Daily Archives: May 21, 2009

Tips for Better Professional Productivity

Posted in: "All, Business Development by Admin | No Comments Thursday, May 21, 2009

Today I’d like to share more tips I learned from the Solo and Small Firm Expo last week. Today’s focus is on better professional productivity.

All that we lawyers have to sell is our time. Therefore, if you can track and manage your time better, you will likely boost your productivity. The tips below may help you do just that.

1. Find your productive hours

You should figure out which hours are your most productive during the day and focus on your heavier work during those hours. Try to spend your less productive hours on less important stuff, such as tidying up your desk.

For more information on finding your productivity hours, please refer to www.productiveflourishing.com.

2. Turn off your productivity-boosting aids

Emails, the internet, and smartphones no doubt boost our productivityy. We can now work virtually anywhere, be it on the train or on a plane.

However, these handy gadgets and technologies can also distract you, particularly when you’re sitting in front of your desk trying to focus.

For example, when the “email bell” rings or when the smartphone vibrates, it interrupts your train of thought. Even if no immediate action is required for the particular message, it will take you a while to get back to the concentration level you were at.

3. Leave work with a  “to-do” list.

How many times a week do you start your day with some kind of “crisis”?

My answer is “everyday.” Everyday when I get to work there are emails to reply to, faxes to respond to, and phone calls to return. Apparently that’s not the most efficient way to start the day.

By the time all incoming messages are dealt with, you are only starting to structure your day. It takes a while to recall what needs to be done and get those tasks organized. It’s not an efficient use of time.

Instead, try leaving a to-do list for yourself before you leave work each day. After you deal with your “crisis” in the morning, you’ll know exactly what you really need to do.

4. Keep it simple, sweet, and short.

Complicated, long messages put people off, whether they are to-do lists, instructions to staff members, or online productivity-boosting blogs.

This is precisely why this post ends here.

Tagged , , , , , , , , , , ,

A Small Firm’s Edge

Posted in: "All, Business Development by Admin | No Comments Thursday, May 21, 2009

Last week I had a debate with my colleagues at the Solo and Small Firm Expo about this question: What makes a small firm competitive?

Large firms no doubt have many more resources than small ones. Large firms, for instance, have better access to support staff and reference materials. They also have one sharp advantage over us small firms: they have more money. The large pool of cash available enables big firms to take on big projects that are generally out of small firms’ reach.

Given these limitations, how do small firms survive?

After a lengthy debate, my colleagues and I came to the following conclusion:

1. Small firms often offer a more flexible payment schedule.

Because small firms are owned by fewer partners, they may be able to be more flexible about when they get paid. Typically, as long as the retainer is paid in full before the completion of the file, most small firms are  agreeable to payment by instalments.

2. Small firms may be more accommodating in terms of appointments and services.

Most large firms have set office hours; lawyers in larger firms are often reluctant to meet clients outside business hours, perhaps because of security concerns. Large firms often keep valuables such as stocks, shares, jewellery, or real evidence on behalf of clients, but if there are hundreds of lawyers and staff members, it may be difficult to spot an intruder, and so access hours are restricted.

In certain very large firms, access to files may be also restricted because of concerns over conflict of interests.

On the other hand, in small firms have fewer such concerns, and the owner or partners may be agreeable to meet the clients during evenings or weekends.

3. Small firms may offer a shorter turn-around time.

Most large firms have a stable amount of work in progress and so are often unable to accommodate special “rush jobs” without charging a high premium. Lawyers in certain very large firms may not even have control over their own calendar.

In contrast, lawyers in smaller firms have more control over their schedule and the priority of files. If possible, small firms often are willing and able to shift their work around to accommodate special rush job requests.

4. Small firms are quicker to adapt productivity-boosting technologies.

It’s often easier to implement new productivity-boosting technologies in small firms because of the intimate environment. If one partner tries a piece of new software and likes it, it’s relatively easy to spread the software to the entire firm.

In large firms, however, the implementation of new technologies often has to pass several levels of committees and approvals. Some individuals may be resistant to new technologies, therefore slowing implementation down. This is especially true if they happen to be senior partners.

One fine example on this point is the implementation of speech-recognition software.

After hearing my endorsement, several friends of mine have switched to the software by abandoning dictation all together. They simply told their sectaries to devote more time on something else.

At the same time, I know of at least one big firm that is moving slowly toward digital dictation. And they’re only inching toward it after the software was brought to their attention over a year ago.

There you have it: bigger isn’t always better.

Tagged , , , , , ,