Why do we need procedures and instructions? 

Why procedures matter 

I remember my first experiences in law firms, when my head was packed with legal provisions, yet being asked to draft a simple letter of demand suddenly felt like a real challenge. Back then, help came from people at work who had already faced such challenges and were willing to share their experience. But first, you had to ask them – and, in doing so, admit that you did not know how to do something, which, unfortunately, becomes much easier only with age. 

Learning how a law firm operates – answering the phone, transferring calls, recording working time, scanning documents, filing a statement of claim, compiling attachments, and so on – happened along the way. Quite often, this led to misunderstandings and unnecessary mistakes caused by a lack of knowledge or by having to spend valuable time explaining to a new person what to do and how to do it. 

More than 15 years of running our practice have also given us the opportunity to observe and experience just how many things are repetitive, and how easily they can be accelerated and simplified – even by writing them down in one or several documents. And although there is still a great deal ahead of us to do and improve, this approach has proved its worth to us many times over. 

Procedure = independence, not a corporate KPI

Our aim is for everyone to be able to work independently. This means, first, without unnecessarily involving others who have their own work to do and, second, when those others are simply not there or are unavailable. 

So we try to avoid the typical “searching for files scenario”: 

scene 1: I run to the secretary and realise she is not in today.

scene 2: I run from room to room asking everyone one by one. Most people shrug, but one person – let’s say Adam – takes pity on me, interrupts his own work and starts looking with me. 

scene 3: We search together, find the files after 15 minutes, and return to our own tasks.

scene 4: Adam decides that before going back to his computer, he might as well make himself a coffee. 

scene 5: While Adam is making coffee, Chris comes over and they start talking about problems at home. 

scene 6: Adam gets back to work after 40 minutes, but Chris’s problems are still on his mind. In the end, another five minutes pass before he can focus again. 

We all know how this goes. 

That is why, in this particular case, we label the places where we keep files in the agreed way and enter that label into the system to which everyone has access. And of course – since we do not live in a perfect world – every now and then we remind ourselves and others to put the files back where they belong. 

Security is one of our values 

Coming to work knowing where to find things, where to get information, how to do something, or how to look for a solution when you need one, is a great comfort. That is why procedures and instructions give us a sense of security. 

In the file-searching scenario, the secretary being absent is the first small moment of stress. Then come the answers from colleagues: “I don’t know”, “I’m not from here” – and the stress grows. 

And what if no one took pity on us, while the client was waiting for an answer? What about their sense of security?