Technology doesn’t just exist in a vacuum. It’s there to deliver fundamentals but it can also be a potent business management tool. So, how can it help you to run your business more effectively and efficiently?
Practice management software offers several areas to help you do this:
- Thinking like a business.
- Efficiency and productivity.
- Improved service to clients
- Outsourcing.
Thinking like a business.
There have been many things said over the years about the way legal practices are run. It’s not my intention to go over old ground. However, the technology is available to provide lawyers with professional business management tools that can really make a difference:
Better management reporting
Integrated case management and accounting systems can provide you with an up-to-date financial position at the press of a button.
Cashflow visibility
Every legal practice should be able to view its cashflow position at the end of each working day. That’s just plain common sense for every business.
Key performance indicators
A good practice management system can allow you to build a series of metrics to measure business performance in detail. This will allow you to make sound judgement calls when planning for the future.
Fee earner performance measurement
How well are they performing? Case management and time recording systems can give you a clearer picture of who the better performers are. It’s not Big Brother, but it can help you determine if the right level of work is being carried out by the right people.
Using technology as a differentiator
This is one of the great intangibles. Yet, in my experience, staff tend to gain the perception that the firm is “ahead of the game”, making it an attractive proposition for new recruits.
Good practice management software is not just about managing case files and drafting accounts. Used properly, it is a key business planning tool.
Efficiency and productivity.
These are key drivers in any business. If your competitors are better in these two aspects, your practice will suffer.
Modern practice management software is capable of delivering efficiencies. It does this from simple document and email management on the one hand, to managing complex workflows and repetitive tasks on the other.
In addition, the integration of time recording and billing should be standard issue in any modern practice management system. This allows you both to automate these tasks and to establish your position with a client at any point in the progress of a matter. As a bonus, it will provide you with work in progress statistics – which, in turn, leads back to the all important cashflow management.
Read more about these other two benefits:
- Improved service to clients.
- Outsourcing.