E191: Manage your law firm like a pro with a tool you've already got!
Jul 19, 2023
Your processes are outlined.
You’ve started to delegate to the right people.
Now what?
Today’s tip: Supervise the work you’ve delegated using something you probably already have, Planner!
One of our clients, a mid-sized firm in Western Canada, needed to increase revenue in its Wills & Estates practice. We looked for a system to track files assigned to lawyers and clerks as part of the process redesign. Because they already had Microsoft 365, we recommended they start with Planner.
To get them used to it, we implemented Planner to manage the process improvement project itself. This gave everyone on the team a chance to see the system in action, get comfortable with it, and ask lots of questions. It also helped the firm determine where additional training was needed.
Then, we broke their redesigned workflow down into phases (Planner calls these buckets) and determined the tasks that had to be completed at each phase. Now, a lawyer gets assigned a file by the intake specialist. Tasks can be assigned to lawyers and clerks and then tracked in Planner. Supervising tasks is easy and visual, and the practice group leader can, at a glance, see who’s working on what and where files stand.
Your Action Item: Determine if you have a system in your existing tech stack that can help you supervise work more effectively.
Pro tip: if you’ve got MS 365, you’ve got Planner!
Often we don’t realize that we already have amazing features in our toolbox that can help us make the most of our processes. So this week, take a few minutes to confirm what you have available; you likely have MS 365 and can use Planner just like our client! But if not, that’s okay. Other options are available if you cannot find something within your current tech stack (see last week’s tip, for example, about using Legalboards).
Are you unsure how to break your workflow into phases, or do you need help overcoming some other challenge in your practice? Book a Gimbal On Demand session, and we’ll spend 90 minutes with you one-on-one developing a solution to your practice challenge.
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