Intelligent Office: The best legal admin outsourcing options for law firms

As all businesses settle into the new normal of hybrid working, i.e. in offices, at home or remotely, the opportunity to embed the more agile working approach that was enforced for a time during full lockdown shouldn’t be missed. Resisting the temptation to revert to old ways of working will take determination but there is a real opportunity now, before the “too busy” refrains begin, and whilst there is recent experience that changes, once thought scary and unworkable, are quite the opposite.

There are lots of opportunities for management teams to exploit in the current market and we are already seeing increased consolidation in the SME and mid-market practices. Outsourcing secretarial and office administration functions helps management teams concentrate on growing the business faster. Not only does it offer the flexibility to more precisely deliver the support that’s actually needed – something that is valued more than ever after the events of 2020 – but it also delivers ongoing efficiency and a focus on higher quality service. Added to this, it offers significant training and development opportunities for all of the personnel that transfer.

RESPONDING TO CHANGING DEMAND

The decision to outsource is challenging for some, and for others, like John Banister, CEO of Wiggin, it, “falls into the no-brainer category”. Lockdown has proved what some already know: flexible and hybrid models not only work during times of crisis, they are a sustainable, efficient option for the long term too.

Operational change is also afoot, with traditional PA and secretarial roles shifting rapidly as fee earners embrace different ways of working. The optimised approach for managing an agile workforce emphasizes the efficient use of appropriately skilled resource for each task. General administrative tasks are increasingly centralised whilst Executive Assistants are replacing traditional secretarial roles.

Elsewhere, in direct response to the much changed 2020 office environment and a need to welcome personnel returning after lockdown, Intelligent Office has evolved some conventional front of house roles. As Executive Floor Hosts, these employees play a vital role in reassuring all onsite personnel; they provide a meet and greet service that includes explanations about new floor layouts and hot desk workstation allocations, as well as locating office essentials that help to facilitate optimum productivity.

THE RIGHT OUTSOURCING OPTION FOR YOUR FIRM

Intelligent Office is the market leader in agile business support services. With more than 20 years’ experience in planning and implementing transformative operational change, many of the UK’s leading law firms now trust the delivery of their legal administrative services to us.

Underpinned by a dedication to innovation, our Centres of Excellence for each service area are responsible for developing and implementing best practice and ensuring operational service excellence across all clients. Intelligent Office’s flexible and innovative solutions include:

Executive Assistants – Bespoke, knowledgeable and high value fee earner and client-facing support, expertly and discreetly assisting the development of effective relationships and business development initiatives.

Document Production – Matching supply to demand, our highly skilled teams manage the end-to-end creation, amendment and completion of accurate and high quality documents.

Legal Admin Services – Proactively anticipating fee earner requirements, these teams take on increasingly specialised tasks (previously completed by PAs), implementing document management protocols to maintain paper-lite environments, and applying careful attention to detail that ensures compliance and consistency of approach.

General Office – Focused on faster, more secure digital processes, our teams implement and manage the workflows and technology required for the delivery of digitised reprographics, mail and records management services.

Guest Services – Including both traditional front of house duties and also Executive Floor Hosts, these customer service-oriented personnel are polished and professional, and take great satisfaction in being the first point of call for clients, fee earners and other onsite employees.

There is no one-size-fits-all, but broadly the options for outsourcing administrative support fall into one of three categories: onsite, offsite (via our Intelligent Service Centres) or a mix of these two. Remote working (usually from an employee’s home) has also been seamlessly added to the mix of hybrid options. Whichever our clients choose, they can be assured of our complete commitment to delivering a responsive, efficient service of the highest quality.

“Intelligent Office offers wide-ranging and flexible solutions to our clients, supporting them through the crisis and more sustainably in the long term. Far from the perceived challenges, the reality is that operations are not only more efficient, but the vast majority of personnel at all levels are happier, more productive and more highly skilled.” commented Sam Nicholls, Head of Business Development at Intelligent Office.

Innovative, flexible administrative support that seamlessly connects virtual and office-based teams, utilising efficient workflow management to deliver high quality services and minimise risk can be a reality for all law firms with the right partner. To find out more about the solutions offered by Intelligent Office, contact Sam Nicholls, Head of Business Development.

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