About a month ago, I did a post inspired by the LinkedIn thought leaders' series, "Things I Carry." My post was entitled, "What Things Do Lawyers Carry," and I was hoping to get some comments or responses from lawyers so that I could create my own slide presentation of the indispensable tools carried by lawyers.
I didn't get any comments or responses except for one, from Kelli Proia, who actually sent me her own slideshow of the things she carries every day. You can see Kelli's presentation here.
I still love the concept, so I decided I would do my own presentation of five "tools" I carry with me every day. You can see it below. I hope that it inspires you to let me know what YOU carry with you every day.
Billing. It's probably the most hated word in any lawyer's vocabulary. But it's a necessary evil. Even small practices need to keep up with their billing and collections, particularly when times are hard. Luckily, there are lots of software products out there that can help law firms of all sizes to keep up with their firm's financials, from timekeeping to invoicing to trust accounting.
Then again, the choices for law firm billing software can become overwhelming very quickly - which product is right for your firm, and what will it really cost? Will it work with the various different smartphones and tablets in use in your firm? Will you be able to access the system remotely? Will your billing program integrate well with your existing practice management system? Should you use a cloud-based product or a product that gets installed directly on your firm's system?
Once again, there's a resource out there to help. TechnoLawyer recently released their TechnoLawyer Research Buyer's Guide to Legal Billing Software. This report takes a comprehensive look at 22 different legal billing software programs, both cloud-based and traditional. You'll learn which programs work with which smartphones, tablets and other devices, what features and reports might be available, and more. They have even developed a way to compare these products on price using the TL Research Price so you can compare software programs based on a specific number of users and a specific length of time.
The best part is that you can get the TechnoLawyer Research Buyer's Guide to Legal Billing Software free if you are a TechnoLawyer member (and membership is free, too). If you're in the market for legal billing software, take a look at this report - it will take a lot of the headaches out of searching for a legal billing program for your firm.
I've written about how to motivate employees before. Usually, the subject comes up when I hear complaints from law firm partners or managers about why their employees (whether lawyers or staff) aren't performing the way the firm expects them to. That was the driving force behind my post, "Motivate Employees: Set Goals, Communicate and Say Thanks," which I still think many lawyers and law firm managers might find enlightening if they're struggling with getting the results they want from their employees.
But even before that, I wrote about how motivating employees isn't all about what you pay them. In "Do Something! Motivating Employees," I talked about 10 factors to consider instead of focusing on dollars when trying to motivate employees. They included recognition, opportunities for growth and choice, just to name a few, but you can read the full post here.
Now I've come across this infographic from Salesforce on the work.com blog. It's not specifically geared toward law firms, but the concepts still apply. The bottom line: employees want to be engaged and they want to be recognized.
What are *your* favorite ways to motivate employees?
If you've been on LinkedIn lately, you may have noticed that LinkedIn now features some influencers (they call them "Thought Leaders") who have the ability to post longer, article or blog-style items on LinkedIn. Thought leaders include people like Jack Welch, Richard Branson, Meg Whitman, Barack Obama, Deepak Chopra, and Guy Kawasaki, among others. You can follow these thought leaders and get updates from them on your LinkedIn home page.
Recently, some of these LinkedIn thought leaders or influencers shared their tools for success in a series entitled, "Things I Carry." Here's an infographic showing some of their responses:
The editor of Slideshare created a presentation presentation entitled, "Things I Carry, My Everyday Tools for Success" (seen below). The presentation encouraged others to share their own tools for success, and I've started to notice several links tagged #thingsicarry from all kinds of people in all kinds of industries on the web.
I thought it might be fun to hear from lawyers about the things they carry and what tools they think are essential for their success.
Let me know what tools you think are essential for your success (even better - send me a photo) and I'll put a presentation together about the tools lawyers find indispensable for getting work done and helping their clients.
For inspiration, I've embedded the aforementioned Slideshare presentation below.
Now it's your turn! What things do you carry? You don't need to be as ambitious as Kelli and put together your own presentation - just send me your list.
