Productivity is a measure of efficiency, be it a person, a machine or a system. It is the output generated by per unit of input per unit time. Similarly, workplace productivity is defined as the amount of work an employee can accomplish in a given number of hours or within a specified labour cost. By productivity within the best law firms in India, we mean the amount of work a lawyer can accomplish in a day or, in other words, the time taken to accomplish a task.
In the legal profession, the volume of work is often very high. Many a time lawyers feel that there is not enough time in the day to accomplish the task at hand. It is here that the efficiency and productivity of lawyers become important. Law firms work on a tight schedule and, therefore, it is paramount that they have high productivity. Some tips for increasing productivity within the law firms are discussed below.
Time Management
In any profession, time management is a very important factor in improving overall efficiency. As the legal field requires tasks to be accomplished in a time-bound manner to meet deadlines, it is important that the available time is utilized in the best possible way. As it is, lawyers are always short on time as they spend a lot of time on unproductive activities. Supporting work, such as finding case files, fetching documents, etc. should be delegated to the subordinates so that you can focus on the more important aspects of a particular case.
Optimizing the Use of Technology to Improve Productivity
Good people skills are necessary for lawyers to acquire and retain clients. However, human touch does not apply to all tasks. Using technology to streamline routine work can greatly improve productivity. It is great to maintain the personal touch with your clients as it reassures them about your commitment, but using technology for other matters like managing case files and data immensely saves time and effort. The American Bar Association advocates the use of the Practice Management Software System by law firms to improve efficiency and productivity. The software tool shouldn’t be looked at as an unnecessary expense, but as an asset that gives good returns.
Organized Office
Being organized is paramount in every profession and a law firm is no different. Having an organized office goes a long way in increasing productivity within law firms. To make the operations smooth and efficient, the first step should be to lay down a proper schedule. A to-do list should be made first thing in the morning, work should be prioritized and tasks delegated to the support staff wherever possible. The next step in this direction should be to minimize the use of paper. Instead of referring to books every time to find relevant case material, use of various law finding software should be encouraged to save on time and increase efficiency.
Get the Right Person for the Right Job
Assigning the right job to the right person is critical in improving the productivity within a law firm. The inhouse legal services team in a law firm includes lawyers, paralegals, and other support staff. Much operational and administrative work that your junior attorneys might be taking care of, can be ably handled by trained legal support staff at a much lower cost. By freeing your junior attorneys of their administrative responsibilities you can delegate more important work to them. This way you, as well as your junior attorneys’ productivity will increase.
Adding Minutes to Your Day
As lawyers’ productivity is also measured in terms of billable hours. Increasing billable time every day also improves productivity. Paul Burton, a former corporate finance lawyer came up with an interesting theory to increase the billable time. According to him, by adding just six minutes to a day’s work, you can add 23 hours of billable time annually. This, in turn, results in improved productivity.
This can be achieved by simply prioritizing your emails and unsubscribing yourself from unimportant mailing lists.
Blocking Unnecessary Interruptions
Working in a quiet place on matters of significance without being disturbed, can greatly enhance your productivity. When you are working on some complex legal case, which require undivided focus and concentration, even the smallest of interruptions can hamper your progress in the case. For instance, phone calls that are unrelated to the case you are working on can create unnecessary disturbances. Train your staff to answer phone calls when you are busy working on some cases. You can always call back later.
Tracking Productivity Metrics
Finally, it is vital that you take a systematic approach to tracking metrics if you strive at continuously increasing productivity within law firm. Hours tracking data is quite useful. At the end of each day make a note of the accomplishments and the hours required to achieve that. It can serve as a guide to make further improvements. Also, keep regular track of the expenses or else it might get out of control very quickly. If you wait till the end of the year to assess the financial situation, it might be too late to take any corrective action that may be required.
