Life as an in-house legal professional gets hectic, fast. The day-to-day includes working with different departments on various requests with differing due dates and reporting needs.
When someone on your legal team needs to take an extended period of leave, you need to prepare your team and processes to ensure continuity despite the absence. By having a proactive plan in place to ensure your contract processes remain intact will be critical, not just for the rest of the legal team left behind but for the entire contract-building organization.
Extended absences can happen for any number of reasons (including illness, parental leave, sabbatical, etc.). When they do happen, our customers can leverage LinkSquares to help.
Identify coverage on the team.
When someone on the team is taking leave, it is always important to have a plan in place. You should work with the team member to identify what they are working on, what information someone else needs to keep working on it (if it can’t be completed before they are unavailable), and who else on the team can take over for them. Failing to determine a coverage plan before they leave will set your team up for unnecessary pain and stress.
Update Approvals, Tasks, and To-Dos.
When an approver or a task owner is going to be out of the office, it’s important to make sure you know what To Dos and Approvals they own and delegate accordingly. In LinkSquares Analyze and LinkSquares Finalize, when someone is going on leave, you can quickly and easily reassign the To Do’s and Approvals they own to another member of the team. That way, nothing will fall through the cracks.
It’s important to note that this only applies to new document requests. If their leave starts while contracts are being reviewed in their name, you will need to review the open requests and adjust them to reflect the new approvers. To track these agreements down, use the LinkSquares Dashboard to find the list of agreements in progress.
Identify reports they are running.
For customers using LinkSquares Analyze, identify what information they have to find in the company’s agreements and any reports they are running. Often, reports are run ad-hoc to answer an immediate question, but just as often, Saved Reports are used for monthly, quarterly, and annual needs.
Work with the person taking leave to see what Saved Reports they own and make sure their coverage can access them. If a Saved Report is not shared with the company, determine if it is a confidential report (which may require their replacement to create a copy for themselves) or if it can be shared with the other LinkSquares users as a whole.
Work with your CSM.
It’s always good to let your Customer Success Manager (CSM) know about changes in your organization, even if they are only temporary. Your CSM is here to help you and your team be successful with LinkSquares. Let them know, and they’ll make sure your team) has the assistance they need to be successful.
With a plan in place and information on how your team is using LinkSquares, you can prevent issues from rising up and ensure your organization keeps moving forward. As always, The LinkSquares team is here to help. If you have any questions, don’t hesitate to let us know.
