The quarterly publication of the International Legal Technology Association
Issue link: https://epubs.iltanet.org/i/163881
Steve Held is a Principal at Clarity Consulting. He has more than 18 years of experience delivering custom software solutions and has worked within the legal industry for over 14 years. Steve consults with Am Law 200 firms to streamline and automate critical business processes, such as new business intake and lateral hire on-boarding. He also works with firms to develop custom process-driven applications on the K2 platform. Steve can be contacted at sheld@claritycon.com. In a time when "do more with less" is an all too familiar refrain, firms increasingly have looked to automate business processes to increase efficiencies. At the same time, the world has seen an explosion in the number, variety and power of mobile devices. To meet the demands of on-the-go professionals, firms are extending workflows to mobile devices and supercharging processes by enabling individuals to initiate, review and take action on tasks any time and any place. Firms automate workflows for a variety of reasons: increased accountability, visibility and auditability of business processes; reduction of duplicate data entry; managing risk; ensuring firm policies are enforced; and realizing greater efficiencies. It's this latter area of increased efficiency where workflows on mobile devices have the greatest impact. TAKING ACTION IN THE MOMENT What does it mean to be more efficient? This is realized through a combination of two factors: • Reducing the time spent on any single task • Reducing the overall cycle time (i.e., the total time spent from beginning to end on any given workflow process) Reducing the cycle time can have significant benefits and cost savings. For example, when vetting potential new business, firms that can identify quickly whether they can take on new business have a competitive advantage when responding to prospects. Likewise, by reducing the time to open new business, firms can begin billable work in short order. Almost all business processes generate some benefit if they can be completed rapidly. When disbursements are approved and invoiced faster, the firm can recoup costs in less time. Swiftly reviewing or modifying pro forma invoices can reduce the billing cycle and reduce the risk and cost of making subsequent adjustments to an invoice once it's been issued. If individuals can complete tasks more quickly, the overall process should take less time. To reduce the time spent on tasks, the most obvious targets are to reduce the Peer to Peer 79