Running a legal firm and maintaining consistency in the services you provide isn’t easy. Working with multiple staff and ensuring they provide the same level of expertise and customer service is a headache for many employers. Often employees will deviate from your expectations, underperform or provide a substandard level of service, which can have a hugely detrimental effect on your company’s standing.
However, by taking a few simple steps, you can help reduce the chances of staff error or poor performance and streamline your company’s operations. Here are four ways to improve the service consistency of your legal firm and, in turn, safeguard your valuable reputation.
Define your firm’s goals – and be sure your employees know them too
As a business owner, you likely have a very clear idea of the direction you want your company to take and the level of service you want to provide. However, the same does not necessarily apply to your employees.
When you hire a new member of staff, be sure to give them a clear understanding of their responsibilities and what you expect of them. Inform them of your company’s history, how you got started, the reason you’re in business and the levels of service and professionalism you expect from them. Try to instill in them the same sense of satisfaction you have in your company and encourage them to take pride in their work.
Trust in technology
Artificial Intelligence (AI) is slowly revolutionizing the workplace and software apps are reducing the time we spend on monotonous, repetitive tasks. Putting your faith in technology can significantly reduce your (and your employees’) workload, enabling them to concentrate on other, more productive and profitable tasks. Today, there is a vast range of legal practice management software that can automate many of your day-to-day chores and improve your company’s service consistency.
Adopt clearly-defined working practices and routines
Very often, errors or inconsistencies at work occur because an employee isn’t aware of what’s expected of them or how they should do things. To avoid staff mistakes or situations where they underperform, establish a clear set of rules and working practices, so your workers know exactly how to approach common tasks or problems. Your employees are far more likely to work productively if they have a clear understanding of exactly what’s expected of them.
Improve your channels of communication
If you find your workers are constantly underperforming or making mistakes, rather than simply blaming them, encourage them to voice their concerns. In a great many situations, employee mistakes are caused by a lack of knowledge or understanding.
Sit down with your staff and allow them to speak openly about any concerns they might have with their job. In doing so, you could find gaps in their expertise (which you can fix by offering supplemental career training) or areas where they simply don’t grasp how you expect them to work. Consider having a weekly team meeting or take your staff to lunch or other activities that you can do as a group. Building morale in an organization and getting to know your staff on a friendlier basis can work wonders for instilling confidence and a greater sense of being part of a team.
