Are you a lean machine?

It is also important to recognise that growth and expansion are not mutually exclusive with being lean. Being lean simply means smart growth ie being smart with your time, headcount, resources, and budget. In fact, optimising budgets, processes, and functions whilst growing has never been more important in view of global macroeconomics. 

Where to Start? Here are 8 things to do today (if you haven’t already):

Standardise tasks and ensure smooth processes: Though not all tasks, templates, and processes can be standardised, putting clear processes and templates in place when possible will ensure tasks are completed to a standard system. This makes it efficient, and productive and lowers the risk of errors. It also means when staff leaves, they don't necessarily take their knowledge and processes with them and ensure a smoother handover. It is also easier to spot when something is not working or not being done properly.

Keep everything centralised: Multiple tools = time wasted. We have all had the unpleasant experience of wasting time on locating versions, switching/transferring information between tools, going through ex-colleagues emails and folders, etc. Use end-to-end platforms like Miramis (formerly known as Pocketlaw) to make sure everything is within one system. 

Consider the ROI of each expense: The emphasis here should be to spend your time and money on things that would bring value to your business. It does not mean being cheap - which could result in going with the cheapest option but often ending up with useless or sub-par results. Spending wisely should hopefully help you prioritise and focus on the right things. Remember time = money!

Optimise each team’s function: Modern companies should strive to create knowledge, give autonomy and empower every team within the organisation. It is often a balancing act to give teams sufficient autonomy whilst maintaining alignment and control. Giving your employees the right tools and resources to achieve their goals will contribute towards increased motivation and reduce frustration. 

Manage deadlines and assign tasks within the organisation with more efficiency: Manually adding reminders and assigning tasks to your / your team’s calendar should be a thing of the past. Technology has moved on since the 90s and you should embrace the convenience of updated technology to improve efficiency.

Keep calm: How are you updating your company policies? How are you managing internal compliance documents? How are you monitoring changes in the law? Being in control instead of dealing with such matters in a firefighting method would enable clear and proper planning and execution. 

Stop wasting budgets (unnecessarily): Engaging a law firm is an expensive exercise and should only be done when real value is added (e.g. IPO, litigation, etc). Your day-to-day legal should be handled by a transparent, affordable, and efficient tool like Miramis. 

Automate wherever possible: Leverage technology as a resource to help reduce the workload in areas such as legal, accounting, banking, invoicing, etc. Strategic investments in these types of technology can also improve efficiency and drive data-driven decision-making, which will become increasingly important as economic pressures impact companies. 

These are just a few things you can do to be a more lean organization. If you want to learn more about ways to make your legal as lean as possible, subscribe to Lean Legal.