Law firms are looking for ways to improve profitability, especially during tough times. One sure way to improve profitability is to lower costs by improving productivity. See my previous post on low cost provider.
A key element of both efficiency and productivity is the ability to “do it right the first time” (DIRFT), a statement of quality. This philosophy is best understood through the work being done by Philip Crosby Associates. Crosby’s initial book (no longer in print) “Quality is Free” kicked off his process in 1970 during a time when US industry was trying to understand the management styles in Japan. People such as Edward Deming were explaining the differences in Japanese cultures and how they related to industry. The Crosby quality process fits service organizations like law firms as much as it does a manufacturer. Let’s take a quick look at his concepts.
According to Crosby here are the Four Absolutes of Quality Management:
- Quality is defined as conformance to requirements, not as ‘goodness’ or ‘elegance’.
- The system for causing quality is prevention, not appraisal.
- The performance standard must be Zero Defects, not “that’s close enough”.
- The measurement of quality is the Price of Nonconformance, not indices.
In general, quality is the starting point based on specific requirements. Once the service is delivered it is too late to add quality. The standard is Zero Defects; the thought of AQL (acceptable quality levels) is completely unacceptable. A law firm that delivered documents on time, 95% of the time has failed, attorneys that come close to hitting their requirements have failed.
So, what’s the benefit of adopting the Crosby quality program, quite simply, it is cost savings, client satisfaction and employee empowerment. If you don’t believe in the program you can take a quick self-test and try to measure the real price of non-conformance (PONC) within any business. The potential price of not “do it right the first time”.
For example:
- Resending and reprocessing
- Expediting, overnight shipments, overtime hours
- Disruption to other schedules, rescheduling
- Client complaints
- Non-billable services
- Missed filings, filing for extensions
- A lost client
- A claim of misconduct, added insurance costs
Law firms can reduce their costs and improve profitability and client satisfaction all at the same time by “do it right the first time”. I can assure you that if you don’t do it right the first time, you do it right after the second, third, forth ….. time.
Disclaimer: RainMaker was formerly trained in the Crosby process back in the early 90’s and we still conduct QIM (Quality Improvement Meetings) monthly along with other Crosby quality initiatives.
