How To Improve Productivity Levels In Your Law Firm
A lack of productivity can lead to issues with any business, but it is particularly problematic within law firms.
For example, as a lot of your client-centric work is time-sensitive, missed deadlines can have catastrophic consequences for both your client’s and your firm’s reputation. In addition to this, it can have a negative impact on your bottom line, especially if your payment model is based on billable hours.
Fortunately, studies seem to indicate that law firm productivity is on the rise. For example, Clios 2023 Legal Trends Report found that, compared to 2016, on average, legal professionals are:
- Working over 25% more cases
- Logging 35% more billable hours
If this is a trend that seems to have passed your firm by, then you need to do something about this sooner rather than later. With that in mind, here are some simple ways in which you can improve productivity within your law firm.
Make use of technology. Perhaps the most obvious way in which you can increase productivity within your law firm is through using technology to speed up or automate time-consuming tasks, whether that’s responding to client inquiries or conducting research. For example, AI tools can help law firm personnel pull key information out of lengthy documents when researching on behalf of clients or serve as a chatbot to help manage customer requests. As such, it is hardly surprising that the use of generative AI tools is expected to rise in the legal industry, though you should be aware of the potential dangers of this before introducing this technology to your team.
Use time-tracking software. Using time-tracking software can help you to identify tasks that are slowing your team down (and therefore lowering productivity rates). This, in turn, means that you can focus on making these tasks easier to manage in the future. For example, if you notice that you’re spending too much time chasing late invoices, then you may want to invest in tools that do this automatically on your behalf or by introducing pre-payment schemes.
Promote employee-wellbeing. Promoting employee well-being by providing them with a strong support system and encouraging them to develop a healthy work-life balance can also cause your productivity rates to skyrocket. This is because doing so will enable them to lead a more engaged workforce, who studies have found are “18% more productive than disengaged employees.”
If you have noticed that an employee is struggling, don’t immediately assume that this is due to an inability to do their job. Instead, work collaboratively with them to get to the root of the issue and put a system in place to support them moving forward. For example, it could be that your team is overworked/overburdened, which can be rectified by outsourcing non-legal roles such as accounting and financial management.
At FinOp Group, we have years of experience in supporting law firm owners to promote productivity within the workplace through our outsourced accounting services. Whether you need help with payroll management or budgeting, we’ve got you covered. Get in touch today to find out more!
