We all know technology is radically changing and disrupting everything in society, even the legal profession.
The Good News
Technology has the power to significantly boost our efficiency, especially through automation. And while improving efficiency is generally a good thing…
As the famous business consultant Peter Drucker often observed:
“There’s nothing so useless as doing efficiently that which should not be done at all.”
So while being efficient is good, learning to become effective is more important. And that’s especially true when it comes to leveraging technology.
The Bad News
Unfortunately, technology’s ability to enhance effectiveness is less direct than its influence on efficiency. Yet, we need to find ways to be both effective and efficient.
Selecting the right tech tools is about being effective. And once we start leveraging the right tools we will see exponential increases in efficiency and overall satisfaction with our work.
The Key Tech Tools
This guide aims to spotlight some tech tools you might not know about but are really powerful.
High-Impact, Low-Adoption
Unfortunately, the game-changing tools we’ll recommend are often overlooked, misunderstood, or just not used enough to get the important benefits.
This might be because people don’t know about them, are scared to try new things, or think they’re too complicated. This leaves a gap–a place where we could be working smarter and faster but are not —just because we don’t use these tools daily.
The main types of tools
- Automation Tools:
- Scheduling automation tools – for instance, Calendly, which simplifies the task of organizing meetings.
- Text automation software – such as TextExpander, an application that saves you time by avoiding repeated typing of common text passages.
- Workflow automation tools – like Zapier, which allows for automated integration and task execution across various applications.
- Communication Tools:
- Video and voice messaging tools – like Loom, a tool that facilitates clear instruction delivery or the sharing of complex ideas via visuals. Additionally, Voxer is a great asynchronous voice messaging tool, perfect for when live communication isn’t an option.
- Email efficiency tools – like Sanebox, a tool that automates email filtering, helping to manage your inbox effectively.
- Collaboration tools – such as Slack or Teams, platforms for team communication and collaboration, offering features like chat rooms, direct messaging, and file sharing.
- Cybersecurity Tools:
- Password Managers – for example, 1Password, a tool that securely manages all your passwords.
- Two-Factor Authentication – providing an extra layer of security by requiring two forms of identification to access your accounts.
- Encryption Tools – these include hard drive encryption, which protects data stored on your computer, and VPNs, which create a secure connection to the internet.
- Note-Taking/Transcription Tools:
- Conversation/Interview tools – such as Otter.ai, a tool that not only records but also transcribes and auto-summarizes your meetings or conversations.
- Zoom meeting tools – Fathom is a new option that is specifically designed for Zoom meetings, using GPT technology to auto-summarize meetings and interviews.
- Emerging tools – Fireflies.ai is a new tool in this field that’s heavily leveraging GPT and works with Zapier to enable robust system-wide automation.
- This area of technology is rapidly developing, and while it’s difficult to recommend a single tool at this point, exploring these options can significantly enhance your note-taking efficiency.
These are the kinds of tools that will make a huge improvement in your practice. But understanding why you should use them and how to best incorporate them takes patience and persistence.
First Steps to Transformation
Taking the first steps can feel awkward, but the payoff in terms of better efficiency, productivity, and quality of work is totally worth the investment of time you’ll be making.
Bottom Line
To effectively leverage the power of technology you must be highly selective.
If you want to work smarter (not harder) start learning about the amazing tools in this PDF guide.
P.S. If you're a practicing lawyer, check out this Law Practice Assessment . After answering a few questions, you'll get detailed recommendations for improving five key areas of your practice.
