Tips For Creating a System for Designating Tasks and Responsibility

This week we are going to continue to talk about "getting the work done." You will remember the first thing that makes up every business is "clients or customers," the second thing is "administration," and the third thing is "getting the work done." We have already discussed everything in the first and the second area. In coming weeks, we will finish up this topic and then go on to "billing," and "collecting."

This week's tip is to utilize a system when giving tasks to other people in your firm that are helping you get the legal work done. You can even use this system for yourself in order to determine what the tasks are, who is supposed to do them, what is the priority and what is the date that the task is to be completed.

You will remember I had a things to do list in the trial outline that I talked about extensively in the area of "administration. This same form I used for the trial outline can be utilized on a daily, weekly and monthly basis, even if you have not actually gone about setting up a formal trial outline on a particular matter.

You will also remember that you normally do not set up an actual trial outline until you have need of condensing the information that you have in your file into some more readily usable form such as getting ready for arguments at motions, preparing and taking depositions or actually getting the case ready for trial. Nonetheless, certain parts of the trial outline can be utilized at an earlier stage to try to keep track of what you need to do, how important it is that the particular task get done, who is going to do it and when it is due.

Let me set out for you what the form looks like. Of course, if you have been utilizing this form, when you get ready to put it into the trial outline all you have to do is punch three holes in it and put it in place. Because it is the very same form that is used in the trial outline that we call Form 3 - Things to Do, the form is shown to the right.

As you can see, the form lends itself to a litigation matter or a non-litigation matter. Fill in the appropriate blanks or put not applicable in the appropriate place, and you now can use the form for either litigation or non-litigation matters.

Every time that you think of a task, you make a note of it so that it can be put on this "things to do" list for this particular case or client and this particular matter. Obviously, you can keep this form electronically, and every time you want to add something to it, simply open it up and type in the task.

Additionally, this form can be used in "things to do" and "caselist" meetings while working with other people in your firm.

After you put down the task that is to be done, it is important that you determine the priority for that particular task. I have previously discussed a system I use that gives direction to the person who has been charged with accomplishing the task an idea of exactly what is a priority in relationship to other items that they have been assigned. Anything that is an absolute first priority would have a "1-1" designation. Obviously you can go through a one - one through ten scale in order to prioritize number one tasks. Additionally, those tasks that can be done at a later date can be given a "2-1" or "2-2" or two through ten designation. Those tasks that are much more long range can be given a "3-1" or a "3-2" or two through ten designation. I believe it is obvious that everything that is a one gets done before everything that is a two, and everything that is a two gets done before everything that is a three. When doing all the number one tasks, you do all the "1-1's" before all the "1-2's" and all the "1-2's" before you do all the "1-3's."

As soon as you have designated something as a particular priority number, things will change so the numbers will change, but that is no problem, that is why we have backspace buttons and delete buttons on all of our computers and personal organization devices.

The next item is the responsible person. If you are a solo practitioner, obviously you can just put your initials there. If you have other people in your office to help you get this work done, you can utilize their initials, and again, it gives them a clear idea what task it is that they are supposed to complete in relationship to other tasks that other people are supposed to complete.

The last thing to do is to assign a due date. The most important thing about the due date is to be sure that it is a realistic date. The date needs to give the person enough time to accomplish the task but not so much time as to fall into the trap of "the job will expand to the time allotted to complete it."

One of the nice things about this particular system is that when any matter comes up that needs to be done, you simply put it down and number it. You do not have to constantly be going in and changing the number order so that the number one task is always in the first category. All you have to do is to simply go in and change the priority numbers and that will immediately create a new ordering system without having to actually reorder the tasks themselves. It is very simple to cross something out and change some numbers whether it is done manually or electronically.

When ever you are having a thing to do meeting on a particular matter it is always helpful to always have such a form as I have described above available for you to brainstorm about what needs to be done in order to move a case forward. Having a piece of paper where you can conveniently jot things down as they come to you is incredibly helpful. Even if the paper is not right at you fingertips, making a note of it in your calender in your palm pilot or on your computer so that at a later date you can transfer it into a things to do list is very helpful.

Again, I hope you see the "method in my madness." If for some reason you do not happen to be immediately available, anyone should be able to pick up this "things to do" list and see what the next thing is that needs to be done on a particular client's matter. I must admit that I always like to have more tasks assigned to people than they would ever have a time to complete because in the hustle and bustle of every day law practice, you are simply not available to constantly be monitoring in minute detail everything that everyone is doing and to constantly be sure that they have enough tasks to keep themselves busy. It always amazed me how I often feel like I am running around like a chicken with my head cut off and then somebody tells me that last Tuesday they did not have enough to do. I feel like screaming "how can that be, we are buried!" I find that if I have these "things to do" lists and I timely meet with my staff with regard to being sure that we are constantly monitoring the progress of each case in our office, there will be way more tasks to do than the time that is available to complete the task, and so there should never be a set of circumstances where somebody ever makes the statement, "I don't have anything to do."

These "things to do" lists contain the task assignment, priority assignment, due date assignment and a realistic time deadline, are all part of a system of a caselist that has in it the specifics with regard to what needs to be done on particular matters. Obviously, if a particular matter has multiple tasks to be accomplished in it, it is much easier to have a separate "things to do" list done on a form such as Form 3 than it would be to have a caselist that turns out to be ten pages long. I have always suggested that people's caselist be no more than one page long and that if there are so many tasks that need to be done on a particular matter that it is going to make your caselist grow to more than one page, then you need to do a case or matter specific "things to do" list in addition to what you may be putting on your caselist.

Those of you who like to read may remember a book of some years ago about America. The name of the book was A Nation of List Makers. I must admit, I do not remember the exact information contained in the book other than I believe that it was somewhat derogatory and suggested that we may be lacking in creativity. Maybe that is why when I stumbled on my favorite James Michener quote from his book Space, I was not overly heartened by the information conveyed by this quote but was down right jubilant! I have told you this quote many times before, but again, I believe here it bears repeating, the quote is "when the space is ordered, you are free to live creatively!"

Yes, I am a list maker! I am proud to be a list maker! I try to make everyone I work with become a list maker! But, for those who know me, I believe they will tell you I am one of the most creative people they know and am constantly thinking outside the box. The reason I can do this, is I am constantly identifying what the box is and what the dots are. How can you think outside a box if you do not even know there is a box there? How can you think outside the dots if you cannot see the dots, you have never taken the time to write the dots down, and you have certainly never reviewed and updated the dots? The bottom line is, if you want to be more creative, become more organized. If you want to have more peace of mind, become more organized. If you want to have more fun in your practice, become more organized. Whew! I guess I said enough about that subject enough to last us for awhile!

Next week we are going to talk about the various resources you need in your office at a bare minimum if you are going to be efficiently practicing on a day-to-day basis. We will discuss sources for such forms and form books. we are going to talk about various practice series and various how to do it books published by various entities as well as sources from national book companies that you can have at your fingertips on a day-to-day basis to keep your client matters moving without the necessity of spending too much time on the internet, too much time waiting for something to be found or be sent to you, or too much time in. I think you will find my comments in this area very interesting. I have a certain amount of materials in my office that I simply could not imagine practicing without, but on the other hand, I have tried to limit the amount of such resource from both a cost and waste basis.

Talk to you next week!

Name of Case:
Client:
Matter:
Case Number:
Prepared By:
TASK PRIORITY RESPONSIBLE PERSON DUE
1.
2.
3.

Jim Wirken is a civil trial attorney and the Chairman of the Board of The Wirken Law Group in Kansas City.