On Monday the New York Times posted a story online about a suit against mega-firm DLA Piper alleging that the firm padded its bills. According to the story, lawyers at the firm engaged in email discussions about bills on this particular client's case which included comments about "churning" the bill.
The story goes on to note that, "Legal ethics scholars said that it was highly unusual to find documentary evidence of possible churning — the creation of unnecessary work to drive up a client’s bill."
It may be highly unusual to find a case in which such evidence has been uncovered, but that may be because many disputes over legal fees don't get this far or warrant the large amount of electronic discovery that would be required to determine whether associates at the firm were exchanging messages about the firm's billing practices. Indeed, it wouldn't surprise me if there are plenty of lawyers engaging in these kinds of discussions whether bills are being padded or not. Similar emails might be an expression of frustration on the part of lawyers about the pressure to bill more hours.
"Padding" legal bills, even unintentionally, is an inherent problem when hours are used as the basis for fees. It is human nature to want to make more money, and hourly billing encourages making more money by putting in more hours, whether those hours are valuable to the client and the ultimate result or not. Instead of emphasizing results, service and outcomes, hourly billing rewards expenditure of time - and that is always going to result in some level of 'padding.'
When a firm charges a client by the hour, the firm is also going to emphasize hours as a basis to measure performance of the firm's lawyers. In a system that rewards expenditure of time, it shouldn't come as a big surprise that padding is the result as lawyers try to find work to do on files to add hours to their timesheets, rather than focusing on excellent service.
The economic downturn has also created problems for law firms facing pressure from clients to reduce their fees, which may result in hiring less experienced attorneys at lower rates who provide an inferior work product or who take longer to perform tasks than a more experienced (and more expensive) attorney would.
The plaintiff in the suit referenced in the New York Times article complained that when he first started working with the firm, one of the partners was his regular contact, but as the firm grew, more and more attorneys who were unknown to the client were working on the client's files. Ultimately, this resulted in subpar work and higher fees.
One of the DLA Piper lawyers quoted in the article lamented the practice of lowballing bills while adding more and more lawyers to a case. He also complained about the length of time it took for associates to complete assignments and questioned whether paying more for associates would result in higher quality work.
The article doesn't specify whether the client's complaints about fees began before the change in staffing of the clients files. Although some clients may not want to pay a high hourly rate, they don't realize that the consequence of the pressure on rates can often lead a firm to sacrifice quality or to change the personnel working on a client's matters, achieving the opposite of the client's desired result.
The majority of lawyers are honest, ethical professionals who genuinely want to do right by their clients. In any profession, there will always be a few individuals who make a bad name for others by their bad behavior. But both lawyers and clients could curb at least some of this behavior by changing the way fees are charged and the emphasis placed on hours and hourly rates.
Time management isn't just about working more efficiently; it's also about being more effective and choosing the right tasks to work on in the first place.
In Time Management Tip #5, we talked about creating a "Don't Do" list. Your don't do list may include tasks that need to be accomplished in your practice, but that don't require your specific knowledge, expertise or personal touch. You'll need to delegate some of those tasks to others.
While it may take longer in the short run to explain a task or project to someone else (and then fix it later) than it does to just do it yourself, if the
task is one that truly should be delegated, the overall return on your time is
well worth it. Not only will you free up more of your own time to focus on your priorities, but you'll be building up and empowering your employees.
Steps to effective delegation
In my experience, there are five main steps to effective delegation. These steps are all crucial when starting out, whether you're new to delegation or you're delegating to a new person. Some of those steps can be curtailed or eliminated entirely as you and your team progress in your working relationship and get to know one another's expectations, but until you're both comforable, you'll want to go through all 5 steps each time.
Step 1: Give clear, comprehensive instructions
This may be the single most crucial component of effective
delegation, and it is harder than it sounds.
Try creating checklists or other written instructions,
particularly for tasks that will be performed repeatedly, where turnover is
likely, or for tasks that are performed by more than one person.
