by Sheila Blackford ©2015
15 resolutions you may want to adopt for your own:
1. Check email in the morning and sort into three folders: Do, Delegate, Delete; you want to use email as a tool not get swallowed up by it.
2. Unless urgent, return calls at 11:00 a.m. and 4:00 p.m. daily; you’ll save time batch calling.
3. Have a Work in Process (WIP) meeting Monday mornings for reviewing and updating status of all open matters; you will catch what would otherwise slip through the cracks.
4. Call a different client each day off the clock to check in about how the client is doing; you’ll be rewarded from this simple action.
5. Plan time for a health break daily for a brisk walk, meditation, or yoga session; you’ll perform better if well-balanced.
6. Learn to say “no” to cases that you don’t want to do; your time is a valuable resource to invest wisely.
7. Send a handwritten thank you note when a matter is finished and enclose two business cards; appreciation is contagious.
8. Monitor your financials: receivables, expenses, profitability; your clients need you to succeed.
9. Dust off your business plan and review quarterly; make it dynamic.
10. Plan regular networking breakfasts with colleagues and potential referral sources; don’t become isolated or overlooked.
11. Pick up the phone if a client is 45 days late in paying the bill; find out if there a problem tobe solved.
12. Use clearly written fee agreements; keep your client relationships positive.
13. Do an office audit to identify any inefficiencies and potential sources of malpractice claims and ethics complaints; call a PMA for help.
14. Focus on improving service to clients and increasing job satisfaction; don’t settle for mediocrity.
15. Create a case timeline, case budget, and scope of representation for clients before beginning work; keep the focus sharp.
Hi there! This article couldn’t be written any better!
Looking through this article reminds me of my previous
roommate! He constantly kept talking about this. I’ll send this post to him.
Fairly certain he’s going to have a very good read.
Thanks for sharing!
Thanks, Fred! You are a good friend. Hope he gets something useful from reading it, too.
Best, Sheila