… improve your processes

Process management is a key part of KM in law firms.  But unsure where to start? Don’t know your LPM from your TQM?

Here’s a bite-sized beginner’s guide to 5 approaches to check out further:

1. Kaizen – improve processes through “little and often” changes
2. Lean – hunt out & eliminate your 7 “wastes”, concentrate on throughput
3. Six sigma – compare your outputs against your customer requirements, train your staff in  process improvement, base decisions on evidence and eliminate all defects
4. Total Quality Management (TQM) – get things right first time and put quality (consistent performance to customer’s expectations) at the heart of everything
5. Ways to analyse problems in your processes: root cause analysis, why-why, scatter diagrams, flow charts, cause-effect diagrams, Pareto diagrams

Read more

• “Operations Management” Slack, Chambers & Johnson
• “Legal Project Management” Levy
• “End of Lawyers?” Susskind

Anyone got any great examples of using any of these approaches?  or any more recommendations for books?

For personal advice and help, visit TheKnowledgeBusiness, or if you prefer to DIY, get your own copy of “Knowledge Management Handbook” from Law Society Publishing here.