5 Tips for Improving Productivity in Your Law Firm

Everyone knows that when you increase your productivity, you tend to increase your profits. The problem is that many of us don’t know how to get out of our way.

When you’re trying to determine what can a business do to improve its productivity, there are specific steps everyone needs to take to ensure success. And increased productivity also takes time to master.

If you’re looking for tips on what improves productivity in your law firm, look no further. We’re sharing with you five business productivity tips you can use in business and life.

Keep on reading!

1. What Can a Firm Do to Improve its Productivity? Clear Out the Clutter.

One thing that always improves productivity is to clear out the clutter. Remove anything from your desk and office that you don’t need to use daily or weekly.

Shred old documents safely and then organize all old documents that you need to keep for legal reasons together in one space. You can even store these files off premises.

But clutter isn’t just physical stuff. You can enjoy increased productivity by spending less time on social media.

You can plan specific times when you respond to e-mails to prevent you from being distracted. It usually takes at least 20 minutes to focus on a task when you’ve been interrupted.

Determine what is necessary so you can easily identify the clutter during your workday. Doing so greatly improves productivity.

2. Embrace Technology

Technology is here to stay. And technology, when used correctly, improves efficiency.

Learning which technological systems work best for your law practice should be one of your top priorities. Using an automated system for your documents can save you and your employees countless hours of wasted time.

No more looking for a document that was, “right in front of you” moments before. No more worrying if coffee gets spilled on an important paper.

And more than one person can view a document at the same time. The more you can rely on technology to help you find documents, do research, and manage your time, the more billable hours you and your firm can charge.

Find which automated systems work best for your law firm and implement them immediately.

3. Focus on Time Management

If you’re looking for ways to improve practice productivity, take a good look at how you and your employees are managing your time. You’ll probably find that you and everyone else can do more to cut out wasted time during your day.

One way to start is to track your own time. See how you spend a week in your life. Track where you are and how long you spend there.

After tracking your time for the week, take a look at where you were and why. This will help you identify where you’re wasting time, when, and how.

Set Boundaries

The worst time suckers are other people. Some people will take up as much of your time as they can. But unless it’s billable time, this should not be allowed.

Let people know that when they speak to you, there is a certain amount of time you can give to them. That way, it forces them to get right to the point.

Learn how to gently end conversations that aren’t going anywhere, even if they’re a client. The more healthy boundaries on your own time that you set up, the easier it is to manage your time productively.

4. Improve Workplace Communications

Communication is the key to any successful business. But good communication is essential in a law firm.

Whether it’s with your colleagues or your clients, how well you communicate with others will directly influence how successful your business is.

Learning which tools of communication work best in which situations will boost business productivity. Use meetings and phone calls when you need to collaborate with others, or you need others for creative inspiration.

E-mail works best when you’re sending out a directive or need to share information.

And only use texting or chat when you have quick bites of information to share or a response from you only requires one or two words.

The more efficiently you communicate with others and use the appropriate type of communication method, the more increased productivity you’ll see within your law firm.

5. Plan Fewer But More Efficiently Run Meetings

What can a business do to improve its productivity? Plan fewer meetings.

Too many hours are wasted on meetings that end without anything really being said of great importance. Often, there are people in attendance who don’t need to be there.

Start by cutting the frequency of your meetings. Don’t have a meeting for the sake of a meeting. Instead, wait until there’s something essential to share.

Then cut your usual meeting time by half. And only invite those who absolutely must be in attendance.

Your goal is to plan good meetings which improve productivity in the office rather than having a bad meeting which ends up demoralizing your team.

Begin your meeting by announcing when it will end. You’ll find your participants focus more when they know when it ends. And cut your meetings in half, time-wise.

When you’re forced to plan a meeting with half the time, you’ll find you cut out extra clutter and just focus on what’s truly important.

Organize Your Meetings Better

Planning a meeting with no formal agenda is a waste of everyone’s time. Instead, create and use an agenda for every meeting.

Make sure each section on the agenda has a time limit. Assign owners to specific agenda items to help your attendees take greater responsibility in a meeting.

Those in attendance will now feel as though they have a responsibility to come to the meeting prepared. That will help everyone stay focused and on topic.

And make sure that interruptions, such as coming late or leaving early are minimized. The more respect each employee gives to the meetings, the more focused, productive, and engaged everyone is.

Get Started Today

What can a law firm do to improve its productivity? Stop wasting time and start implementing these new strategies.

The sooner you get started, the sooner you’ll increase your billable hours. We can help. Our automated document system can help your law firm save time and money.

Click here to set up a consultation.