The immediate deadline.  The call that needs to be made or returned before lunch. The pre-bills that have to be checked this afternoon. The case law that needs to be scoured so the motion can be finished up tonight. The filing that’s due in the morning.  The mediation tomorrow afternoon. . . .

The overwhelming majority of your time during the day is spent attending to a pressing task at hand.  Once you’ve handled it, you check it off the list and move right to the next discrete, time- or pressure-sensitive task.  Your day passes with your head down, attending to each thing right in front of you, and then it’s time to leave the office.

Now, if you’re really productive, this task-to-task movement can be satisfying — at least for a while.  But it usually keeps you from spending time on activities that Stephen Covey famously described as “important but not urgent.” 

These kinds of activities — such as finally resolving an inconsistent policy, or updating your contacts list, or teaching your assistant how to optimize a frequently used procedure — are far more valuable to you because they build future capacity.  Once executed, they save you time every day and help you (and your team) to be more consistently effective.

In our law firm consulting work around time management and productivity, we hear it over and over: the standard rationale for not engaging in these kinds of high-payoff, capacity-building activities is, of course, that you don’t have time for them.  But you know that’s ultimately just an excuse.  The most successful professionals do not indulge the “don’t have time” excuse.  They consciously cultivate such activities on a regular basis, and you can too.

Start by identifying one capacity-building activity that, once executed or routinized, would improve your performance on a regular basis.  Then, identify the first specific action to take to begin implementing that activity.   It may be as simple as coming in on Saturday morning with a few trash bags to finally dump the mounds of unneeded paper.  It might be scheduling a 45-minute block of time with your assistant to finally document the correct checklist of pretrial file preparation.

Set a goal for yourself to concretely improve how you practice during the first half of the year by focusing on one important-but-not urgent activity that will help you build your capacity to function more effectively from now on.

Everyone who sells a professional service – including lawyers — has a self-regulated zone when it comes to the level of clients, referral sources, and matters with which they’re comfortable.

So where’s the upper edge of your comfort zone? Regardless of where, it’s partly a function of knowledge and execution (i.e., your actual experience), but it’s just as much a function of self-perception and self-confidence (i.e., your internal state). To elevate your practice, learn to identify and push that upper edge.

Think about the kind of client, referral source, or matter that would stretch your comfort zone a little bit. Perhaps it’s representation of a higher net worth individual than you’re used to working with. Or the defense of a higher stakes claim for a more visible company. Or a more complex deal you’d be quarterbacking.

Next, reflect on this: whoever the person or whatever the matter, there’s a good chance that you DO have the knowledge and ability needed to be highly effective (or that you can acquire it through reading, seminars, mentoring, etc).

The trick therefore, is to believe that you can, in fact, meet the challenge of working with more sophisticated, powerful people on more challenging, higher-value matters.

Remember the old saying, “Whether you think you can or you think you can’t, your right.”

The conventional wisdom among lawyers is to not bother marketing just prior to the Christmas Holiday and during the week before New Year’s.   People aren’t paying attention; they’ve checked out; they’re spending time cleaning up – you’ve heard (and perhaps spoken) all the reasons typically given for pausing your legal marketing activity this time of year.

However, as marketing consultant Caryn Kopp points out, lawyers who take this position are missing an opportunity made possible by the very fact that most professionals have backed off.

In fact, the next week and a half is an excellent time to reach decision makers.  Sure, some of them are on vacation, but many are not.  They’re working, yet their calendars are less busy (at least during the day) and they’re typically more accessible because:

1. Companies have fewer internal meetings during the last two weeks of the year due to employee vacations and mid-day holiday parties. This means decision makers are more likely to be working at their desks and available when you call.

2. Many assistants take year-end time off (especially if they have school-age children), leaving decision makers to answer their own phones…without gatekeepers.

