Today, I want to give you a quick tip about a mindset switch that will make it easier when you’re delegating work.

Earlier this week, we hosted 2 free live masterclasses entitled, “Run Your Practice, Without Letting it Run You: Avoiding 3 Mistakes Lawyers Make When Running Their Practice.” 

We talked about:

1. How to delegate work more effectively (more on that in a minute);
2. The 2 areas in your firm where you absolutely need to have effective systems; and
3. How to overcome the biggest barrier to action: not even knowing where to start.

If you missed the Masterclass, don’t worry. We’re running the training again next week as part of our Free February series of events. You can join us on Wednesday, February 12th, or Thursday, February 13th.

Want to watch this tip instead?

So, during the live session we talked about the mistake many of us make, particularly those who work in smaller firms or alone: we try to do it ALL.

Whether you’re alone in your firm, or you’ve got a team, you need to delegate effectively if you want to generate more revenue. David calls it learning to train, trust, and then let go…but to do that, you’ve got to have a strategy for that training piece.

Time Invested In Training is Not Time Wasted

Someone raised an issue during one of the classes about delegating, having the person get it wrong, and then having to do it all over again yourself anyway. Was that a waste of time?

Definitely not. You need to change your mindset about time.

When you’re training someone (maybe that’s a virtual assistant, if you’re working in a solo practice), you have to be willing to put a little time into the training because it’s unlikely to work out perfectly the first time. Start with the expectation that training will cost you a little investment of time up front, but you’ll reap the benefits down the road.

Save Time in Perpetuity

Let’s say you want your assistant to take over a job that takes you 10 minutes once a week.

It may take you half an hour to teach your assistant to do the job, including any correcting you have to do if he gets it wrong. A lot of lawyers tell me, at this point, that they give up because teaching someone to do the thing takes longer than doing the thing themselves. True. But here’s the mindset switch: you only have to spend that 30 minutes once…and maybe a few extra minutes of correcting a couple more times until he’s got the process down.

 After that, in perpetuity, you’re saving yourself 10 minutes a week.

If you can make small but impactful delegations like this in your practice…and make them consistently…you WILL boost your productivity.

As David said last week, 80% of lawyers want to change...but most of them won’t. They won’t put in the time or the effort to make little changes like this. But you can. Not only will you make your own work easier, you’ll be among the 20% of lawyers actually doing something. And that will certainly distinguish you from your competition.

If you want to learn a few other key things you can do, join us next week for our FREE Masterclass: Run Your Practice, Without Letting it Run You: Avoiding 3 Mistakes Lawyers Make When Running Their Practice.

Introducing Practice Accelerator

We’re also really excited to announce that you can now register for our new course, Practice Accelerator. It’s an intensive, online program that combines self-paced learning with weekly live coaching sessions with us. Practice Accelerator will give you a 5-step formula for identifying and eliminating the waste in your law practice, so you can increase revenue, cut costs, and deliver even better service to your clients…all without spending any more time in the office.

Get 2020 off to a powerful start with Practice Accelerator. You can learn more and enroll here, but don’t delay, the cart closes on February 17th, and we won’t be offering it again for a while.

Videos and downloadable resources for the first module will be available on Monday, February 24, and we’ll be live to discuss that session and answer your questions on Thursday, February 27.

And that’s it for this week’s tip. We’ll see you in the Masterclass.

Thanks a lot everybody! See you next week.