Tick what is true of your firm today
Method: one point per check. The first unticked item in the order shown is the one to fix first, because the checks are listed from the most to the least important for a first process.
What does the checklist cover?
- Ownership. A named person owns the change, and has the authority and the time to make it stick. A partner or director is willing to back them.
- Process. You can name the job you would rebuild first. Someone could describe its steps before starting it. The people who do it are willing to be involved.
- Information. The inputs already exist in your systems, spreadsheets or notes. You have current templates, or know which past documents are the good ones.
- People. The team has used at least one AI tool, even informally. Somebody will review outputs before they reach a client.
- Policy. You have, or are willing to write, rules for using AI on client work. You know which client information must never leave your systems.
What if the score is low?
A low score is a to-do list, not a verdict. The most common gaps are a missing owner and a process nobody has written down, and both can be fixed in a week. The guide to documenting a process covers the second, and writing an AI policy covers the last section. If the score is high, the question is no longer whether to start but which job to start with.