E129: One way to increase your utilization rate and drive up revenue
Apr 20, 2022
It’s Thursday. Most people are starting to think ahead to the weekend…but you’re staring at the piles of work on your desk and wondering how you’re going to get it all done. Your calendar is packed. You’re working as hard as you can. If only you managed your time better, you think, you’d be able to get it all done…
This week’s tip: Your crazy workload probably isn’t a result of poor time management. More likely, it means you’re not delegating properly. And not delegating is one of the five biggest mistakes lawyers make in their practices.
Welcome to Gimbal’s Tip of the Week, where you get practical, actionable advice you can use right away to start building a more productive and profitable legal practice.
Delegation,when it’s done properly, is the fastest way to reclaim hours in your week.
You’ve probably heard us talk about utilization rates before
Utilization is the percentage of your day spent on value-adding or billable work. It’s useful to evaluate your workload and productivity. You can calculate it by dividing the number of hours you spend on value-adding or billable work by the total number of hours you work every day.
For the average lawyer, utilization is around 35%. Ideally, your utilization should be much, much higher. In fact, your target should be as close to 100% as you can get it.
A low utilization rate tells you that you’re spending far too much time on work that isn’t adding value or generating revenue, and you need to delegate more of the low-value work.
Your action item this week is to identify at least one non-billable task that you can delegate in the upcoming week. Start with something small and, ideally, something you do repeatedly.
Legal professionals who understand how to delegate tasks effectively will generate more revenue in less time. They help their firms run more efficiently, achieve greater success, and have the time to enjoy that success.
Find out about the other mistakes lawyers make and how to overcome them in our newest Gimbal Guide: 5 Mistakes That Are Hurting Your Practice and How to Overcome Them
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