We’ve found that many law office management teams lack comprehensive Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs). Sometimes, we find that firms never found the time to create an SOP, despite appreciating the benefits of a foundational procedural guide.
Perhaps when you launched your law firm, you had only one employee and it didn’t feel important at the time. Or perhaps you had no employees, but as time went on, you experienced significant growth and hired multiple new employees. Suddenly, an SOP is crucial, but you simply don’t have the time anymore.
Sometimes law offices lack detailed SOPs because leadership doesn’t want employees to feel overly controlled. If the term causes you to remember an authoritarian packet of instructions handed to you by a previous employer ineffectively attempting to micromanage your duties, let’s alter how you view this critical law office management tool.
After all, it was never actually the SOP that felt overbearing — it was the boss. You should know that an SOP doesn’t need to feel controlling to employees. In fact, the best SOPs actually feel empowering to an enthusiastic workforce.
SOPs are critical to effective law firm management. This is true, even if a singular attorney plays the roles of the law firm management team, the office administrator, the paralegal, the marketing department and the maintenance crew.
Whether your law office is made up of just you or a dynamic team of individuals, an effective SOP is a powerful communication tool that can:
- Help everyone at the law office feel empowered and eliminate chaos and miscommunication
- Prevent critical mistakes by clearly outlining detailed instructions
- Include instructions for handling a significant operational disruption
A Law Office Management SOP Can Help Your Whole Team Feel Empowered
An effective SOP empowers your team because it communicates expectations, resources and methods in such a way that even if a manager isn’t around, everyone has the guidance they need to successfully execute their responsibilities. When an attorney uses skilled professionals who enjoy their work — such as outsourced paralegals or remote administrative assistants — the employee or contractor wants to excel and do well.
The clear communication found in a carefully crafted law office management procedural guide, will even allow new members of your team to independently, efficiently and effectively do their jobs sooner. More importantly, it can provide steps to resolve a critical problem in an emergency.
Even owners of law firms report relying on their SOPs, because sometimes, even if you created the procedural steps yourself, you might forget them in practice or during times of heightened stress.
You Can Prevent Critical Mistakes By Clearly Outlining Detailed Instructions
From daily checklists to annual reports to guiding principles for decision-making, when you clearly outline important procedures, you can reduce or prevent mistakes. SOPs effectively mitigate risk, even when you’re not around to oversee their use.
A Law Office Management SOP Can Include or Accompany a Business Continuity Plan (BCP)
Does your team know how to recover operations quickly if the business is abruptly disrupted?
Think about this. If your law firm experienced a natural disaster or cyberattack, would your team know how to bring your law firm back online? If a power surge destroyed every computer, would your team know how to access the necessary passwords, applications and back-up systems even if you were offsite?
If a tornado rolled through the city one evening and destroyed the premises, would your team understand their business recovery roles?
Every firm must have a thorough, written BCP that details how to get your firm up and running. The BCP might include information like:
- A detailed list of physical inventory
- Software backup locations
- Social media usernames, passwords and 2FAs
- Procedures for disaster recovery
- How to access contact information for vendors, clients, staff members and other team members
- The law office management team’s expectations for returning to work
- Network mapping instructions
- Insurance policies
- Contact information for renting or buying new or temporary equipment
This law office management BCP should act like a living document, and the law office management team should reevaluate, update, and test it regularly.
Do You Need Help Creating a Functional SOP?
LT Global Practice Management can guide you through any aspect of law office management, including creating a functional SOP that focuses on communication rather than control. We can analyze your law office operations, help develop a strategy for success with innovative law office management suggestions, counsel you about your SOP must-have sections and more.
Let’s fine-tune your managerial skills together. Contact LT Global Practice Management to request a strategy session or with specific questions to take your business to new heights of success.
