Graves McLain is a leading 35-person personal injury law firm based in Tulsa, Oklahoma, dedicated to seeking justice for those injured through negligence. At the operational heart of the firm is Sharon, the Practice Manager and Director of Operations. Sharon’s role is expansive - covering marketing, HR, technology, and firm culture - ensuring the business side of the practice is as professional and high-performing as the legal side.
As Graves McLain grew, Sharon recognized the need to evolve how firm knowledge was shared. While they had successfully documented their processes, the team’s growth required a more agile, searchable system to keep pace with their increasing complexity.
The firm’s processes were originally housed in a consolidated 112-page Word document on a shared drive. While this provided a central location, the length made it difficult for team members to find specific answers quickly. Searching for a term would often return dozens of results, making it challenging for staff to get the precise information they needed in the moment.
Because the static documentation was hard to navigate, team members naturally turned to Sharon for guidance. She found herself spending 30% to 40% of her day acting as the primary knowledge resource - manually finding specifics in the documentation for others. Sharon realized she needed a way to empower her team to find these answers independently.
For infrequent tasks, team members often sought reassurance to ensure they were following procedures correctly. This created a double-up of effort: the team member would stop to ask for confirmation, and Sharon would spend time providing it. The goal was to provide a system that gave the team total confidence without needing a second opinion.
"I tried to put everything into one place so that it was sort of a single source of truth, but it ended up being a huge word document... It was frustrating for people to try and find what they needed in the moment that they needed it."
To support the firm's next level of growth, Sharon implemented Waybook to transform their documentation into an accessible, searchable, and engaging "single source of truth."
Waybook’s AI-driven search changed how the team interacts with firm knowledge. Instead of scrolling through pages, staff can now ask questions and get narrowed down to the most relevant answer immediately. This helps them get 80% of the way to an answer on their own, allowing the firm’s leadership to stay focused on high-level operations.
Sharon made Waybook a destination for the team by including cultural elements alongside SOPs. From office event photos to internal announcements, the platform reflects "who we are" as much as "how we work." This ensures that Waybook remains a fun, engaging, and central part of the team's daily experience.
With the firm’s move to Microsoft 365, Sharon utilized the Waybook Teams integration to support the team in real-time. She can now provide policy links directly in a chat in just five seconds, ensuring everyone is working from the most current information and reinforcing the firm's commitment to modern, agile systems.
"The most valuable thing about Waybook is the capacity to define something once and have that message repeated over and over... It’s do it once and have it repeat infinite times."
Sharon’s approach to implementation focused on building momentum. Rather than waiting for perfection, she "just got it in there" and used Waybook to enhance the onboarding experience. By assigning specific Learning Paths for new hires to complete at their desks, she combined personal mentorship with modern, self-paced learning.
"My advice to somebody just getting started is don't overthink it. If you are an analysis paralysis person and you think you have to have it perfect at the outset, you don't. Just get it in there."
By leveling up their documentation, Graves McLain has successfully reinforced one of their most important core values: "Systematize It."
By leveraging Waybook’s learning paths, Sharon expects to reduce the time required for manual onboarding by half, giving new hires more autonomy from day one.
By empowering her team to access knowledge independently, Sharon has successfully reclaimed nearly a third of her day to focus on strategic growth and practice management.
Waybook ensures total consistency across the firm. Every team member understands the "Graves McLain way," ensuring that their high standards are met in every single case.
The Teams integration has transformed policy lookups into a five-second task, allowing Sharon to support her team instantly with accurate, verified information.
"I foresee that it'll probably decrease our in-person onboarding time by more than 50%. But more importantly, I see it reinforcing the information... to be able to go back and see the training and the information in black and white."
Waybook has acted as a force multiplier for Sharon’s leadership. By documenting the firm’s high standards once, she has created a system that maintains those standards automatically. This transition has allowed Sharon to step back from the tactical details and focus on the firm's long-term operational success.
"I would describe Waybook as a silent partner - kind of plugging away in the background, but way more important than you ever thought it was going to be."
As Graves McLain continues to modernize their infrastructure and move toward a more agile workplace, Waybook remains their foundation. Sharon is excited to continue building out Learning Paths that support the firm's professional excellence and unique culture.
"My goal is to have Waybook be the single source of truth that is easily accessible... that strengthens the experience because they're seeing it in a couple of different ways."
By evolving from static documents to a dynamic, AI-powered platform, Graves McLain has empowered its team to work more autonomously and consistently. They haven't just stored their knowledge - they've scaled it.
