Policies are those little rules and practices that, when followed, help make sure that you and your team are actually hewing to your values and consistently taking the steps necessary to create the value for your customer that you’ve promised them. If you don’t have any explicit policies, it becomes incredibly difficult to develop any consistency around how and when you deliver your work.In today’s episode, I’m diving deeper into one of the six core practices of the Kanban Method: make policies explicit. In other words, drag your assumptions out into the open where you and your team can actively contend with them together.Tune in this week to discover the ... (Keep reading)

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Ep #10: Make Policies Explicit

What if the best way to improve the efficiency of your law practice is to not try to improve efficiency at all, but to focus on quality instead? This may sound paradoxical, but focusing on quality, not efficiency, is the key to unlocking more balanced workloads, smoother workflow, increased capacity, and ultimately greater efficiency while delivering an improved client experience along the way.In his most recent book, Slow Productivity: The Lost Art of Accomplishment Without Burnout, Cal Newport suggests that we should, “Obsess over the quality of what you produce, even if this means missing opportunities in the short term. Leverage the value of these results to gain more and ... (Keep reading)

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Ep #9: Focus on Quality To Improve Efficiency

In today’s episode, I’m speaking with South Carolina consumer rights attorney and co-author of The Lean Law Firm, Dave Maxfield. Dave joins me today to provide an interesting look into how lawyers can adopt techniques from the Lean methodology to empower and improve their law practices.Lean and Agile share essential DNA, including using Kanban to make work flow more smoothly, as well as limiting work in progress, and a formula for actually measuring the productivity of our law practices. This episode is packed with information and practical advice you can use to implement Dave’s insights in your law firm.Tune in this week to discover how to take lean production systems of ... (Keep reading)

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Ep #8: Building the Lean Law Firm with Dave Maxfield

Streamlining processes in your law practice makes sense. It saves you and your team precious time and energy and keeps the backend running smoothly.However, optimizing a system for efficiency doesn’t always go down well with clients. In fact, it can reduce customer value and loyalty, leaving them disengaged from the process you’re helping them through.In this episode, I’m introducing you to a piece of business school research focusing on the impact of self-checkouts in grocery stores. And yes, this is a vastly different industry, but it does teach us about how optimizing a system for efficiency risks creating a worse customer experience for your client, negatively impacting their overall perceptions ... (Keep reading)

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Ep #7: Don’t Let Efficiency Destroy Customer Value

When somebody hires a lawyer, what are they really looking for?They almost certainly have practical needs, but providing value to your client often requires more than just a practical, technical solution. One mainstay of being an Agile Attorney is ​a constant focus on delivering customer value. So how do you ​align your team, your practices, and your tools ​to create an environment that prioritizes client value in your firm? And how do you do it in a way that delivers value in every interaction, not just with your end product?Part of getting this right is really putting yourself in your client's shoes. From their perspective, ​navigating the legal system is ... (Keep reading)

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Ep #6: What Clients Really Want from Lawyers

I join Jim and Tyson on the Maximum Lawyer Podcast and we talk about implementing the Kanban methodology in legal practices.I provide some insight on what the Kanban methodology is and why it is such a great thing to add to law firms.  Kanban boards are meant to allow users to see workflows and identify areas where there is a roadblock. It can be customized to the likeness of any team!I also share some of the templates I have created that can help law firms succeed. One is a litigation workflow, which can be used to help outline a case. There is a column for intake and research, one for ... (Keep reading)

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Enhancing Efficiency: Kanban Boards for Legal Workflow Management

Do you have numerous cases close to being completed but, because they are no longer urgent, they sit among the rest of your work and make you feel overwhelmed by all there is to do? Many firms overlook addressing this common issue as an opportunity to reduce the total amount of work in their system.I’ll provide insights on how to reduce the work in progress to also reduce the stress and anxiety that come with feeling overwhelmed by a heavy workload. I’ll discuss things that may be consuming a significant amount of capacity without directly contributing to productivity, and explain how reducing those things will help the higher-value work flow ... (Keep reading)

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Ep #5: Close the Closable: Finding Balance in Your Caseload

There is a wealth of tools out there designed to streamline your workflow, easy to pick up and capable of adapting in countless ways as you master them. A personal favorite of mine is the Kanban board. I've been championing it for years, often introducing it to folks for the first time. Today, Kanban boards have gained widespread popularity, with numerous software options available to create your own.In this week's episode, we're going back to Kanban basics, offering insights perfect for both newbies and seasoned users. I'll highlight two key types of Kanban boards that could revolutionize your law practice. Plus, I'll pass on some hands-on advice that I've shared ... (Keep reading)

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Ep #4: Kanban Board Essentials for Lawyers

Are you hitting roadblocks in your legal delivery systems because of stubborn bottlenecks that disrupt the flow of work? It feels like every new solution out there promises smoother operations, yet often, they just end up shifting the problem elsewhere.In today’s episode, I’m going to guide you through the most effective strategies for getting work to move seamlessly through your system again. We’ll take a close look at the bottleneck areas in your law practice and discuss why making improvements in the wrong areas doesn’t really cut it.Join me as we explore how to identify those bottlenecks in your law firm and address them effectively. I’ll share some practical tools ... (Keep reading)

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Ep #3: Finding and Fixing Bottlenecks to Drive Law Practice Efficiency

​​I sat down with Chad Main of legal technology company Percipient for his Technically Legal Podcast. Chad was a great interviewer because he uses Agile practices in his own work, and he got me to break down some of the basics of Agile and Kanban for lawyers who may be new to the concepts. We give a high-level overview of Agile overall, and then dive into the core practices of the Kanban method, including:Making work visible with kanban boards; The value of a daily standup meeting (and other tools for effective team communication); The importance of WIP Limits (work in process limits); andWhy lawyers should ​invest more of their efforts on ... (Keep reading)

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Technically Legal Podcast: Using Agile to Streamline Legal Workflows