Once a matter is over, it's tempting to move on quickly. But now is the time to capture learnings and best practices. As we noted in our last lesson, your clients participate daily in debriefs and post-mortems when it comes to company initiatives and products. Where is their law firm when it comes to these learning discussions about investments the company makes–legal engagements?

The Improvement Stage is about improving you. Welcome to the biggest room in the world, the room to improve.

We focus on improvement of the performance of stakeholders rather than the project. This is why the components of the Improvement Stage are reconciliation, listening and learning. If we can do those three things carefully, then the resulting improvement isn't confined to the project. It is deeper than that. If individual lawyers can capture learnings they can improve, and if a law firm can capture good processes as best practice, it can improve. Let's be clear, improvement of the whole enterprise is not a fringe benefit, it is the entire point.

To every extent possible, the improvement stage should include clients. They can improve their own internal processes. The entire issue of how GCs and their 'internal clients' work together is an under-considered topic. Then it goes further. Clients can improve and be better partners to their external law firms, and they can also highlight areas for external counsel to improve, and look for the commitment of law firms to do this. This is perfect example of what smart collaboration looks like to a client. Law firms which do promote and embrace improvement initiatives with clients lay foundations for the next project.

Does that mean if there's no chance of repeat business it's OK to skip the improvement stage? Suppose the legal project was a one-off. Maybe it was a project case where the regular law firm was conflicted and you signed a 'no poach' sheet with an introducer firm. None of these are valid reasons to skip the improvement phase. Most law firms aspire to be institutions of continuous learning. The improvement stage is an opportunity to fulfil that aspiration. So, even in that circumstance, do the improvement work anyway, and still try to get the client to contribute.

Let's start by framing this. It will be remembered from Strategic Management, or 'SM,' that the stages are Plan, Execute, Monitor and Improve. The ongoing business of evaluating data, monitoring progress against the plan and making corrections is just the application of Strategic Management to the project. SM should naturally yield ongoing, real time improvements. This is because what we are examining and fixing is the process, not just for this project, but for the future. This principle can apply to any legal project; plan the project, execute it vigilantly, monitor it precisely and improvement will result inherently. Below is an illustration of the improvement funnel, as all the components of Lean Law gravitate naturally toward improvement.

improvement plan

So let's imagine that the project is finally over and outcomes have been reached. The client may have moved on to other business and have no interest in retrospection, although such a client would be in the minority. The law firm might be tempted to bill the client, close the file and focus on the next project. To do so is to overlook the opportunity to improve.

That's fine but when do we do this and how do we find the time? Legal practice doesn't provide a natural interlude between projects for the improvement stage. On the contrary, it would be very rare for a lawyer to acquire and complete a project in isolation from others. As practicing lawyers, we all manage multiple projects at different stages. Some are big, others small. Some are semi-dormant, others hyper-active. This is inherent in the job.

Even so, time must be found shortly after closure for improvement. Somewhere in the window of six to 12 weeks after closure, make a diary entry and treat improvement as a real assignment with real tasks, and responsibilities.  Document and share this with the client. Take a look at the Performance Assessment Checklist here to get a roadmap for reconciliation and post-mortem reporting.

REVIEW RELATED TOOLS: