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Learn how a leading law firm manages training in a multinational setting, emphasizing remote techniques using software and communication tools. Discover advantages, disadvantages, and essential tips for successful remote training sessions.
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Workflows training in a national/24hr environment Or, how to go places when you’re not allowed to go places
Clifford Chance LLP • It’s “probably the largest law firm in the world”. • Offices in 18 countries. • 7000 staff incl about 200 Information staff. • Culture: demanding, decentralised. Many offices open 24hrs so multinational teams can handle multinational deals.
Unicorn development • 1999. Rolled Unicorn (NT version) out to London office’s practice areas. • 2001. New York/Washington and Amsterdam joined and we merged our three separate and very different catalogues into one (thank you, Sirsi). • 2002. Four new offices in California, Hong Kong and São Paulo have joined and will add their collections to Unicorn.
Just in passing… • In our multinational special library environment, we need a library system which is easily customisable, stable, very flexible, user-friendly, fast, works well on global networks, can handle various alphabets and languages, can run 24hrs without needing stops for halt/runs or backups. We don’t have all of this with Unicorn yet, but we’re working on it.
Unicorn admin at Clifford Chance • We have a multisite Unicorn management team who take joint decisions and agree on shared procedures across all sites. We communicate by phone and email and sometimes teleconference. • We have a broader inhouse Unicorn User group (“CCUUG”!), with members in five countries. We communicate mostly by email.
Unicorn, day-to-day • London uses all Unicorn modules • Other offices only use the catalogue • New York (which purchases for all the US offices) wants Serials next and then Acquisitions • Other offices will follow this path in their own time
Unicorn - cataloguing • Who catalogues? In London it’s decentralised, with both Resources and Practice staff creating, editing and deleting records. Most other offices have a central library and centralised cataloguing. Keeping people to procedures can be difficult. • We have a single in-house cataloguing manual.
Remote training in a 24hr firm with Big Brother and PC-TV… • To train staff in offices far from London, we use a combination of telephone and remote control software. We mostly use pcAnywhere. Sirsi use VNC. There are others. • Our trainers can view and take over the trainee’s PC desktop with pcAnywhere. We talk them through a process and correct what they’re doing by taking control when necessary. See the picture...
Advantages of remote training • Cheap and simple - just comms costs if any (and hotel costs sometimes). Can work via modem as well, so you can even train colleagues from home. • Time not used for travelling can be spent on extra training. • Good for brief impromptu sessions - you can just open up a remote session and explain a problem immediately.
Disadvantages of remote training, #1 • Stressful. Hard to tell if people have understood because you can’t see their facial expression. • Unfamiliar accents are hard to decipher over phones. Trainees sometimes talk quietly among themselves, perhaps in their own language, which can be distracting. • You need to be in the office at odd hours, if you’re training staff in Asia or California. Hong Kong starts work at 1am London time.
Disadvantages of remote training, #2 • Twice as much organisation: booking two rooms instead of one, setting up phones... • Need IT to install and configure Pcanywwhere. • Need to ensure you have the meeting time right at both ends (“Is it 3pm or 4pm now in HK?”) • Most importantly, you need very, very clear training materials.
Remote training, tips #1 • Test your set-up before you start the training session. • Try to have a dedicated machine for remote training. Then you’ll be familiar with it. • The trainer needs a room as well as the trainees. Don’t do remote training from a crowded office. You won’t be popular. • Use a speakerphone or a headset instead of a handset.
Remote training, tips #2 • Make sure trainees have the same version of the documentation as you do. • Don’t be shy - if you can’t distinguish between your trainees’ voices, ask. Blame it on a crackly phone, but make sure you know who you’re talking to. • Don’t try to train more than two people and on one PC. Running two sessions on your desktop is no fun.
Remote training, tips #3 • Follow-up. You’ll need to do more follow-up than you normally do. • Try to see a photo of your trainees. It gets the faces in your head. Send them one of you too. Every tiny bit of communication helps. • Get them to repeat everything you do on the screen so you’re sure they understand.
Remote training shopping list • Connection software: pcAnywhere, VNC, Proxymaster. VNC is free and downloadable from the web. • A good telephone with a headset or loudspeaker. • A webcam at each end would be fun.
Remote training, conclusions • Can be surprisingly productive/cost effective. • Trainer and trainees must work as a team during the training process. • Training everybody consistently improves data integrity and involvement. • Unexpected benefits. Remote training fosters team spirit and integrates widely dispersed colleagues.
