Are You Ready to Win the Lottery?
Many of us have fantasized about winning the lottery and never having to work again. Even those of us who really enjoy our work (and working) have to admit sometimes there are parts of the job that leave much to be desired (e.g., commuting, attending meetings that could’ve been an email, dealing with workplace conflict, waking up early or working late and on weekends and holidays, or anything else considered time-wasting, stress-inducing, or energy-draining). Having financial freedom can let us choose whether and/or how to work, but winning the lottery, and hitting it big enough to guarantee long-term financial security, is an unlikely outcome. Yet, its premise served as the basis for one of the best pieces of advice I received early in my legal career:
Aim to leave your work/projects/cases/matters in a state that anyone can pick up from where you left off in case you win the lottery and never look back.
Winning the lottery is not impossible, but there are more likely scenarios that can cause someone to suddenly leave their current role temporarily or permanently, such as unexpected illness or other unplanned or inexact leave or departure/separation. For example, someone expecting a baby may have a general idea of the start, end, and length of time of their leave as opposed to someone experiencing a sudden medical issue or someone—who wasn’t necessarily looking for a new job—unexpectedly giving notice to pursue another opportunity. Of course, it is not always possible to wrap up your work with a neat little bow due to its ongoing nature, volume, and complexity. However, incorporating the below organizational tips to your routine will not only help with any transitions for planned or unplanned leave and departures, but also provide you with a foundation to better advocate for yourself in the workplace, and generally reduce preventable work-related stress.
Create and Consistently Maintain a Spreadsheet
Creating a spreadsheet containing significant information about your work will help you organize your individual assignments/projects and easily access your progress. In my early years as a litigator, I created a spreadsheet that included information such as the case name, index number, party names and respective counsels' names and contact information, client names, brief facts to identify the nature of the case (e.g., trip and fall on sidewalk or motor vehicle accident), location of accident/incident, date of accident/incident, summaries of most recent court orders and deadlines (e.g., discovery deadlines, motion deadlines), upcoming events (e.g., depositions, court appearances), and any other significant information (e.g., date and amount of any settlement discussions). I also numbered my cases so I could easily quantify my workload at any given moment. Eventually, managing such a robust spreadsheet, especially as my workload increased in volume and complexity, became time-consuming and ineffective. Plus, with the prevalence of electronic filing in my jurisdiction and practice area for my newer cases, certain information became more readily accessible and even automated once I was listed as the attorney of record. As such, I trimmed my spreadsheet to make it work best for me and my specific needs based on the resources and tools available to me at the time.
Like with billing, the recommendation is to contemporaneously update your spreadsheet because the information is most fresh in your mind at that time, so it will be more accurate and efficient to do at the time of the activity/task. For example, if the court issued a new discovery schedule, get into the habit after reviewing the order to update your spreadsheet with the new deadline and whatever else you may use to stay organized (e.g., Outlook calendar, etc.). Unlike billing, which is mandatory, a spreadsheet used for internal purposes is easy to skip when triaging urgent tasks. Although updating your spreadsheet contemporaneously is best practice, at least aim to do so on a weekly or (at most) monthly basis. The most optimal frequency for you will depend on nature, pace, volume, and complexity of your matters and other tools that you use for your self-organization and communication with your team about significant updates. For example, if you work with a legal assistant or paralegal who is updating your conference and deposition dates to your personal work calendar and a team shared calendar, then there may be less urgency to update your spreadsheet. The key takeaway is to create and maintain a current, accurate, and concise document that can provide valuable information to you and your team about your work.
In the event of a leave of absence or departure, handing a current, accurate, and complete spreadsheet to your coworkers or supervisors most benefits them. Let’s be real: that may not be a concern for you depending on the nature of the leave or separation from your employer. However, using a spreadsheet as an organizational tool can also benefit you when advocating for yourself. For example, I recall once requesting a meeting with my supervisor, at the time, to discuss my overwhelming workload, especially in contrast to what appeared to be a more balanced workload among my colleagues in my class year. Although that supervisor started the meeting being dismissive of my perspective, once I provided specific numbers about my caseload and active motion practice, the tone of the meeting shifted and resulted in a more manageable workload for me going forward. By referring to my spreadsheet and other organizational tools shared by my office, I used metrics to advocate for my needs while continuing to communicate my desire to work hard and not shy away from challenges and growth. Our earlier blog post: Learning to Advocate for Yourself in the Workplace offers additional insight into speaking up for yourself.
