Working from home has become the new normal, and it will probably be here to stay. Even when it is safe to be together in the office again, our way of working will change forever. Working from home comes with a different set of rules and (personal) obligations. It requires a different approach when it comes to managing legal information and staying in control. Having a system in place to act as a single source of truth when it comes to legal information is a great first step. And if you have nothing in place now is a great time to start in order to work efficiently and productively from home. The tips in this article will help you stay in control of your legal information, even from your kitchen table.
Be flexible. As the current situation evolves, yesterday’s truth may not be the same as today’s. Where usually a strict hold on processes and procedures can be beneficial for minimising legal risk within an organisation, it can now be a barrier to necessary change. However, it can still be good to set boundaries in order to ensure the continuity of your organisation beyond the upcoming months.
Be clear. You and your colleagues are most likely using several new tools already, including software to facilitate communication such as Microsoft Teams, GotoMeeting, or Zoom. These tools can help close the gap, especially if you turn you camera on, but always be sure to follow-up any relevant conversation with a written confirmation of what was decided. This way you can avoid miscommunication due to a bad connection or other distractions, and all the trouble that can cause.
Be safe. Even though we are making sure we face this crisis by staying home as much as possible, we may be more vulnerable than ever from a cyber security perspective. One of the options to reduce this risk is multi-factor authentication or 2FA, which will require you to enter a special code in addition to your username and password, proving it is really you behind your home device.
If you’re already using a centralised database like Legisway Essentials, the following tips help you stay in control of your legal information:
Assign and manage tasks
Use the ability to add tasks like provide approval or upload documents to any dossier to involve colleagues where needed, even if they only have rights to view a dossier. You can centrally manage the progress from the task management dashboard.
Centralise intake
Use the Document Booker in Legisway Essentials to centralise intake and reduce the time spent working from your inbox. Once received in the Document Booker you or one of your legal colleagues can ‘book’ the email and related documents directly to a new or existing dossier, after which it is removed from the ‘to do’ list.
Control data entry & quality
Now that you have enabled your team to self-serve, use the reports already in place in your system to check what information has recently been entered.
Sign digitally
If you have a subscription to one of the e-signature providers Legisway Essentials is integrated with, click ‘Request Signature’ on any dossier, select which document you want to have signed, and complete the steps on the e-signature platform. Once signed, your document will automatically return to Legisway Essentials.
Want to see these tips in practice? Check out our webinar recording and learn how Legisway Essentials can help you work from home efficiently with easy-to-use tools and boost collaboration.