We never heard that a partner s memo or formal training session was the initial inspiration. The most fruitful method of getting someone actually started on using the technology was peer interaction. The adopter and adoptee often acted as buddies in demonstrating the rudiments of using the Internet technologies and answering questions in a comfortable environment. Formal training provided after such an initiation was much more effective. During our visits to legal offices it also became apparent that office managers are taking much more seriously the acquiring of general computing and touch typing skills by all staff, not just administrative assistants.
Some firms claim substantial productivity improvement in their producers being able to touch type.
Learning to touch type requires just a little persistence and a cheap computer program, but motivating staff to acquire such skills is more difficult. Again, in the successful firms we could discern a technology diffusion approach to the issue. In many cases the pioneers were recent graduates who acquired the skills during their university courses. A little slack for such pioneers, in the form of a desktop computer, provides the impetus necessary to convince early adopters and opinion makers to follow suit. The challenge for legal managers faced with introducing the Internet technologies is to work with the natural forces, rather than against them.