Further, a well-managed spreadsheet can serve as a starting point for updating your resume and cover letter or otherwise help you prepare for an interview by translating the metrics and data about your work to bullet points for a resume or talking points during an interview.
Use Your Office Technology and Systems
Legal employers use different tools and resources to organize their work, including physical files, electronic filing like a shared drive, or other electronic databases. Lawyers and other legal staff are expected to save or otherwise note important information, documents, communications, etc. on these technologies and systems so team members (e.g., partners, associates, paralegals, legal assistants, etc.) can access current, accurate, and complete information pertaining to a matter. However, those procedures often fail or work less effectively when there is a lack of consistent instruction or use. Legal employers should provide training and instruction to their employees on when and how to save certain materials or information, and employees should follow those guidelines. For example, a law firm that has a shared drive or database set up for a particular team or practice group should also have a consistent naming or filing pattern for the documents and information to be saved, and legal professionals should follow those guidelines to ensure all team members can easily find important documents and information.
After working in different roles for different types of legal employers (e.g., not-for-profit, in-house, government, private practice), I know quality and diversity of technologies vary among employers, and training and supervision of organizational tools and practices also vary by employer and teams. The goal is for employers and professionals to do their best to work together to use consistent and cohesive office- or team-wide methods of organization to not only prepare for smooth transitions during planned or unplanned leave and departures but also help boost day-to-day productivity and timeliness of deadlines. Other benefits include eliminating (or minimizing) inefficiencies often spent on searching for materials and information that could otherwise be more readily accessible, avoiding duplicating efforts, and overall reduction of stress related to preventable workflow interruptions due to ineffective or inconsistent filing or storing methods and practices.
Communication
Spreadsheets and other technologies and systems are useful tools when used effectively, but time-sensitive or other significant information can get lost especially with a high-volume practice or workload. In-person communication followed by an email memorializing the conversation (when necessary) is a reliable way to pass on important or urgent information to your team. By incorporating weekly or monthly team/practice group meetings (or whatever frequency best suits the pacing and volume of your team/practice group), employers can strengthen team organization for day-to-day workflow and preparation for (planned or unplanned) long-term absences and departures. Similarly, ahead of a planned leave of absence or departure, team leaders and the person leaving should work together to discuss and/or highlight any significant information that could potentially get lost or not seen immediately if only relying on written communication or electronic organization systems (e.g., individual spreadsheet or database). For example, ahead of a leave of absence, someone may mention the names of matters coming up for court conference, but, if time permits, the person leaving may also send that information by email, so it is easily accessible to their team leader/supervisor/partner.
In an ideal world, someone leaving a job would give more than two-weeks’ notice to close out their work as best as possible, employers would have the best technology available to their workers to enhance organization and workflow, and everyone would use their respective organization tools and systems perfectly, but that’s simply not the reality. Having multiple methods in place (e.g., personal spreadsheets, office- or team-wide systems and practices, and open verbal and written communication among teams) should offset the imperfections of the working world. When individuals and teams work cohesively and consistently to improve organization methods, everybody wins by having smoother workdays and enabling smooth transitions when someone ends up “winning the lottery” and never coming back.
We hope this article offers some helpful insights into tools and practices you can use to improve organization for yourself and your team(s). For anyone who saw the title and was expecting tips on how to win the lottery, we don’t have much to offer on that topic. However, check out some of our other complimentary resources covering topics relating to financial stability and security.
Whether you are a legal professional open to exploring opportunities that will help you plan for your future or are a hiring manager or employer looking to expand and enhance your team(s), our legal recruiters are available to help you achieve your goals.
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