Fifty-one percent of participants said these so-called legal transformation projects don't meet their expectations for quality, while 57% said the initiatives don't measure up to their overall satisfaction, according to the survey by global research firm Gartner Inc.
Stamford, Connecticut-based Gartner defined legal transformation projects in its research as "strategic initiatives designed to fundamentally increase department productivity, speed or quality of work." The survey, conducted in the fall and completed in November, asked 200 general counsel and legal operations managers how satisfied they were with the outcomes of their legal transformation projects.
According to Gartner, the research shows that most initiatives fail because of a lack of prioritization or not enough support. And this led the survey to conclude that general counsel have the biggest role to play in setting up legal transformation projects for success, including with proper messaging, compensation, resourcing and support.
"Too often, GCs send mixed signals about the priority of transformation projects that undermines legal staff's commitment to them," Stephanie Quaranta, research vice president in Gartner's legal and compliance practice, said in a statement. "Examples include borrowing resources from transformation projects to address unexpected, high-urgency work, or simply not pausing to publicly praise these projects in the same way that more standard 'legal' work is recognized."
As a result of COVID-19, nearly all legal departments expect flat or reduced budgets this year, according to the survey, and 65% of general counsel anticipate more routine legal work.
"To meet rising demand with flat resourcing, GCs must pursue legal transformation projects that increase the efficiency, speed and quality of their work," the survey says.
Gartner suggests these projects include enabling a contract management system or automating a process in the department.
For the leaders who were satisfied with transformation outcomes, Gartner found that the general counsel in those departments focused on prioritizing these kinds of initiatives.
To reach that point, there should be equality between transformation projects and more standard legal work and effective support for executing on those initiatives, according to Gartner.
"GCs have to build staff engagement with these projects by demonstrating their value — both to the legal department and the business — and taking the lead in rationalizing workloads to ensure that they aren't forced to trade these projects off for other asks," Quaranta said.
The study suggests the way a project is designed from the start can lead to successful transformation projects, and general counsel might consider making the projects realistic and in line with their team's needs and abilities.
--Editing by Aaron Pelc.
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