Have you been working on the key processes in your firm? Do you get stuck trying to identify what’s delivering the results you want and what’s not?

Last week’s IILPM conference, Legal Project Management in Practice, was incredible. We connected with folks around the globe to discuss international trends, what to expect over the next three years, and most importantly, how to improve productivity and efficiency and adapt faster to our client's needs. (Stay tuned because we may publish the recordings in the next few weeks.) Process was a big part of the discussion!

In our last tip, we shared the first five questions that are the foundation of our Practice Accelerator Framework to help you understand what you are doing now and how you can do it better. Then, we asked you to identify what your clients truly wanted in 3 of your most common types of matters. 

Today’s tip: Make sure your processes deliver what your clients want

Here are the five Practice Accelerator questions. Look at the second one again:

What does the client want or need?
How do we work now to get that result?
Why do we do it that way?
How can we do it better?
Is our new process delivering what the client wants and are we following it?

This question asks you to identify what you are doing now to get the result your client truly wants or needs. Only when you understand what you’re doing right now can you start to make improvements. To do this, you need to make your process visible!

Your action item this week: describe your existing process. Once you see it written down (this could be a list of steps or a visual map), take a critical look. Ask yourself: is it delivering what your clients want?

If it is, great. Pick another process and make it visible.

But if your process isn’t delivering what your clients really want, think about what you need to do differently. What changes can you make, to ensure you deliver for your clients?

When you work to understand and optimize your processes to meet your clients where they are, you’ll find that working together becomes smoother and more efficient.