Ready to give your processes a tune-up? The DOWNTIME framework we introduced last week is an easy way to find waste in legal and business/administrative processes. In this tip, we’re talking about D for Defects.

When you’re looking for defects, ask yourself: is the work you deliver or receive always right the first time? If not, if the work is incomplete or incorrect, if it’s in the wrong form, or it’s being sent to the wrong person, or if it’s just plain wrong, it’s a waste!

The Tip: Every defect you find is an opportunity to improve your practice.

Once you’ve spotted a defect, ask yourself why it happened. Look for the root cause of the mistake, so you can develop a permanent solution.

Here’s an example from one of our clients:

During a project to improve a firm’s conflict clearance process, the conflict clerks complained that they were receiving incomplete new business intake forms.. They always had to go back to the attorneys for more information. After some exploration, we discovered a few key problems with the intake form, including:

•  The attorneys got their assistants to complete the forms. But the assistants often didn’t understand the questions or have enough information to complete all the fields; and
•  The forms contained a lot of questions that attorneys and assistants considered irrelevant, so they didn’t bother answering them.

The root cause of the incomplete intake forms was the form itself. It wasn’t clear. It lacked explanations. And it was too long. To correct the issue, the firm redesigned the form to provide those filling it with clear instructions about what information was required and why. They also eliminated the irrelevant fields. Fixing the defects in the form led to a dramatic reduction in the number of incorrect forms.
Your Action Item: Take a look at one process or task that you do regularly. Ask yourself if is it done right the first time. If not, you’ve found a defect.

Once you’ve identified a defect, you can dig deeper. Look for the root cause and fix it.

Stay tuned. Next week we’ll be looking at the next DOWNTIME waste: overproduction.  

Process improvement is just one way to improve the efficiency of your practice. Legal project management is another. If you want to advance your career in legal operations, or you are looking for strategies to manage your matters effectively, stay on time and on budget, and optimize work allocation, check out our LPP training. We have a limited number of seats available for every cohort, and the next class starts October 20.