At the other end of the size continuum, a clutch of nimble upstarts have dispensed with the Chesterfield and burnished brass trappings of the traditional office, in favour of offering fixed fee services in the low-overhead virtual sphere, to clients around the country.

Their emergence has helped contribute to notable growth in the number of law firms Australia-wide, during the past decade. Research published by the Law Society of NSW in 2017 showed the number of private firms increased by 46 per cent to 15,539, between 2011 and 2016.

Both cohorts provide an apposite illustration of the key insights to emerge from some recent research by smart workplace technology vendor Ricoh.

The Ricoh 2020 Workplace Innovation Index, an annual survey of Australian business leaders conducted by market research firm StollzNow, highlighted the fact that business agility, technology skills and communications are key to innovation and growth.

In challenging times, they can also prove key to survival. Many firms are finding this out firsthand, as the rapid spread of the COVID-19 virus forces them to turn to technology to replace traditional face-to face-meetings and minimise disruption to workflow and billings.

Technologies that underpin enterprise-wide innovation

Digital tools and platforms can play a vital role in facilitating and supporting innovation.

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Ricoh’s research suggests organisations of all stripes, which invest in these tools and platforms are likely to find it easier to effect change, at speed.

A digitised environment can serve as the foundation for a more innovative corporate or organisational culture but, in many Australian enterprises, there’s a significant gap between ambition and action. Currently, only 60 per cent of local organisations have a program to migrate to a digital environment, while just 45 per cent say they’re reorganising their processes and procedures to incorporate best-of-breed digital technology.

Analytics, workflow tools, collaboration and security are considered the “money technologies” but how well Australian organisations are exploiting their potential is open to question.

While two-thirds of executive leaders say they recognise the value of collaboration, many organisations have failed to optimise their investment in collaboration tools by introducing collaborative practices in an integrated and systematic way, according to Ricoh’s research.

Those self-same leaders are also less than enthused about the short-term results delivered by new processes and systems, which purport to be more efficient.

Almost two-thirds stated they are likely to lead to a loss in productivity, at least in the short-term.

Keeping employees in the dark about digital transformation is an unfortunately common business practice; a factor which can contribute to their reluctance to embrace new workplace technologies, even when there’s a clear benefit to their doing so.

How do Australian companies stack up against those elsewhere in the world? Local leaders are aware there’s work to be done. Just one in five believe the country is ahead of other developed nations in the digital workspace, while more than one in four say we’re lagging behind.

Enterprise-wide, ongoing investment in digital infrastructure and culture is needed to arrest the slide, introduce people to what’s possible with digital and enable innovation to flourish.

Such investment entails a long-term commitment, not isolated or exclusive activities or exercises. Ideally, it should be made at a time when the firm is on stable footing, not in crisis mode.

Facing the challenges of today and tomorrow

Faced with intensifying competition and unforeseen events whose end points and long-term repercussions are impossible to predict, identifying ways to respond and adapt – in short, innovating – is a necessity for professional services firms of all stripes, legal included.

Those that are prepared to pivot and adapt – and have the technologies and digital culture in place to support their doing so – will be better placed to weather the vicissitudes of challenging times and maintain profitability in an increasingly crowded local market.

By Ragavan Satkunam, senior portfolio manager, Ricoh Australia