The New Facebook
Facebook is in the process of launching an entirely new layout and design, which aims to revolutionize the way that people use the platform to collaborate and share information. (The picture above shows my own profile page with the "new look" .... the SCUBA diver is my 11 year old daughter and diving buddy Shannon a couple of weeks ago.) Given the importance of Facebook to so many professionals in so many firms, stand by for some perhaps quite significant impacts on the way that people use Facebook in their practice, too.
About a year ago, I attended a breakfast meeting in London where the topic for discussion was "Web 2.0 and its Application in Professional Service Firms." First, there was a very informative presentation by a firm that specializes in developing Enterprise 2.0 social networking tools for law firms (mostly large law firms at the top of the market like Linklaters and Allen & Overy, for now.) Then, the floor was then opened for discussion. This quickly deteriorated into three questions:
"Can we ban Facebook in the firm?"
"How can we control it if we can't?"
"What penalties should be imposed on people that use it illegally?"
I left the meeting a little despondent. These were folk that I genuinely like .... but they simply didn't get it. Their lack of comprehension of how rapidly the world is changing in response to technology, in so many ways that are absolutely fundamental for how professional service firms operate, saddened me. A day or two later, I visited a mid-tier law firm (which shall obviously remain completely nameless) that had invited me to come and talk to them about these issues. The pained look on the managing partner's face as I spoke made it abundantly clear that be believed I was peddling "snake oil" or worse. Quite the opposite reaction to the attitude that I experienced with leaders in firms that are far more profitable and successful than they are, who are enthusiastically experimenting with these tools to see how they can help them serve their clients better and improve efficiency. Their excitement is palpable when they talk about these emerging tools and the opportunities that they present.
In any event, back to the new Facebook. Below is an interview with Mark Slee, lead product manager at Facebook, talking about what it all means. Take a look, if you can spare 20 minutes. Then, remember that your strategy probably has a time frame of at least 3 - 5 years. Where will Facebook and its competitors, to say nothing of the new technology that will completely supplant what is cutting edge today, be 3 - 5 years from now? How will that impact business strategy in law and other professional firms? Here are just three impacts that I can very easily foresee:
1. Collaborative tools like social networking will be the norm in firms for both internal and external communication and will have largely replaced emails.
2. Social networking will have fundamentally reinvented knowledge management and fee-earners will have vast amounts of easily and quickly searchable information at their fingertips.
3. Clients will be buying services from the firms that best deliver the services to an adequate level and will not care (and may not even be able to easily tell) whether the services are being delivered "onshore" or "offshore." (In this case, the term "outsourcing" will become irrelevant.)
It's a brave new world emerging out there. Don't let the current economic challenges let you take your eye completely off the future.