3. Decision makers who are in their offices at this time of year are more relaxed and chatty.

4. Your competitors don’t think this way. They usually stop calling prospects the 2nd week of December. Your “share of voice” when leaving voicemails and reaching prospects live will be higher and you will get more accomplished with each call.

5. Decision makers will typically not accept a meeting from mid to end of December. However, if you request a date to meet NEXT year (which is just days away), their calendars are usually wide open. Ask for a meeting in early January and watch your calendar fill up.

If you’ll be on vacation next week, we wish you great weather and a much-deserved spell of fun and relaxation.

But if you’ll be in the office, consider reaching out to a few key contacts you otherwise might not have.  You’ll be surprised at who you can connect with.

A brand new study by CISCO reveals findings about the attitudes of 20-somethings entering the workforce which, while perhaps unsurprising in the abstract, carry significant practical implications for hiring and keeping new employees from admin clerks to Associates.  For example,

• 68% of young professional employees believe that corporate devices should be used for personal social media use
• Seven of ten employees admitted to knowingly breaking IT policies on a regular basis, and three of five believe they are not responsible for protecting corporate information and devices
• Seven out of ten young professionals seek to “friend” their managers and co-workers on Facebook
• 80% of young professional employees said their company’s IT policy on social media and device usage was outdated – if such a policy existed at all

As baby boomer lawyers – from solos to big law managing partners – grapple with the growing (and inter-connected) challenges of personal succession and law firm continuity, the role of social media and internet use will loom ever larger.

Two imperatives:

1. At a minimum, firms need to look at their written policy and focus energy on updating them (see resources, below).
2. Firms also need to begin explicitly addressing social media use expectations in the interview process.  Get specific.  Ask candidates about their expectations for using social media and the net on firm devices both during the work day and outside of the work day.  How much time do they want to spend?  What are some examples of appropriate and inappropriate use of social media (beyond obvious answers).

Here’s a summary info graphic from the Cisco study.  It will not only jog your thinking, but you can use it to craft interview questions for new candidates, and as fodder to start a conversation when tackling your social media use policy.

Yes, this is a daunting area, but it should be obvious by now that dealing with social media in your firm is a task that must be gone through, not gone around.

So here are two excellent resources:

Social Media Policy Procedures and Social Network Policy Procedures from Jaffe PR, a firm specializing in law firm public relations.

Sample Social Media Policy & Commentary from the ABA 2010 Annual Conference, Labor & Employment Law Section.

Call us if you have questions about your social media and internet use policy plan.  We can help streamline the process from design, to rollout, to monitoring. 

What do Justice Samuel Alito, Merck Pharmaceuticals, and the United Nations have in common?  They were all embarrassed by the revelation of hidden information they did not know was contained within documents they published.  (In Merck’s case, of course, it was much worse than mere embarrassment, as metadata played a key role in establishing their culpability in the Vioxx case.)

Workshare, a leading provider of document management applications, has created an outstanding primer on the dangers of hidden information in electronic documents.  With its many examples of real-life, high-profile screw-ups, and its up-to-date reference of legal opinions on metadata liability, it’s worth five minutes of your time.

 Read the Primer here.

And here are two more great resources targeted specifically to law firms:

A recent ABA Newsletter article, Is My Document Secure Enough?, which includes a list of metadata removal tools appropriate for a range of law firms from solo and small firms to the AmLaw 100.

An Association of Legal Administrators article entitled Mastering Metadata.

While the much of the buzz about digital mishaps has centered on social media in the last few years, the potential for significant problems resulting from “old-fashioned” metadata remains a far greater threat for most attorneys and law firms.  Whatever size your firm, you need to have clear policies, and effective, applied procedures in place to protect yourself and your clients.

When Executive Coach Marshall Goldsmith asks audiences around the world to complete the following sentence, one word is overwhelmingly provided:

“When my kids grow up, I want them to be _______.”

Your response?

It was probably “happy.”   No other answer – successful, wealthy, healthy, well-adjusted, etc – comes remotely close.  Why is that?  What does it tell us about what we value?

