnowledgeBusiness and Eventbrite (not IPI, Falconbury or MBL) and a Christmas in-person lunch in Bristol, UK.

Whether you are looking to enhance your individual knowledge management skills or seeking to foster a culture of collaboration within your organization, the Knowledge Network offers single, dual, and corporate memberships tailored to meet your needs.

Learn more here or get in touch for a chat to explore how Knowledge Network can help you advance in the field of knowledge management.

calendar and pen
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Something new is on the way

Posted on November 20, 2024 by knowledge4lawyers

Law Firms: Are your new and future partners ready to step up and lead with confidence?

Something new is coming over the horizon in 2025 to support their journey.

Stay tuned!

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Blue Skies Ahead

Posted on November 12, 2024 by knowledge4lawyers

I’m moving from twitter to Blue Sky.

Follow me at @helenerussell.bsky.social and I’ll follow back.

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Discovery in Dundee

Posted on May 14, 2024 by knowledge4lawyers

Thanks to Marc Geddes and Stephanie Barnes for inspiring keynotes at this year’s Knowledge Mobilisation Forum in Dundee, and to all the participants in a very interactive year.

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Mental Health Awareness week

Posted on April 19, 2024 by knowledge4lawyers

I recently hosted a discussion for CILIP SW about what librarian and information professionals could do in their libraries to support Mental Health Awareness week.

This is the article that I wrote about our discussions, first published on CILIP SW’s blog.

Mental Health Awareness Week will take place from Monday 13 – Sunday 19 May 2024, with the theme, set by the Mental Health Foundation, as “Movement: moving for our mental health” so we recently held a Grab A Break virtual coffee meeting to share ideas about what libraries and librarians can do to get ready to support their staff and communities.

Mental Health support is becoming increasingly important in the UK, given that so many people are experiencing stress. The “Support for staff – Burnout” report, recently published, advises that 9 in 10 adults in the UK experienced high or extreme stress in the past year. You can read the report here https://euc7zxtct58.exactdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/19145241/Mental-Health-UK_The-Burnout-Report-2024.pdf . It looks at the causes of chronic stress and gives valuable advice on how to prevent burnout.

As library staff, we may have obligations as employers to help to prevent stress and burnout in our teams, as well as having the opportunity to share information with our users and wider community about how to improve their mental health and happiness.

Some of the ideas shared for libraries which would be fairly easy to implement were:

  • Displays of leaflets and books on the topic of mental health. As the theme this year is movement, displays could also include books about sports and physical movement.
  • Events in the library such as yoga sessions, chair aerobics or guided walks starting/ending at the library. Introductory sessions which encourage those who mightn’t usually undertake exercise would be particularly valuable.
  • Partnering with relevant organisations for events or displays. This could be Citizens Advice Bureau or local or national mental health charities. With the theme of movement, this could also be local gyms with offers for introductory sessions, local walking groups or similar organisations.
  • Events which focus on mindfulness were popular. These can be focused on learning about mindfulness, meditation sessions, or activities which encourage a sense of “flow”, which is useful for practising mindfulness, such as knitting, jigsaws, crafts or colouring.

Some of the ideas shared which would need more planning were:

  • Bringing animals into the library (such as dogs or rabbits). HE and FE libraries may already have a programme in place to bring support animals into the library around exam times for students, so this mightn’t be too much extra work in respect of risk assessments etc. An alpaca was even mentioned, but I’m not sure how easily that would translate to most libraries!
  • Creating a library garden or community vegetable garden.
  • We also had an interesting discussion about the value to our community’s mental wellness by promoting the library as a sanctuary and no-cost social space, offering conversation and community to those who needed it. We talked about the importance (if budgets allowed) of having sufficient desk staff so that there were human interactions available, not just self-service. If there was sufficient staffing, it would be ideal to have a “slow lane” option for those who wanted a longer chat with their withdrawals and renewals.

Lastly, other useful resources which would be helpful for planning MHA week promotions or general support for mental health were:

Hopefully some of these ideas are useful for you in preparing for Mental Health Awareness week in May. If you have other ideas, we’d love to hear from you in the comments below.

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Knowledge Network 2024

Posted on February 20, 2024 by knowledge4lawyers

If you are interested in networking with Knowledge professionals, learning more about hot topics and identifying and working through your challenges with the support of experts, then Knowledge Network is for you.

What is the Knowledge Network?

Knowledge Network is a supportive and friendly group for those who work in Information, Knowledge and Learning in professional services firms, such as law firms.

It is run by me, Helene Russell of TheKnowledgeBusiness, and has been supporting KMers for more than a decade.

Currently all events, coaching and networking are delivered virtually.

What is included for 2024?

8x hour-long virtual meetings

  • 5x learning events
  • 1x problem solving workshop
  • 2x community discussion/benchmarking/networking events
  • 2x 45 minute coaching calls
  • 20% discount on many TKB workshops
  • Private LinkedIn group

Who is it for?

If you are interested in learning, information and knowledge and work for any kind of professional services organisation (or indeed any other kind of business) you will find it interesting and useful.

We have had a wide variety of members, including Heads of Knowledge, Heads of Information and Library, Information professionals at all levels, Knowledge Systems Managers, Professional Support and Knowledge Lawyers, and consultant lawyers. We’ve also had a variety of senior leaders come along to individual events of particular interest to them.

The majority of members are from the UK, but we also have members from Europe, US, India and the Channel Islands. Learning events are held in English and during UK / GMT lunchtimes, so as long as you can attend then (whatever time it is in your time-zone), you are welcome.

What topics do we cover?

In the past we’ve had events on AI and machine learning, governance and ISO 30401, design thinking for KM, after action reviews, social media for knowledge sharing, podcasting, promoting KM, new technologies, KM strategies, culture, motivations for sharing, intranets that work, GDPR, leadership and influencing, writing in plain English, mobile KM, international management challenges, change management and all kinds of topics.

We’ve heard from practitioners (legal, health, engineering, marketing and other sectors), consultants and academics.

We’ve heard from speakers from US, Canada, Europe and UK.

For 2024 our topics are:

  • March 13th – complex AARs, positive failure and risk management, with Helene Russell and Helen Watson
  • April (tba) – metrics, KPIs and measurement: taking inspiration from other sectors, with Hank Malik (nuclear waste) and Alison Day (healthcare)
  • May 14th – innovation and future gazing, with Tom Penford
  • June 6th – community discussion/benchmarking (topic chosen a fortnight before according to community needs)
  • July 24th – Information Literacy panel discussion with Stella Laver (Slaughter & May), Greg Bennett (BPP) and Abi Ward (UWE College of business and law)
  • September 12th – bring a problem workshop
  • October 23rd – technology update and discussion with Tiger Eye
  • November 14th – community discussion/benchmarking (topic chosen a fortnight before according to community needs)
  • December – informal Xmas lunch get together in Bristol (subject to availability/interest)

How much does it cost?

£300 for one person/space for an annual subscription.

Two spaces within the same organisation are discounted to £500.

New – corporate membership £1,000 (up to 30 spaces (within single firm) at virtual events plus 10 coaching sessions)

How do I book?

Email me for an invoice. It’s that simple.

helenerussell@theknowledgebusiness.co.uk

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