Have you ever struggled with giving tough feedback to your team members? Do you find yourself resorting to the criticism sandwich approach, hoping to soften the blow by sandwiching negative comments between compliments? In this episode, I challenge the effectiveness of this common practice and offer alternative strategies for delivering constructive criticism that actually works.Managing people is one of the toughest parts of running any business and, let's be honest, most lawyers (law-firm owners included) often don't get a lot of training on how to be an effective manager. This episode is intended to respond to some opinions out in the broader media about how to hire, train, motivate, and ... (Keep reading)
The Agile Attorney Blog
Something I see with my lawyer clients is that they have so many different things on their plate that each piece of work looks like an object, like a static thing that we need to deal with, as opposed to a dynamic part of a bigger process. When you are overloaded, that is totally natural. But this phenomenon points to the importance of seeing work as flow.We use the word 'workflow' all the time, but it just washes over us. We tend to overemphasize the work part and underemphasize the flow aspect. To address this, I have some specific techniques I use with my clients to help them better understand ... (Keep reading)
Adding capacity to your law practice, whether through hiring new team members, outsourcing work, or using AI to help you with certain tasks does not always add up to overall workflow improvement. This can be really frustrating for law firm owners because you’ve spent time and money on these solutions, only for the work to continue getting stuck in workflow bottlenecks.In this episode, I'm joined by Melissa Shanahan of The Law Firm Owner Podcast and our mutual client Ben Hudson to discuss how implementing the Kanban methodology transformed Ben's law practice. By making work visible and identifying bottlenecks, Ben has been able to strategically deploy his team and resources to ... (Keep reading)
Have you ever felt like certain tasks in your law practice are taking longer than they should? What if I told you that sometimes the key to efficiency is slowing down and working together? This is where a concept from the software development world called "paired programming" can help you create better outcomes in your legal practice.Paired programming involves two developers working on a single piece of code simultaneously, with one at the keyboard and the other observing and providing feedback. While it may seem inefficient and require a larger initial investment to have two brains focusing on one problem, you’ll find that leveraging a technique like this will make ... (Keep reading)
One common anti-pattern I run into in working with lawyers and law practices is people who are constantly looking for little efficiencies to try to improve particular parts of their practice or their legal workflow. But sometimes, finding those short-term efficiencies, even if they work in the short term, can actually cut against the long-term productivity or the overall flow of work through your practice.To save time during client onboarding, you might feel inclined to start filling in the blanks yourself. However, cutting corners during initial client consultations is never truly efficient. While it may save time in the moment, this approach often leads to unintentional client disengagement and presents ... (Keep reading)
As professionals, it's easy to jump to conclusions about what clients need based on our experience and the patterns we see emerging. But in making these assumptions, are we missing a critical opportunity to truly connect with them by not taking the time to understand their individual motivations and worries?When a client reaches out to you for help, you probably have a pretty good idea of the typical risks or challenges someone in their situation faces. It's tempting to launch right into explaining how you're going to solve their problem. But by first asking open-ended questions and really listening to their specific concerns, you allow the client to gain clarity ... (Keep reading)
As law practice owners, we can gain valuable insights by looking outside of the legal industry. Today, I'm excited to bring you an interview with Michael Clarke. Michael is the co-owner of the financial advisory firm Protection Point Advisors and co-author of the book A Firm Worth Building: Running a Better Professional Business.Michael Clarke takes a balanced approach to business growth that law practices everywhere learn from. He's here to help you understand what the customer is really looking for when hiring a services professional, and he also shares how to use what he calls success manuals written specifically for clients in your own business.Tune in this week to explore ... (Keep reading)
Are you a struggling solo attorney trying to get more clients in the door? Before you turn to an expensive technology solution, it's important to take a step back and fully understand the nature of the problem you're trying to solve in your law practice. I'm all for utilizing tech, but it's dangerous to imbue technology with too many magical properties. So, what can you do instead to come up with better, more sustainable solutions to your business problems?As a process-oriented coach and consultant, I'm a big fan of working on people, processes, and tools… in that specific order. While investing in the right technology can certainly help streamline your ... (Keep reading)
Do you feel like you're stuck on the hamster wheel of your law practice, constantly working on being more productive as an individual, but never getting ahead? It's time to explore how shifting your mindset from individual excellence to team excellence can help you break free and build a thriving, sustainable firm.Our guest today is Justie Nicol, a criminal defense attorney turned law firm owner who has successfully made the transition from excellent individual performer to leader and enabler of her team. Justie shares her journey of building a fully remote, people-first practice that prioritizes culture, communication, and work-life balance.Tune in this week to discover Justie's secrets for creating a ... (Keep reading)
One of the biggest challenges in any organization is engaging your entire team around process improvement or operational changes to the way people work. I recently received a listener question on this topic, and I'm doing my best to give you a comprehensive answer on today's episode.Engaging your team around process improvement is a vital part of successfully implementing changes in the way you work in your law practice. When everyone is on the same page, working toward the same goals while you empower each member of your team to demonstrate leadership in their field of expertise, process improvement becomes an easier proposition, no matter the size of your firm.Tune ... (Keep reading)
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