Be specific about the scope of the project – how long, how
much time, how many, etc. If the employee finds themselves spending more time
on it than you anticipate, they can check back with you to determine whether
they should keep going, cut the project short, or go in another direction.
Communicate why this assignment is important and how it fits
into the overall work of the firm. How does it affect clients or fit into the
overall strategy of the case? How does it help the firm function?
When an
employee knows that their role is important and how it fits into the work that
you do for your clients, they are more ‘invested’ in the project – and more
likely to get it right.
Step 2: Ensure that you’ve been understood
Miscommunication is inevitable. ‘Memo’ to one lawyer might
mean one page of bullet points outlining the current state of the law. ‘Memo’
to the newly minted associate may mean a legal brief complete with a full recitation of the facts, case citations and extended legal analysis.
Ask the person to whom you are delegating to repeat back to you their
understanding of the project – in their
own words. Don’t just ask, “Do you understand?” (Most people, particularly if they are your subordinates, are not going to admit that they didn't understand your instructions) Let them tell you what they
think you want them to do.
This is your opportunity to ensure that your
instructions were clear and that you’ve properly defined the scope of the
project. Encourage questions, even when using written instructions and
checklists.
Step 3: Set a definite deadline and establish priority
Delegation often fails due to lack of deadlines or failure
to set priorities. Employees need to know when the project must be completed
and how important it is in the context of all of the other work they must do. Human nature dictates that work that is urgent gets
attended to first. If you have no deadlines or priorities, there is no urgency.
Remember that you may not be the only one delegating to this particular employee. Make sure you both understand waht takes precedence so conflicts can be resolved early or alternate plans can be made.
Step 4: Check in
Don't wait until the deadline to determine whether your
employee is on track, particularly if you're new to delegation or to working
with this particular individual.
Schedule a specific time to check in with the employee when
you think enough time has passed to have uncovered some questions, but not so
far that you can’t rein them in if they’re off-track.
Beware of micromanaging. If you’ve been working with someone
for a while and they are meeting your expectations, the necessity to check in
should be reduced drastically, and perhaps eliminated. You must develop
confidence in your employees, particularly professionals, and allow them to do
their jobs.
Step 5: Evaluate and share the outcome
Completion of the task is not the end of the delegation
process. Feedback is an important part of good delegation. Take the time to
teach and correct your employees so that they can grow and improve. Give praise
for a job well done.
Sharing the outcome with your employees signals that their
contribution is important and that they are an integral part of your success. And it will make them work harder for you in the future. Most employees want to do a good job. Don't miss this opportunity to help them do it.
When I was a kid and I had to eat something I didn't like (like broccoli, spinach or mushrooms), I learned that if I ate that item first, it was much easier; I had the rest of my dinner (the parts I liked) to look forward to (and to drown out the taste of the awful stuff).
If I saved the offending item until last, it would take forever to finish my meal (and my parents wouldn't let me get up until I was done). Not only that, but I didn't enjoy the good parts of my meal because I kept thinking about the pile of yuck I still had left on the plate.
The same thing is probably happening to you in your law practice. Let's face it - not everything you do as a lawyer is enjoyable; not every case is interesting and not every client is a joy to work with. But the more you avoid the tasks, clients and cases that you dislike, the less productive you're likely to be - even in other areas.
One of my favorite "time management" tips is, "Do the Worst First." Do you have a "dog" of a file that has been sitting around because no one wants to deal with it? Or an important project that you know will be time consuming or uncomfortable? (They may even be cluttering up a corner of your office gathering dust if you're a victim of "I Need to See it Syndrome.")
These may be precisely the tasks you should prioritize as important but not urgent. Do those tasks first. Get them out of the way and keep them from cluttering up your thinking and pulling focus from the other things you’re working on.
Often, the offending task isn't as bad as you thought it would be, but even if it's awful, you'll feel better when it has been completed. You'll be free to focus on everything else that needs to be done -and you'll find it is much easier to do so when your mind is clear of thoughts about that nasty task or file.