The good news is that it affirms our good judgment.  We get it viscerally that life is brief and precious and that little else matters if we are not happy.  Yet, relatively few of us make a serious commitment to consciously increase our happiness even though it’s the core state of being we wish for our loved ones.

What does this have to do with productivity you might be asking?  Or with time management for lawyers?

Let me answer with another question:  All things being equal, are you a better lawyer, a better colleague, a better boss, when you’re happier in your life or when you’re less happy in your life?

Even in the midst of the fiercest litigation, your energy, focus, demeanor, judgment and confidence are enhanced when you’re operating from a place of increased overall happiness in your life.

As psychologist Philip Zimbardo notes in his book The Time Paradox, “Most people do give themselves time to be happy in their two weeks of vacation a year.  But that that is not enough.  You need to integrate happiness into your . . . life.”

Now, if consciously cultivating increased happiness seems either superfluous on the one hand, or desirable but impossible on the other, consider the some of the simple actions you could take this week:

• Browse the humor section in a bookstore
• Pick up a simple present (like a book) for a loved one
• Take an after-dinner walk
• Tell someone you love that you appreciate them
• Pull out (or download) some music you used to enjoy in your younger days
• Write a quick note card to someone you appreciate
• Get tickets for a play, a concert, or ball game
• Rekindle a hobby you’ve let slip

If you already do some of these things, great.   The trick is to elevate them (or whatever activities bring you happiness) so that they’re a more regular part of your life, and not relegate them to the “when I have time” category of life.

So commit to doing ONE thing this week to bring a little bit of extra happiness into your life that you otherwise wouldn’t have.   You’ll be a better lawyer, colleague, boss, and family member for it.

The ability to quickly establish and deepen rapport is one of the most important skills you can develop in your legal marketing toolbox. From making a strong favorable impression upon meeting a new prospective client or referral source to cultivating trust with key stakeholders on a complex project, your on-going success is as dependent on interpersonal dynamics as it is on the technical expertise you bring to the table.  The same can be said, of course, for anyone with whom you want to influence during a face-to-face meeting.

And this is where attention to non-verbal behavior comes in. Language – the words and tone we use – makes up only half of any in-person communication. Body language is the other half and it contributes significantly (if unconsciously) to the development of rapport.

Here’s an easy way to practice building non-verbal rapport. It’s called “mirroring” and it’s a function of our basic psychological makeup. The closer someone mirrors our own body language, the more comfortable we tend to feel in the moment with that person. Again, it’s unconscious, but it’s real and it’s powerful.

As you’re in meetings this week try paying attention to the person’s posture. How is the person with whom you’re meeting sitting at the table? Are they upright, close to the table, materials neatly in front of them? Or are they leaning back more comfortably with the chair pushed away from the table?  Are their hands folded resting the table?  Do they gesture with their hands a lot?

Just notice how they are being, physically — their posture and body language.  Then, without forcing it, try mirroring their basic non-verbal style (i.e., how they’re sitting).

Far from being manipulative or cynical, mirroring is awareness in action.  As this rapport-building behavior becomes second nature, you’ll advance relationships faster — and ultimately close more deals sooner.

As good as Phil Mickelson is, he’s always working to take his game to the next level.

You may share a similar commitment to enhancing your own personal effectiveness, but Mickelson is actually doing something consistently that you might not be doing.

As talented as he is, Mickelson knows he does not have all the answers… and he uses a professional coach to help him with his swing and take his game to the next level.

Your challenges and goals as an attorney are obviously different from Mickelson’s. But you can do the same thing he does when you’re looking for ways to take your game to the next level.

Professional coaching is not just for athletes.  Corporate America has employed the use of coaches for years – and for good reason.

According to the 2009 ICF Global Coaching Client Study, “companies that use or have used professional coaching for business reasons have seen a median return on investment of seven times their initial investment. Individual clients reported a median return on investment of 3.44 times their investment.”

