Is there anything more frustrating than sitting down to do a task only to find that you don’t have the information you need to get it done?
If this sounds like something that happens in your law firm, it might be time to think about how optimised your workflow is.
Bottlenecks can easily form if you are not careful, and this can lead to excess stress and frustration.
We want you to be happy at work, so we are looking at ways to optimise workflow to break those bottlenecks – or stop them from forming in the first place.
What happens when workflows are not optimised?
One of the main problems that we have discovered with poorly optimised workflows is a loss of billable hours.
Our research found that 50 per cent of solicitors bill between five and eight hours daily, but only 10 per cent exceed nine to ten billable hours.
While this may be due to inefficient time tracking causing billable hours to not be correctly tracked, workflow bottlenecks can also stifle your access to billable work.
The more time spent chasing information or doing low-value tasks like document creation, the less time you are spending doing the work that truly matters.
When a team needs to collaborate, it is essential that everyone knows what needs to be done and can access the tools required to do it.
With a 10 per cent increase year-on-year in in-office working, clearly law firms are trying to solve a collaboration crisis.
Coordinating a team in-person is undoubtedly easier than doing so remotely, but a poorly optimised workflow can still serve as a barrier to efficient collaboration.
A poorly optimised workflow will also struggle to compensate for holidays and sick days, when a vital member of the team may be unreachable and work can stall completely.
With clients wanting a more efficient service from you – but still being as challenging as ever to get information from – it can sometimes feel like bottlenecks are just a natural part of your work life.
How can I optimise my firm’s workflow?
Embracing a technological solution to an age-old problem is the best way to optimise your workflow.
53 per cent of small firms and solo practitioners have already integrated AI into their workflows to reduce the chance of bottlenecks.
This is because AI can be used to take care of the time-consuming, low-value tasks that block you from getting on with the more interesting work you need to do.
Using a secure, central space to collate all of the necessary documents can enable your entire team to see what needs to be done and when to do it.
If someone is away for any reason, the rest of the team can check what is happening by reviewing a summary of ongoing conversations.
This allows other team members to jump in as though they were the ones handling the case from the beginning.
Case management software can also be used to check if any client information is required and help you follow up when needed to stop bottlenecks from forming.
Whether your firm works fully in the office or embraces hybrid work, it is more important than ever to remove the stress of poorly optimised workflows and give your team the chance to do the work they trained to do.
Smokeball is the case management software designed by and for legal professionals and is a key part of optimising workflows.
We want to see more happiness in law firms, so trust us to break your bottlenecks and optimise your workflows.
Don’t let poorly optimised workflows hold you back. Book a demo today!
