Eliminating waste: Using lean six sigma to improve business processes

 

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Key takeaway points:

1. Define value from the perspective of the client so that you can cost-effectively tailor your services to their specific needs

2. Remove waste and variations to save time and effort for both your firm and its clients

3. Get processes right and standardise them to improve efficiency from the outset

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Clients expect exceptional service from law firms, and their decision-making is often based on the value that will be provided. These days, 'value' goes way beyond just looking at costs.

As part of Weightmans' focus on adapting and developing our processes and systems to meet clients' needs, we have adopted lean six sigma (LSS) methodologies. LSS creates a common language and provides a structured approach to problem-solving projects
of any size.

LSS is about delivering exceptional client service, removing waste and concentrating on clients' demands and values. It is the essence of our vision to be truly authentic about putting clients first and has resulted in changes to our firm's culture, technologies and working practices. Our staff are trained to think
not just about doing their job well, but
how they can improve their work and
make process improvements.

LSS sits within our business transformation project, Springboard, which replaces our core IT systems with wholesale business process reengineering (BPR). The tools and techniques that we are using to deliver BPR have been instrumental in the creation of a new business line, Solving Disputes, which deals with fast-track personal injury
(PI) claims.

It has also had a huge impact on
our work, based on conversations with clients and client satisfaction surveys.
But, over and above that, LSS has
helped to create better job satisfaction by reducing waste and variations. This has helped our staff to cut out unnecessary administrative tasks, freeing up time for them to do the work that matters most.

LSS in practice

Failure to meet clients' expectations is not necessarily related to the service given, or to the fee earner who provides that service; it can be an effect of the processes and systems that have been used to deliver it.

Take file opening, for example. This is a necessity for any law firm, but it's a non-value-added activity from clients' point of view. It's not something that they specifically pay for, but it's a critical process that firms need to perfect in order to ensure it is done correctly and in line with regulations. Every file needs to pass through a checklist of things before it can be given to the case handler (such as regulatory checks and key information inputted into the system).

This vital process varies across the business, from team to team and throughout different offices. Introducing
a standard way of opening files across
the whole firm results in greater efficiency and means people can move around
teams more easily without having to learn different processes.

To put this into context, our previous file-opening process involved 15 to 20 steps. By taking a step back and defining what it was we were trying to achieve with the process and then challenging all aspects of what we did, why we did it and how we did it, we have reduced that process to just three steps.

This has enabled us to reduce the actual time spent working to set up a file and dramatically reduced the time it took to get a matter onto the desk of a case handler. The latter is perhaps the most important aspect, as any waiting time we introduce as part of our internal processes adds no value from the perspective of clients, who want us to conclude their matters as quickly and cost-effectively
as we can.

The real power for a business like ours is that we only need to make small incremental changes to create a large impact on the firm. We have around 800 case handlers, who collectively open 50,000 files, close 50,000 files and send out 90,000 bills a year. Small daily improvement on each file, on each bill and by each fee earner add up very quickly.

New business line

Last year, using LSS as a mechanism to apply rigor and consistency, we set up a new business line, Solving Disputes, to deal with fast-track PI claims. We used it as an opportunity for us to take a step back and challenge some of our preconceived assumptions about how we did this type of work and, more importantly, what clients valued most in claims of this nature.

We trained a multidisciplinary group of people, including partners and representatives from HR, IT and projects. They worked together to establish Solving Disputes and to use the lessons learned
as a foundation for rolling out LSS to the rest of the firm. The idea was that, if we can open a file effectively, quickly and accurately in a team that handles a high volume of matters, then the principles
will apply more easily in less volume-
heavy teams.

We currently have over 45 people of all levels, from partners to operations, being trained in LSS. One partner is working on a specific capacity management tool which will allow us to allocate our resources better to account for ebbs and flows in the variations of the work coming into the firm. Modelling our throughput and understanding more about the external market means we can properly manage capacity, rather than being reactive to it. Getting things right in the beginning saves time and money at the end.

The team members who are trained in LSS cover a variety of different concepts and work through a series of stages called 'belts' to become more accomplished. These belts progress from yellow to green to black and, finally, master black. We already have two certified black belts in the firm (myself included) and staff in various roles who are certified as green belts.

We have found belt training helps to improve the delivery of upcoming projects as we use more complex statistical analysis for problem solving. Our approach is cross-functional because, fundamentally, we don't have HR, IT or marketing issues - we have business issues and opportunities that require a multidisciplinary approach.

We currently have a range of major firmwide projects underway including, for example, our billing and credit management processes. If we can standardise the way that we bill and improve the quality of the output then, ultimately, we should have less requirement for credit control, as there will be fewer queries on our bills, for example. LSS helps us to focus on making sure we get things right the first time, rather than having to deal with issues later.

All of this business improvement activity will underpin the upcoming replacement of our practice, case and document management system. There
was really no point in doing the same things in a new system, as we would have spent a lot of money for little benefit.
So, in addition to setting up our new business line, Springboard has provided the perfect opportunity to introduce LSS into the business.

Challenges faced

One of the biggest challenges we have faced has been fee earners maintaining involvement in LSS projects. We initially thought people could work on these projects alongside their daily work,
but the reality is that 'business as usual'
takes precedence and, therefore,
business improvement projects take
longer than needed. In order to tackle
this, we have taken two partners and
a member of finance out of their existing roles to concentrate on delivering
business improvement projects.

Another big challenge has been data collection to support future project development. The majority of the benefits we achieve are reductions in processes and cycle times. But, in order to get data on our present position and data to confirm that our improvement ideas have in fact made things better, we generally have to collect data manually, which, in and of itself, can delay projects. Until we replace our current systems, we don't have an immediate solution to this.

Return on investment

The LSS methodology originally comes from the manufacturing sector and, among other things, aims to drive out waste and remove variations in processes. Whilst a number of the tools and techniques are specific to the manufacturing industry, they can also be applied to the service industry. We have put together a manual of the tools and techniques that we have found most useful and we continue to develop this as our experience grows.

We have found that, if we view a matter like a manufacturing production line (where things need to happen in a certain order), we can work out what needs to happen and who needs to be involved. LSS has helped us to create a standard operating procedure and to write down what, who and why we do things at different stages. Most importantly, it has helped us to identify the measures that need to be in place to ensure the project remains on track, along with the improvements that we need to make to ensure we continue to deliver value from
the perspective of clients.

Similarly, documenting what we do and why we do it has provided us with a reference manual for our processes and internal training. By having clearer and more standardised procedures, we have been able to remove unnecessary time-consuming activities and provide a framework to make sure we can refine and check we are delivering client services quickly, on time and with scrupulous care.

We are constantly looking to exceed client expectations and we feel LSS helps us to ensure we do everything in the most effective way possible. It helps us to translate clients' generic statements about things they value into specific, measurable deliverables. It helps us to react more swiftly to external market developments. In truth, a lot of this sort of thing we do anyway, but LSS gives us a robust structure to work to and a common language across the entire firm.

Stuart Whittle is IT and operations director at Weightmans (www.weightmans.com)