What to include in Lean Sigma sponsor training?

Hi Cliff and All,

very valuable insights from everyone. I can support all of what has been written so far.

My two cents - the main question - WHY are we doing it. What is the differentiator from the other industry players that the company can achieve with Lean (and not with other tools, initiatives etc.) ? This should be a clear message to engage the Seniors / Executives

Milena

 

Hi Cliff, 

I think that the main message to the executive level in a Law Company should focus on how to increase revenue and increase margins while responding to the market push for fixed rates for legal work.

The solution is:

• to transfer work from senior to junior lawyers
• manage efficiently any team changes (in the cases of lawyers leaving the company or the project, the inefficient handovers are very costly)

The way to achieve the above is with implementing lean six sigma methodology within the company.

Quite often lawyers perceive their work as exceptional, but they need to understand that a legal process is a series of interlinked tasks to deliver a piece of legal work to the client. 

In my opinion, the partners in a law company acknowledge the following message very well:

Using a process you can reduce the:

• time spent (looking for template documents, finding information specific to the client work type etc.)
• risks of mistakes (key steps are documented, checklists, guidance and supervisory points, up to date templates are provided at the point needed)

Using a process you can improve the following:

• meet client expectations (client specific requirements documented and available to the team, SLAs are documented, Client-side changes and knowledge about the client captured and shared)
• promote team working and consistency (the team uses the process to agree and document who is responsible for doing a task -what, when and how, one source of the truth available for all involved in a process)

My comments on what you have prepared are :

-> origins of lean & six sigma

I think it is better to include what the other companies are who implemented Lean/ Process Improvement (e.g. Clifford Chance, Addleshaw Goddard, Freshfields, Allen & Overy, Osborne Clarke etc.). The reason being is quite often lawyers say that their work cannot be compared with other industries and what they do cannot be streamlined/ replicated.

Lawyers do not like numbers and percentages and if you show them the six sigma examples from Toyota, they will not understand the message and insist that they provide highly-experienced advice backed up with a lot of legislative reading, compared to any product industry or even a financial industry service.

-> DMAIC framework 

Yes, that is perceived very well in the legal industry.

-> use of data

Yes, because you can raise a message that there is work being delivered inefficiently at a high cost. Using data you will be able to calculate the real cost of providing legal service and indicate the write-offs. Definitely you should be careful and check is the task codes and the work descriptions.

-> VOC

Some of the questions you can ask are: How can the law company demonstrate the robustness of the work practices when there are so many legal service providers? How can the law company demonstrate it can deliver high-quality legal service at a price accepted by the clients? How can the law company tailor its services to meet any client-specific requirements?

-> basic problem-solving techniques

Lean problem solving (the fishbone diagram and A3) is a great workshop for a legal team. It is useful for any legal team, who:

     - want a clear, tested approach to effectively solve problems;

     - can identify a problem that doesn't have a clear solution;

     - can identify a persistent problem, which hasn't been solved by previous attempts;

     - can identify a problem where a number of stakeholders are conflicted 

     - have experienced a project which has jumped straight to the solutions and they didn't stick in the law company for long.

-> the role of the sponsor

It is a very crucial message because quite often this will be a fee-earner and they are quite resistant to be involved in any work that is not billable hours.

-> LSS application to a law firm

As I stated in the beginning, examples from other Law companies who implemented Lean practices will be really powerful.

-> CI strategy 

It is really important for the phase of Improving and regular checks on the improved process.

-> leadership behaviours

As I have stated above, law companies do not reward lawyers for efficiencies, but for billable hours. This basically means- they need to work slower and bill more. That message and culture should change.

 

In my opinion, you need to add something around the Digital Transformation in a Legal company:

• Mobile/Virtual workplace
• Automation
• Online presence 
• Data-driven decision making
• Cyber security

Using Artificial Intelligence, Document automation, analytics and well-organised products will result in meeting client expectations and price changes.

 

 

Hope my opinion helps. 

Marieta