Getting key personnel to accept the change is essential if the conversion is to succeed in the long term. They assigned one or two skilled staff members to consult with the trainer and set up comparable forms in Word.Įqually important, they took great care to ensure that the employees-and in particular, the legal secretaries-“bought in” to the transition. Well in advance of the training, they performed a detailed assessment to try to figure out the tasks people perform every day and which WordPerfect templates, boilerplate text, macros, and similar items employees considered indispensable. The organizations that experienced the greatest success in moving from WordPerfect to Word all engaged in a lengthy process of planning that took into account both the firm’s word processing needs and the work habits-as well as the wishes-of the support staff. What accounts for the difference between the firms that embraced the change and those that didn’t? To my thinking, preparation is the critical element. Several staff members refused to adapt they simply continued to use WordPerfect to perform most, if not all, of their word processing tasks. Most of the conversions went fairly smoothly and could be considered successful overall, but a small number ended up being exercises in futility. In my capacity as a software trainer, I have worked with at least two dozen law firms that have converted from WordPerfect to Word. There are links to other articles and white papers, job listings, information about legal IT-related events, and lots more. Please be sure to check out the site, which you can find here. Thanks to Richard des Moulins for publishing the article there. Note: This article first appeared in January of this year on the e-legaltechnology web site. Preparing for a WordPerfect-to-Word Conversion: A Few Considerations
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