As the business and practice of law becomes more and more challenging, maybe it’s time for you to do what Phil Mickelson does (and what many other business organizations have already done) and take advantage of the proven benefits of coaching.

What can you expect from a coaching relationship?

Attorneys who engage in a coaching relationship report that they discover new perspectives on personal and law firm challenges, insights around growth opportunities, improved decision making skills, enhanced interpersonal effectiveness, and increased confidence in carrying out their professional and law firm management roles?

They also report that their personal effectiveness improves everywhere and they see positive measureable results in their productivity, leadership, personal satisfaction with life and work, and the achievement of personally relevant goals.

Based upon the findings of the 2010 ICF Global Consumer Awareness Study, here is a list of the primary reasons individuals and organizations say they hire professional coaches:

1) “optimize individual and/or team performance” – build their “A Team,”

2) “expand professional career opportunities” – grow their business,

3) “improve business management strategies” – stop wasting their money,

4) “increase self-esteem/self-confidence” – individual attorney motivator, and

5) “manage work/life balance” – highly stressed individual attorney motivator.

Want to follow Phil Mickelson’s lead?  Hire us as your coach to help you see things you can’t see for yourself and take your game to the next level?

We’re expert coaches and practice advisors. But don’t take our word for it.  Check out what other lawyers who have worked with us are saying on our web site.

We can help.  Call us…today.

Here’s a BFO (a Blinding Flash of the Obvious): attorneys who are great at lawyer marketing tend to value social networks. Whether an inborn trait or a learned behavior, they regularly take advantage of opportunities to get to know – and become known by – lots of people. And one of the most familiar – if under-utilized – networks is the venerable Alumni Association.

Think of all the people from your pre-law school days who don’t know you’re an attorney, much less what kind of law you practice, or even where you are. And how about all of your law school classmates who’ve lost track of you?

Two things to do:

1. Make sure your LinkedIn profile is up to date, and spend time there researching your undergrad and graduate/law school alumni associations.  Join the groups run by your schools.
2. Look up (or have your assistant look up) your undergraduate, graduate, and law school Alumni Associations and check the status of your contact profile. Make sure they have the latest information and find out how you can be listed in the Alumni Update sections of their magazines.

Do you have an interesting case or story or accomplishment (whether related to your practice or not) about which you could be interviewed? Alumni magazine editors are constantly looking for such material so don’t be shy. They’ll thank you for asking. And of course, consider attending an upcoming Alumni event. Or getting involved in Association leadership. These are great networks. Think like a Rainmaker and use them.

Want to develop a lawyer marketing plan that will actually work for you, given your experience, skills, practice area and personality style?  We’ve helped hundreds of attorneys do just that.  Call us at 855.508.5000.

As law practice consultants we always look for new ideas to help attorneys build better businesses.  Today we will look at the proven operations principles of lean manufacturing to eliminate over processing and rework in a law practice.

Lean manufacturing is based on the core principles of relentless attention to detail, data-driven experimentation and worker-driven efficiency and elimination of waste.

A growing number of lawyers and other knowledge based workers are using lean disciplines to increase response time, improve quality and creativity, reduce costs and frustration and improve job satisfaction.

To start your thinking about how you might use lean principles, consider you much you agree with these statements:

 1)   A substantial amount of knowledge about how my law practice runs is understood but unwritten – and that much of this can be written down.

          2)   A significant amount of my work in law practice has nothing to do with applying my special legal judgment and skill.  This work can be organized in a way so that paralegals or assistants can do it just as effectively as I can – if not better.

Toyota’s widely acclaimed approach to lean management is called the Toyota Production System (TPS).  TPS is built on the following six principles

1. Root out all waste continuously
2. Make knowledge explicit
3. Clear communications channels
4. Accelerate problem solving
5. Exercise patience
6. Leadership blazes the trail.

