SOPs are detailed, step-by-step instructions for completing tasks that occur regularly in your practice. Creating law firm SOPs might seem daunting at first, but it’s a straightforward process that pays off significantly in the long run.
Table of contents
We often say if you don’t have a process for anything you do more than once in your practice, you’re wasting time and leaving money on the table.
Without written processes, even a routine task can take longer than it should, especially if it’s something you don’t do often. You’ll waste time trying to remember what you did, and you risk making mistakes and missing steps. But the biggest downside? You won’t be able to delegate the work quickly and effectively.
Efficiency and consistency are critical if you want to deliver high-quality legal services, provide an excellent client experience, and maintain your productivity. Having a comprehensive library of standard operating procedures (SOPs) will ensure everyone on your team knows exactly how to perform these tasks correctly and efficiently.
How to Create an SOP in Five Steps
Begin by selecting a task that you or your team do frequently. This could be anything from client intake to document drafting to billing procedures. We recommend starting with a business or administrative process that lies in the bookends of your practice — that is, a process that takes place before the legal work begins (like intake) or that happens once the legal work is over (like invoicing).
Once you’ve picked the process or task, here’s the process we recommend for creating your SOPs:
1. Track what you actually do.
The next time you complete the task, write down each step you do as you go along. Consider the different scenarios that might arise and how you normally handle them. The idea is to capture what you actually do, as you do it.
2. Document the resources you use.
Include the specific tools, resources or templates you use at each step. Provide any relevant links, names and contact numbers — or any other resources that can help.
3. Test the SOP
Once you have your draft, test it out. The next time you do the work, follow your draft SOP yourself. If you can follow it to the letter and get the right result, great. If not, amend it. Then, have someone unfamiliar with the task follow your draft SOP to see if they can complete it without needing additional instructions. This testing step is crucial for identifying gaps or unclear instructions.
4. Tweak your SOP
Based on the feedback, refine your SOP. You want to make sure it’s clear and complete so that whoever follows it can achieve the right result without coming back to you with questions. Make any necessary adjustments before you move on to the next step.
5. Teach your delegatees.
If the work is going to be delegated to others, the next step is to teach the process to whoever is going to do the work in your stead. Your SOP should be pretty self-explanatory, but it’s worth investing a few more minutes to ensure that what seems clear and obvious to you is clear and obvious to the people who are using it. Not only do you want them to be able to achieve the right result, but you also want them to understand the importance of following the SOP to maintain consistency and quality in their work. (Read “Mastering Delegation in Legal Work.”)
Law Firm SOPs Infographic
Review and Update Regularly
SOPs are not static documents. As your practice evolves, so will the procedures. Regularly review and update your SOPs to reflect any changes in processes, technology or regulations.
Why SOPs Matter
Having a well-maintained library of SOPs is more than just a nice-to-have. It’s essential for the success and growth of your law firm. Here’s why:
- Consistency and quality. SOPs ensure that tasks are performed consistently across your firm, reducing the risk of errors and maintaining your high standards of quality.
- Efficiency. Clear, well-documented procedures save time by eliminating the guesswork. Your team can complete tasks faster and with greater confidence, freeing up time for more complex, high-value work.
- Training and onboarding. SOPs are invaluable for training new team members. They provide a clear roadmap for how things must be done, reducing the learning curve and helping new hires become productive more quickly.
- Scalability. As your firm grows, having standardized procedures in place makes it easier to scale operations. You can delegate tasks more effectively and ensure that even as your team expands, the quality of your services remains consistent.
- Risk management. Well-documented SOPs help mitigate risk by ensuring that everyone follows the correct procedures, especially in high-stakes or legally sensitive areas of your practice.
Be Sure to Involve the Whole Team
By creating a library of well-documented procedures, you’ll set yourself and your practice up for long-term success. But you don’t have to create them all yourself! Building and maintaining your SOPs will definitely require an upfront investment of time and effort, but it can be shared. Encourage your team to follow this same process to create SOPs for their own tasks and make maintaining them everyone’s responsibility.
Remember, if your “process” is just in your head — or the head of another person who works for you — you don’t have a process. You can’t cover when people are away or when they leave. You can’t delegate to more cost-effective resources. And you can’t easily expand your team.
Ready to Learn More About SOPs?
Join us on September 18 for a deep dive into the art of SOP creation. We’ll walk you through our framework, provide our top tips for making SOPs even more useful, and discover how AI can speed up the writing process.
Presented by Gimbal.
More Process Improvement Tips:
- 5 Tips to Make Time Entry Less Painful for Lawyers
- Law Firm Intake: 3 Tips to Save Time and Convert More Clients
- New Client Onboarding: 5 Tips to Win Over New Clients
- Time to Build Your Team: 5 Steps to Improve Your Hiring Process
- From Hire to Higher: 6 Ways to Improve Employee Onboarding
Karen Dunn Skinner and David Skinner help lawyers and legal professionals build more efficient, productive and profitable practices. They’re the co-founders of Gimbal Lean Practice Management Advisors and lawyers with over 20 years of experience each in Canada and Europe. Together, they’re the exclusive Global Advisors on Legal Process Improvement to the International Institute of Legal Project Management. They write and speak regularly, facilitate legal process improvement projects across North America, and have taught Gimbal’s LeanLegal® approach to thousands of legal professionals.
Image © iStockPhoto.com.
Don’t miss out on our daily practice management tips. Subscribe to Attorney at Work’s free newsletter here >
