Flexibility is the future

Could tech help SME law firms adapt their working models to demands of the future, including the four-day working week? Adam Bullion, general manager of marketing at PracticeEvolve, comments.

Just recently, the government applied new legislation giving workers the right to request flexible working arrangements. As the new laws came into force, 61 companies have been trialling a four-day week over the last six months. Of those companies, 56 have extended the scheme and 18 have now made it permanent. While some of us may listen to the rhetoric around reduced working hours being synonymous with a younger generation, I personally think that’s very disingenuous. The concept of a weekend – as we know it today – was only introduced as late as the 1930’s, and was embraced by employers who found that the full Saturday and Sunday break reduced absenteeism and improved efficiency.

As leaders of business, we must accept change is constant and over the coming years, we will continue to see fundamental changes to how we work, whether that’s the working week or where we work from. But what’s driving that change? A younger generation who are more actively mobile, and utilising technology to achieve a better work-life balance.

As businesses today are introducing policies that appeal to staff, or perks such as ’flexible working’ schemes, employees are seeing more freedom and flexibility in their approach to work. However, with all of this change, it is imperative that law firms are now set up with the right technology to encourage this. Ultimately, as staff demand better flexibility, it’s crucial they are able to access their work from wherever they are. While 67% of law firms are already on their journey to the cloud, more now need to embrace cloud technology to secure their future. Trepidation around cloud is reducing as the evolution of technology, as well as education around cloud offerings, is increased.

With cloud comes connected and integrated software – these integrations ensure important data can be passed through using APIs, minimising the need to duplicate data and thus reducing human error. Ultimately, a solid integration means users are far more productive and the firm achieves greater efficiencies by not having to spend time correcting potential errors.

Nowadays, we are all used to finding the information we need to help us perform a task – whether it’s to fix a leak at home or to educate ourselves with specific information, we’ll search for the answer, and potentially watch a video to show us how it’s done. It maximises time and means we don’t have to wait for a response, which is crucial within any business. This is exactly why PracticeEvolve has introduced EvolveCommunity, allowing users to discover the answers they are looking for, either through video-based learning, or forum knowledge bases.

While we may not all accept a four-day working week is the future, we must prepare to offer flexibility. To achieve this, firms need to look for providers who understand the modern world and apply a level of service that helps them prepare for the future.

If you are looking to get more from your software, talk to one of the team today and request a free demo.