We all know how difficult it can be to see an idea through to its full execution. It’s one thing to conceptualize a strategy, but the journey from “spark of inspiration” to actual implementation can be a challenging one. It’s just too easy to let the urgent things overtake the important things, to let your great ideas languish when you get busy. Your approach to implementation can be the difference between development and discouragement. 

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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.

Implementation is the process of converting intangible concepts (such as strategies, ideas, and plans) into a reality. Throughout June, we’ll be zeroing in on strategies to ensure successful implementation in your practice.

What’s the best way to improve your chances of implementation success? Get your priorities in order. It’s tempting to think that conceptualization is the “easy part” of the process. However, you’re going to have a very difficult time with implementation if you’re not smart about setting priorities. As computer programmers like to say, “garbage in, garbage out.” A failure to set priorities (or prioritizing the wrong things) is bound to lead to snags in the implementation process, as well as wasted resources [link to Gimbal Guide: 8 Ways You’re Losing Time & Money in Your Practice]. 

Based on your priorities, determine the major goals for your practice. For example, if revenue generation is a priority, your goal may focus on attracting and retaining clients. If you’re concerned about staff morale and losing valuable associates, you may need to prioritize team-building strategies.

Here are your action steps:

• Set three major goals for your practice for the next year.
• Divide each goal into smaller tasks or deliverables that are necessary for achieving that goal
• Create an action plan for each of the smaller tasks, including assigning deadlines
• Use a visual tool such as a Matter Management Board [hyperlink to this June 24, 2019, post to keep yourself on track.

With a systematic approach to setting and monitoring the progress of your goals, you increase the chances that your implementation will be successful.

This week’s tip: set three major goals for your practice, based on your priorities. Break each goal down into smaller tasks. Set deadlines for these smaller tasks and hold yourself accountable. 

Legal professionals who practice efficient prioritization deliver more value for themselves, for their firm and, most importantly, for their clients. Put simply, they’re much more likely to be recognized as true value-driven professionals.

And that’s it. Join us next week for more on building a profitable and productive law practice.

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Thanks a lot everybody! See you next week.