publication of the International Legal Technology Association
Issue link: https://epubs.iltanet.org/i/395170
ILTA WHITE PAPER: OCTOBER 2014 WWW.ILTANET.ORG 30 • Integration with Other Firm Applications: Housing everything under one roof allows our users to interact with our document management system, time entry system and financial suite without ever leaving our workflow site. This "one- stop shop" approach often makes the workflow our users' first and only destination. With the new tools integrated into the system, usage and data quality quickly spiked. MAKING THE APPLES DELICIOUS Once the data started flowing in, the question was where to start. Three areas quickly stood out as prime candidates: • Reporting/Alerting • Knowledge management • Statistical analysis Reporting and alerting was the most obvious area for quick and meaningful results. Connected into our time entry and accounting systems, our workflow is able to generate real-time glimpses into a matter's budget versus actual fees accrued, send automatic alerts when time is billed to tasks which were out of scope and calculate task efficiency metrics for billed time. In addition, we saw an opportunity to stop the stream of email messages asking for other attorneys' experiences arguing in front of a particular judge, SORTING APPLES: LET TECHNOLOGY MAKE THE MOST OF MATTER WORKFLOWS "Modern Business Statistics with Microsoft Excel" by Drs. David R. Anderson, Dennis J. Sweeney and Thomas A. Williams is a collegiate-level statistics textbook that can serve as a resource for those looking to brush up on statistical analysis, particularly how to perform analysis using Microsoft Excel. "Human Factors in Project Management: Concepts, Tools and Techniques for Inspiring Teamwork and Motivation" by Zachary Wong is a great introduction to the importance of improving project team performance by focusing on human behavior and motivations. Learn different techniques to motivate and lead your team to the next level. "A Pricing Party: Balloons, Wizards and Crystal Balls" by Christopher Ende and David Hobbie and "The Pricing Professional's KM Toolkit" by Chris Emerson and Amy Wu are two ILTA white paper articles discussing ways in which statistical analysis can be used to benefit law firms. "Gemba Kaizen: A Commonsense Approach to a Continuous Improvement Strategy" by Masaaki Imai provides case studies of various companies that optimized their workflows using "kaizen." Japanese for "continuous improvement," kaizen focuses on standardizing and improving processes to increase efficiencies at all company levels. Many of the case studies are manufacturing companies, but Imai provides adaptations of kaizen principles to service industries. SUGGESTED READING SORTING APPLES: LET TECHNOLOGY MAKE THE MOST OF MATTER WORKFLOWS