Year: 2019

“I think one key part of doing more with less is to be more strategic, to realize what the objectives you’re truly trying to accomplish are and then to drive with greater focus towards those objectives.”
– Risa Lavizzo-Mourey

Doing more with less money and resources is not something most people want to hear from their bosses at the staff meeting. But it’s becoming more and more prevalent in the workplace, and legal departments share in the angst. “Lean legal” has been raising its ugly head for some time now, but it doesn’t need to be “ugly” at all. We invite you to read on and you’ll see what we mean.

Cost control and cost management have, and continue to be, one of legal’s biggest challenges. How have legal departments been handling this? Increasing the workload of existing resources, bringing on more in-house lawyers, and implementing more technology. Increasing the workload? Something else employees don’t want to hear. Hiring more in-house lawyers? That’s not really making things “leaner,” is it? That leaves technology. Let’s investigate this one a little more.

According to HBR Consulting’s 2018 Law Department Survey:

“Law departments also continue in their efforts to streamline operations, not only to control costs but also continue to increase efficiency. Legal technology continues to be a focus of many departments and plan implementation of next generation technologies to increase productivity. Law departments continue to be interested in data-related technologies, with 28 percent indicating they plan to implement artificial intelligence technology in the next one to two years, and 26 percent planning to implement legal spend analytics. These were topped, however, by contract management solutions, which 29 percent plan to implement in the next one to two years. These new legal technologies help automate manual workflows and create visibility into workload and spending, allowing organizations to improve operating efficiency and facilitate decision making.”

Topping the list of most implemented technology are e-billing and matter management, with legal holds and contract management following closely on their heels. Interestingly, the top two areas where customers are moving out of their existing systems are e-billing and matter management. This points to even greater demand for cutting-edge companies who provide the crème de la crème of technology solutions.

So if technology is so good at helping these legal departments, what were the barriers to using it in the first place? A lean budget is often cited as one of the major reasons. Resistance to change also places on the list. But one of the other major reasons is integrating new technology with existing systems. Nowadays, resistance to change is really the only thing that should be holding up progress – the other issues of budget and integration have changed considerably in favor of organizations seeking new technology. There are technology solutions out there for practically every budget. Stop dreading the words, “Do more with less.” We challenge you to thrive on it and explore the technology solutions out there that will help you do that.

“If you always do what you’ve always done, you’ll always get what you always got.”
― James P. Lewis

It’s one thing to “keep up” with the constantly changing battleground of the business world; in fact, it’s necessary. But we should be looking at that as only one element of the solution. Why not take it a step further and make our business flourish in this highly competitive environment?

Adopting the best business automation technology available is a cost-effective way to reach that goal. And cloud-based technology systems not only get the job done in the office, but keep you automatically ahead of the game because your provider is making sure the solution is always ahead of the game. But there’s one caveat to that last statement: you need to be very careful when you select solution providers – they’re not all created equally and some will quietly allow you to fall behind your competition. In many cases, clients aren’t even aware that it’s happening. With due diligence you’ll be able to select from a list of providers with proven track records.

A great way for companies to thrive is to look at software platforms that allow business users to drive efficiency and productivity. By combining business process management, project management, and information management into one easy to use tool the user can create their own solutions. With such a platform, it is easy to develop and deploy solutions that streamline business processes and solve real world problems which directly impact customer satisfaction, employee productivity and profitability.

Some key features to look for in a platform include:

Short Development and Deployment Time
The best platforms radically reduce “time to pilot” and “time to value.” Simple process pilots can be ready for implementation in hours and in production within days.

Flexibility
Business users require the flexibility to route, comment, revise and track progress of the project to accommodate the variability and unpredictability inherent in knowledge work.

Standard Intuitive Interface
Users love simple intuitive interfaces with standard features allowing the user to focus on the process instead of how the application works. This means that little or no training is required, thus dramatically reducing the time and cost of deployment.

A “Learn by Doing” Approach
The focus is on learning the optimal process through feedback from rapid deployment rather than a customized and expensive development of complex process maps and workflow design that anticipate every possible contingency that may or may not occur.

With the best platforms creating your own solutions couldn’t be simpler: once you identify a process that you’d like to automate, you use an intuitive interface to create a solution for the process. That’s it. Your organization can then streamline internal processes, gain greater visibility into transactions and improve operational efficiency. A flexible platform lets you easily bridge the organizational and geographic boundaries critical to your business. Thriving in this business environment has been made infinitely easier with the right technology at our fingertips.

“I couldn’t tell you in any detail how my computer works. I use it with a layer of automation.”
– Conrad Wolfram

In part II of our series on, “The Long Road to Business Process Automation and Apptitude,” we pushed the history of process automation back to the eighth century B.C. We ended our discussion by describing how Jacquard’s famous automated loom and how automation, stored programming and data entry owe a debt of gratitude to the loom’s ability to change weave patterns by changing punched cards. Pushing forward in time we find more solid evidence of real automation which laid the groundwork for modern business process automation.

Amazingly, devices for automatically controlling the temperature in egg incubators were being used throughout the 17th and 18th centuries. Other thermostatic devices followed up through the 19th century, each with varying improvements over previous devices. The whole idea of automating processes was now in full swing, to the extent that contemporary technology allowed.

The steam engine not only helped propel the assembly line, but also takes a place in automation history. But most people don’t realize that there was one special part that set later steam engines apart from earlier models; the mechanical governor. In the 18th century an ingenious mechanical governor was invented to control the speed of the engine. Perhaps the most important automatic control device of the period, the idea for the steam engine governor came from a most unlikely source. A century before, the centrifugal governor was being used in grist mills to control the gap between the upper and lower millstones. When grinding grains, it was necessary to carefully monitor the gap in order to achieve consistency in the final ground product.

Automated telephone switchboards, automatic bottle-making machines and myriad other automated applications through the computer age have demonstrated the importance of automation in our lives. We’re now in the 21st century and computers conveniently run process automation of every form imaginable. We have software at our fingertips to automate every process that organizations throw at us, and then some. Process automation is optimizing organizational operations in several key areas. Workflow and automation of processes deserve a spot at the top of the list. Automating routine tasks can give businesses that extra “edge” they need by driving efficiencies and controlling costs – a tried and true recipe for success.