Our Vtasker program is used to track all actions that need to be completed on every client engagement. This "virtual taskmaster" was developed by Voorhees Family Office Services, Inc. (www.vfos.com) in the late 1990s and early 2000s to end the "blame game" that so often disrupts planning when advisers are not clear about next actions assigned to each team member. Now advisers on a team can "virtually look over the shoulder" of one another to confirm that next actions are all completed in a timely manner. Weak or broken links in the next action timeline can be spotted and addressed quickly.

The vTasker program has been programmed in Microsoft Access (but it was also used successfully in MS SharePoint from 2006 to 2016). The MS Access system complements a Citrix Sharefile system with client folders (vaults).

All staff members of VFOS and its affiliated firms (at www.vfos.com/6firms and www.vfos.com/RubikRotate) have appropriate access to next actions and client documents. Great care is taken to preserve the attorney client privilege and preserve the highest level of web-based security. By assigning 5 levels of permission, only attorneys and their support staff have access to privileged Level 5 data. Clients and outside advisers can access some of this information at Levels 1-4. At Level 1, advisers know about upcoming meetings. Advisers given Level 2 access are authorized to upload client documents. At Level 3, advisers can see all next actions on the web or in Excel files. At Level 4, attorneys have separate checklists for each Matter linked to a Transaction Retainer signed by the client.

The vTasker program lets advisers enter all next actions (tasks) necessary to complete the work for which the client has retained VFOS or an affiliated firm. We have developed specific templates with next actions for each of the 80+ transactions handled most frequently. (These transactions are summarized in the book at www.BestToosManual.info.) The templates can be exported as Excel spreadsheets. The templates can be modified to suit each specific transaction and updated based on additional work assigned.

The Vtasker tracks 80+ fields for each matter with a focus on listing time-bound next actions. Each adviser has My Next Action Report (MyNAR) and all next actions are compiled in a Global Next Action Report (GNAR) that can be sorted by client number, matter number, priority, lead adviser, case manager, matter manager, task type, starting date, due date, and status.

The Lead Adviser on each case assigns the Case Manager and Matter Manager in the vTasker system. The Lead Adviser is responsible for clarifying the role of each advisory team member as well as the goals for fulfilling commitments in the Transaction Retainer. The regular reports track fulfillment of next actions by due dates as part of an oversight and accountability ("Control") system. All next actions are part of Workflows (or checklists) for each client matter. Workflows are tracked along with Cash Flows for each matter so that we can confirm that Transaction retainer terms are fulfill profitably. Roles, Goals, Controls, Workflows, and Cash Flow are explained more fully at www.vfos.com/RolesGoals.

All Vtasker next actions are available in the Access software available to each of our team members. Because the Access software is focused on maintaining a global report of all next actions, staff members refer to the system as the Global Next Action Report (GNAR). Outside of the firm we refer to the Virtual Taskmaster or vTasker.

Each staff member must update his/her next actions and confirm that reports show that next actions for all Matters are being completed correctly and timely. Keeping the system up-to-date and tracking all client matters takes a substantial amount of time, but maintaining data in the system is essential to the fulfillment of our responsibilities to our clients and our internal work processing. Increasingly, time spent completing each next action will be tracked as part of the billing system. As we see ways to improve the system, we add the proposed upgrades to a "hot list" of suggested enhancements for future versions of the software. If there are questions or concerns, please contact Tim Voorhees.

Note: Darryl Sopata has provided leadership in moving the vTasker/GNAR system from SharePoint and Excel to MS Access. He deserves much credit for the enhanced efficiency we all enjoy when using the system.

Updated 3/26/21