Prestart Project Assessment
ROI: Analyze Return on Investment
Includes Lexician ROI Calculator
Risks: Review and categorize project risk factors
Includes Lexician Risk Calculator
CSF: Define the project’s Critical Success Factors
Skills: Define required skills and competencies; perform gap analysis
Technology: Assess fit between proposed technology and the project
In-Progress Project Assessment
Risks: Review, categorize, and assess project risk factors
Includes Lexician ROI Calculator
CSF: Map Critical Success Factors against project progress
Process: Review project processes for fit, balance, and conformance
Schedule: Perform a reality check of project schedules, staffing plans, and progress
Fiscal: Review project costs and benefits against progress to date; check for continued “fiscal sanity”
Deployment: Review deployment, training, and transition plans
Post-Project “Lessons Learned” Analysis/Breakdown
Risks: Assessment, maintenance, and responsiveness
CSF: Were Critical Success Factors recognized and monitored?
Process: Assessment of fit, balance, and conformance
Schedule: Assessment of utility and patterns of deviation
Change Control: Assessment of responsiveness, flexibility, appropriate trade-offs
Fiscal: Assessment of fiscal planning, responsibility, and ongoing benefits capture
Deployment: Assessment of deployment, training, and transition
Technology Assessment
Existing Systems: Evaluate effectiveness and appropriateness of in-place technology, with suggestions for improvement
Gaps: Perform gap analysis between existing solutions and desired outcomes
Software vs. Services: Analyze and recommend effective balance between on-premises and Software-as-a-Service (hosted) solutions
IT: Assess fit among current IT strengths, current and future needs, and balance between IT and user/business processes
Project Management: Assess fit among current project management approaches and upcoming project needs
Fiscal Alignment: Assess linkage between solution decision-making and return-on-investment analysis
Operations Assessment
Records Management: Planning, execution, and conformance
Knowledge Management: Planning, execution, and conformance
Technology: Planning, execution, and management
Project Management: Matching project methodologies to the environment
Process Improvement: Running lean without chasing mirages
Firm/Department Environment: Is the organization able to benefit from a defined operations group?
Fiscal Value-Add: Adding value beyond basic accounts payable/receivable
About Lexician/Steven B. Levy
Steven Levy has been a technology, management, project, and legal specialist for about 35 years.
He has spent much of that time developing and managing projects and technology to help the Legal world become more efficient. He headed the legal technology team at Microsoft for many years, driving innovation and efficiency into one of the largest corporate law departments. He also headed two industry task forces and was a highly requested speaker and regular author.
Also in his 17 years at Microsoft, he was a Principal Consultant in Microsoft Consulting Services, managed development of Microsoft’s largest IT systems, and led multiple Microsoft product groups. Prior to Microsoft, he spent over a decade in the IT, systems consulting, and software development world.
He currently heads Lexician, where he helps law firms and law departments get value, savings, and rapid return on investment from their technology and their projects. His new book, Legal Project Managment, sets the agenda for this emerging discipline in a way that benefits both firms and in-house departments. It is available from the publisher and from Amazon. (If you order it from the publisher, Steven gets a larger royalty!)
