Walking Man: How Do You Oversee a Distributed Workforce?

Lawyers tend to manage in place.  They oversee staff by walking around the office, to randomly check in on people, like Lumberg from ‘Office Space’.  They can also be vicious micromanagers.  It’s understandable to an extent, of course; if someone in the office screws up in a major way, it’s the attorney’s license that’s on the line.  I get it.  But, there is a better way; and, a way that is becoming increasingly necessary for law firms. 

In the current environment, law firms are managing distributed workforces on the fly.  Often, there’s no more physical office available to be occupied, to walk around in.  No more coworkers in your physical presence to hover over.  So, what do you do now? 

 

It’s time to finally rely on technology to manage your law firm.  Managing a remote staff is about creating task-based, time-sensitive workflows, in order to keep an eye on each employee’s progress on each case, without being in their physical space to do so.  Now, this will take some effort on your part: if you’ve never actually constructed workflows for your cases, organized by case types, it’s time to do so.  But, putting in the effort will pay off in the long run.  If your staff is following a consistent program, that should reduce or eliminate errors, including common, avoidable mistakes.  Providing your staff with, what is essentially, a roadmap, should also reduce the questions you have to answer, and the internal meetings you have to schedule. 

 

It’s time to build out a new management protocol. 

 

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If you need help managing your suddenly-distributed workforce, we can help. 

Through a unique partnership between the bar association and Jared Correia's Red Cave Law Firm Consulting, Vermont Bar Association members now have access to experienced law practice management consultants at a special discounted rate.  To get started, visit Red Cave's Vermont Bar Association landing page, and start running your law practice like a business.