Then again, perhaps the task is one you are avoiding, but not one that MUST be accomplished by you. Perhaps you can employ the strategy my friend used when she fed her vegetables to her dog when her parents weren't looking - in other words, find someone who actually likes performing that particular task (or someone who is lower on the totem pole than you, but can still get the job done) and delegate* it to them.
As 2012 draws to a close, you might be thinking about productivity,
“time management”and what you can do to improve in
the new year, so here is my final time management tip for 2012: Get rid of “I
need to see it” syndrome.
What is “I need to see it” syndrome? It’s that habit –
common to many lawyers – of keeping files, paperwork, etc. in piles on their
desk, floor, office chairs, etc. as a ‘reminder’ that they need to accomplish a
particular task or work on a particular file.
The problem is that once the pile, file, or note stays in
one place for too long, it no longer serves as a good reminder. Instead, it
becomes part of the furniture – you become so used to seeing it in the same
place day after day that you stop noticing it. Once that happens, it just becomes clutter. Clutter obscures what is most
important by making it difficult to distinguish the truly important from the
unimportant.
Clutter piles up because you’re afraid that without a
physical reminder of what you need to do, it won’t get done. But sometimes
using the thing itself (like the file, or the CLE flyer) actually reduces,
rather than increasing, your efficiency and effectiveness. It’s more difficult
to focus on the task at hand with those reminders physically looming over your
head – you’re literally getting buried under your ‘to-dos!’
Break the habit by putting good systems in place to ensure
that important tasks get done. If you are keeping that file in your office
because there is important work that needs to be done, look at your calendar
and schedule an appointment with yourself to do the work. Then put the file
away until the appointment date and time arrives.
If the task is something that needs to be done ‘eventually,’
but is not urgent and you can’t fit it into your calendar now, schedule a
reminder for a specific period of time in the future and put the reminder on
your calendar with the name of the file or task and a short description of what
needs to be done. When the reminder date arrives, you’ll decide whether it is
important enough to schedule or whether you should push the reminder into the
future.
If
you really can’t do without the physical reminder, consider using David Allen’s system of folders
or lists grouped by category. Instead of keeping a big bulky file in your
office, you’ll have only an item on your list or one piece of paper noting what
you need to do. Use a ‘tickler’ system with folders for each month and numbered
1-31 to diary items for follow up and put the file back in the file room.
Resolve to cure yourself of "I need to see it" syndrome in 2013 and start by clearing out the clutter now - my next time management post will tackle how to do it.
A few months ago I did a post about workplace productivity, based on two different infographics I found on the web relating to social media use and productivity. That post generated some interesting discussion, so I thought I would bring up the topic again. But this time we're not just talking about how the internet and social media affect productivity.
As 2012 comes to a close, you may be looking back at what you think went right in your practice this year and what you might want to change for 2013. You may be trying to figure out how you can get more done in less time, or you may have decided that it's time to learn to prioritize better. Either way, perhaps this infographic from Bolt Insurance will provide some food for thought.
Close to half of survey respondents indicated that meetings were time-wasters - how can you make your meetings more productive in 2013?
A high number of workers waste time on office politics; what can you do to reduce that in the coming year? Is more communication needed to squelch the gossip and stop the rumor mill before it starts?
Many of the lawyers I speak to assume that shopping on the internet (a complaint usually directed at the women in the office) is a huge productivity killer -- but it looks like men are at fault, too - only instead of shopping, they're engaged in sports-related internet activities
Employees reported that they wasted time at work as a result of boredom, job dissatisfaction, lack of challenge and no incentive to work harder, not necessarily because they think they're underpaid. So what can you do to challenge the lawyers and staff in your office and keep them engaged? How can you motivate them?
If US workers are among the most productive in the world, how much "downtime" should employees have during the day? How much "wasted" time is good for them - and for your practice?
What do you think is the biggest time-waster in your firm? What can you do to boost productivity in your firm for the coming year? Or should your focus be on something other than productivity?
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