While the Above the Law Non-Event for Tech-Perplexed Lawyers is an ever-expanding virtual conference, one might ask: How can it be a real conference if there’s no keynote panel in Grand Ballroom A?
Enter the Non-Eventcast, where renowned legal tech aficionado Jared Correia interviews different experts each episode — providing plain-English guidance for those of us who still have only the vaguest understanding of what Bluetooth really is.
[Visit the Non-Event’s Practice Management room]
Non-Eventcast panelists recently offered guidance on getting the biggest productivity boost from your practice management software. Click here and scroll to hear the full podcast.
Here are some of their tips, lightly edited for length and clarity:
Jared: In 30 seconds or less, what are your best productivity hacks for using case management software?
Rohit Parekh, Vice President of Customer Success, Matter365: I think the best productivity hack is whatever case management system you’re using or whatever integrations you want to use — whatever apps, even if there are multiple apps that you’re using — make sure they communicate properly, and in a way that it’s a two-way synchronization.
There are a lot of different systems out there, and as people do their research, you’ll find we could push this data from one system to another, but if it’s not pulling any changes, that means you have to make changes in two places. Or if you make a change of one, it’s not necessarily going to reflect in the other.
And the second thing, which has nothing to do with technology and is the biggest productivity hack, is training and adoption. Because, the best practice management system in the world is not going to accomplish anything if nobody uses it.
Cain Elliott, VP of Market Expansion, Filevine: Mine is old fashioned, but it works for me every time: I ask my colleagues how they’re using the tool, and find out new ways to use it that I wasn’t expecting or anticipating based on what’s locked in my own head about the best way to do it.
And then experiment with that process. Try to adapt to see if it’s working better. Continue to learn from colleagues who are using the same tools.
Joshua Lenon, Lawyer in Residence, Clio: Just like the best camera is your phone, because you always have it with you, the best practice management software is the one that you always have with you.
So make sure it has a mobile app that works in your device. Make sure it has plug-ins for the other software that you use, so that even if you’re not in your practice management software, you’re taking that data and the work product that you’re generating and making sure that it syncs into your practice management.
Time yourself in Outlook or Gmail using plug-ins. Work on your mobile device when you’re out of the office or working from home.
I actually track my time using the mobile timer because it’s just easier for me to switch to that screen rather than leave the Word document that I’m working on. And that makes me more consistent.
Make it ubiquitous, and you’ll get a lot more benefit out of it.
Click here to hear the full podcast and learn more about practice management tech.
