E177: One way to boost productivity at your firm without spending a cent
Apr 12, 2023
Do you remember the time a Toronto law firm decided to increase the productivity of its support staff by requiring them to check in with fingerprint scanning? They wanted to stop a few people they thought were taking overly long lunch breaks and, allegedly, improve building security. Besides the bad management optics, I suspect “shiny butterfly syndrome” was at play. Someone saw the tech, thought it was cool, and bought it. Needless to say, it was NOT welcomed by anyone.
Today’s productivity tip: Before you buy anything new, ensure you’re making the best use of the tools and resources that you’ve already got.
Shiny butterfly syndrome (getting distracted by that cool new piece of tech that “might” solve all your problems) is a productivity killer. The catchy marketing is hard to resist, especially for so-called productivity tools, so people end up wasting money and spending time learning new legal technologies that they never use. One survey found that 82% of respondents lose up to one hour a day simply managing their productivity tools.
Yes, some can help, but not even the best tool will help you if your underlying productivity skills are weak. Before trying something new, work on developing the necessary skills to maintain productivity using what you currently have in place.
Your action Item: The next time you are tempted to buy that fancy new software, STOP and look hard at what you already have. That includes your digital calendar, existing subscriptions, and content management system.
Have you thought about scheduling out emails, using the autoresponder, or having email templates built into your signature blocks? These are all easy things that your current system most likely offers you already. The trick is to focus on implementing your existing tools to the fullest extent to optimize your productivity.
There’s some great tech out there, and more coming every day, but remember: the best legal technology is the one you’ll actually use.
Look out for the final tip in our productivity series next week. If you missed our first two tips, be sure to catch up on tips 1 here and 2 here.
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