This post focuses on the first principle – eliminating waste.  We care about waste because it costs money, reduces efficiency and reduces attorney satisfaction.   Even small amounts of waste have a significant cumulative effect.   Consider the work you do each day and the time you spend processing information and correcting or updating work.   If this consumes at little as 60 minutes a day then you’re leaking $36,000 a year in take home pay (assuming a billing rate of $150 / hour).

Manufacturers think about waste in terms of:

• overproduction (making too much),
• over processing (doing to much to make the product), and
• defects and rework (correcting mistakes).

Think of overproduction and over processing in terms of spending too much time on repetitive tasks that do not require your direct legal judgment or skills.  Examples can include opening files, collecting demographic data and background information, setting up and administering billing and collection processes, creating routine case updates or managing back-office functions such as supplies and HR.

Overproduction and over processing can also apply to core legal work.  Some matters are novel and require extensive research, thinking time and your personal attention.  Yet I still remember one of the first invoices I reviewed from outside counsel when I was in house.   I was charged for 42 hours of associate time for researching the concept of privity of contract!  First, that issue doesn’t require that amount of time.  Second, it should never have appeared on my invoice.   That firm didn’t last long with us.

Correcting mistakes kills productivity.  Common mistakes can include errors in planning or communication which puts you into a time-crunch to meet a deadline.  Or perhaps there is a mistake in billing which requires you to write off time or wait longer for payment.  It could be having to review and revise the work of a paralegal or associate multiple times.

The following steps will help you find and eliminate the hidden areas of waste in your law practice

Step 1:  Baseline how you’re working.

• Track your time by function for a week (or even a couple of days).
• At the end of each day, and at the end of the week look at how you’ve spent your time.
• For each group of tasks, ask yourself how much of that task didn’t need to be done at all.  Create a “Stop doing” list
• Look at the tasks again and find things that could have been done differently or by someone else.  Create a “Do differently” list.
• Commit to working on 1 thing from your Stop Doing and Do Differently list for the coming week.
• Repeat regularly.  Make it a habit.

 Step 2:  Standardize your communication templates.

• Specifically examine how you create written communications.  Look for tasks that consume time without adding value (e.g., looking for documents, formatting, crafting  similar language repeatedly, entering the same data multiple times).
• Create a standard template that is easy to complete with custom information.  Get it to 80% complete and then you’ll only have to spend time on the 20% that is custom to the client or situation.
• If you use a law practice management system be sure you are using its capabilities to eliminate duplicate data entry and create standard documents.
• If you do not have a practice management system you can increase effectiveness by having standard forms organized so that your assistant can take the custom information from you, add it to the form and create the documents for your final review.

Step #3:  Pay attention to process.   Look at these aspects of your practice:

• Have a complete client intake process that captures all relevant data in the right places at the beginning of the engagement.  This will save you time looking for important information when you are in the flow of doing your work.
• Calendar all key dates and events at one time and as soon as possible.  This will reduce how often you need to suddenly shift commitments and priorities at the last minute.
• Delegate consistently.  If you are having to repeatedly review the same mistakes (or issues) with paralegals or staff then consider looking at the process you are using for delegation.  The errors may come from a lack of understanding on their part – or a lack of clarity on your part.

Step #4:   Review activities promptly.   Get into the habit of stopping to take a look at what’s working, what’s not and why.   Making this investment will help you improve the process and reduce the time you spend on rework and correcting mistakes.

Adopting a lean mindset in your law practice will help you improve client service and profitability.  It will also reduce frustration levels for you and your staff and increase job satisfaction.

Try these steps today and let us know how they are working for you.

Reference:

Lean Knowledge Work, Harvard Business Review, Oct. 2011

Additional Reading:

To learn more about lean and the Toyota Production System check out Decoding the DNA of the Toyota Production System.  http://hbswk.hbs.edu/item/0869.html and  How Toyota Turns Workers into Problem Solvers  http://hbswk.hbs.edu/item/3512.html