Your back office might be operating efficiently and your staff working hard to keep things running smoothly without disruption but beware of complacency. If your staff has fallen into a routine, what is working now may not be the case in a short period of time
Here are four simple questions to ask your staff to help explore whether staying “as-is” is right for your firm, or whether some simple changes might yield greater efficiency, a better work environment and overall cost savings:
- “If you could eliminate one of our vendors, who would it be and why?”
Your staff are very aware of vendor errors, omissions, oversights, time lags and other problems which make working with those vendors costly in terms of time and maybe even hard dollars. Do you have a problematic vendor that is costing you money and frustrating your team? - “If you could outsource one element of our office, what would it be and why?”
Perhaps your staff knows vendors who are doing things well for another firm or business and who are achieving results. Gain some insight from your team on potential vendor involvement in these areas and consider adopting these new partners for your firm. - “Which vendor contracts are up for renewal? Are we gathering competitive bids? Why not?”
Watch closely to see whether or not renegotiation or competitive bids are even being considered by your staff. If not, why not? Why the complacency to stay with a current vendor without even a discussion about more advantageous terms? This could be a missed opportunity. Don’t lose out. - “What is the most time-consuming or error-prone aspect of your overall responsibilities?”
Is there an opportunity for additional outsourcing, or to bring a service back in-house or to ask one of your existing vendors to step in and help? Perhaps they offer a more cost-effective approach than having your expensive team do simple tasks that could—and should—be outsourced.
A simple exercise like asking these questions can get your staff started in a discussion that focuses inward on process improvement—and can ultimately translate to happier staff delivering better results with greater efficiency for you and your clients.
Why did we suggest the questions above?
We routinely help law firms enhance the efficiency of their middle- and back-office staff and improve overall operations with big cost-saving results. Give us 15 minutes of your time to explain why our unique approach works so well.
