There are many similarities between managing a practice management implementation and being a coxswain on a rowing team (for those who don’t know what a coxswain is, it’s the person who sits on the end of the boat and motivates the team to row faster) – your job is to make sure everyone is working in unison to achieve a common goal. If everyone rows hard together, you win the race, but if everyone is rowing at different speeds, the boat gets turned around in a different direction.
Over the past few years, I’ve been watching law firms successfully and unsuccessfully adopt practice management software. Very rarely do you get everyone “rowing” at the same speed right from the starting gun, but there are things you can do to make the transition smoother for your employees and increase your adoption rate.
1. Begin with the highest value changesIf you’re at the point of implementing practice management software, you should have a list of the features you wanted to implement because you had to pitch this list of features to the management team by explaining the benefits. If you don’t have a list, stop what you’re doing and make one right now!
Take this list and begin putting together a plan of attack. Personally, I like to first implement the features that bring the highest value and are the easiest to implement. This way, your team members quickly see the benefit of the software and your team morale is heightened.
If you’re having a hard time prioritizing, make a list of the features. Next to the list of features create two columns, one for “highest impact” and one for “easy to implement.” For the highest impact column, take the total number of features you’ve listed and begin to number them with the lowest number as the least impactful feature and the highest number as the most impactful. Next, do this same exercise for the “easy to implement” column with the lowest number being the hardest to implement and the highest number as the easiest to implement. Then, add up each row and begin implementing the row with the highest total first.
I’ve seen law firms do entire practice management, billing, and document management software implementation at once, and although it’s possible, I don’t recommend it. I also don’t recommend going from 0 to 100 using practice management software either.
Why is this? It’s a big change for your staff and it can cause you a lot of personnel headaches along with a low adoption rate of the new software.
It’s always a good idea to have a few super users on staff. These super users are typically staff members that are more technical and well-respected amongst their coworkers. These super-users will do a few things at the firm:
Many people view training costs as an added expense, but in reality, it is a vital investment because of its ability to boost adoption rates for any software at a firm. If this is the first time your firm has used legal practice management software, training is especially important because it’s new to your staff.
Training should be broken out into multiple sessions. In my experience, the staff begins to lose focus after about an hour.
We have a lot of great material on investing in your training and how to create a legal practice management software training program.
Implementing legal practice management software is rarely a walk in the park but if you commit to the steps above and have the right implementation specialist, I am confident your team will be more willing to make the leap. If you have more questions about implementing legal software, feel free to reach out to us – we are happy to help.
Many law firms today still operate without legal practice management software. Mainly because… well, change. Each attorney and team has their own way of tracking matter-related information that’s “working for them.”
I’m here to tell you that your spreadsheets aren’t working.
There are endless reasons why you should adopt case management software, but I’ve narrowed it down to 7 specific reasons to consider:
The heart of any legal practice management software is the matter. Typically, everything related to the case can be found on the matter record inside of your practice management software. This includes all party’s contact information, case documents, calendar appointments, tasks, email correspondence, notes, and billing information.
With everything in a single software, your staff knows where to look for matter-related information without having to contact a coworker to send the file over. They’ll know that if they navigate to the matter, they should be able to find the information they’re looking for.
Services like Amazon Prime have made people expect everything instantly. This is very true for your client’s expectations of case updates. With a legal practice management application (especially if it’s cloud-based) you’re able to get to all of your clients’ information from anywhere, no matter if you’re at your desk or crossing the street in New York City.
Quick updates = Happy clients
If you’re able to run a conflict check in the software where most of your clients’ information resides, you’ll get a more complete conflict check.
I’ve spoken to many firms that have to run a conflict check in their billing software, against a spreadsheet, and then send out a conflict vote to make sure the attorneys don’t uncover conflicts in their own personal files.
This is also important because it not only improves the firm’s processes, but it also protects the firm and keeps them compliant with their liability insurance.
Within a legal software application, you’re able to share information between staff members. Some systems allow you to assign tasks to other coworkers and get notifications once the task is complete. Other programs have chat systems built into the application itself, so you can communicate without having to send an email, call them or get up from your desk.
Quick updates = Happy clients
One of the hardest parts of onboarding new staff is training. A single practice management software means less software and process training.
An added benefit of some practice management applications is automated workflow. With automated workflow, you can build your processes into the program, ensuring compliance across your entire staff with minimal training needed.
This benefit is true if your firm picks a cloud-based practice management application. With most of the newer cloud-based, legal practice management applications, you can access your firm’s database from the web or from a native app on your iOS or Android device. This means as long as you have internet, you’ll have access to your client information.
Many practice management applications give you the ability to capture time as you’re working. Some even capture time spent within their application and other programs attorneys use throughout the day.
If you think your firm is ready to take the plunge and pursue a practice management software, check out this blog about the 3 Types of Legal Practice Management Software to Consider for Your Firm.
