What happens in your office when you get busy? Is it all hands on deck, all hours, until the work gets done? And when that happens, what becomes of your improvement initiatives? Sure, you INTEND to get that project off the ground…but if you’re like most of us, even the best of intentions fall by the wayside when you’re busy.

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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.  

Throughout June, we’ve been sharing tips and ideas for successful implementation in your practice. By now, you should know how to set SMART goals, break them down into smaller tasks and create a Matter Management Board to track the work and measure your progress against meaningful key performance indicators or KPIs. All you need to do now is see things through to a successful end! 

Easier said than done, right? Don’t let your projects slide when you get busy. Instead, keep them top of mind with regular accountability. Business coach Donald Miller calls these “speed checks” and we’ve incorporated them into our Practice Accelerator coaching program. In fact, not only to we do speed checks with our coaching clients, but we participate in regular accountability sessions ourselves, with our coaches, to keep our own initiatives on track. In fact, accountability is one of the biggest benefits of having a business coach.

You can use the same approach with your team, for your projects.

Hold regular speed checks and keep them quick and focused. They’re not for brainstorming or long discussions. 

Start each session with a reminder about your SMART goal and then ask:

• What progress have you made since the last speed check? This should include a quick report on how you’re measuring up against the relevant KPI.
• What’s your next step?
• Do you anticipate any difficulties and if so, what can you do to overcome them?

How often you hold a speed check is up to you. Once a week will work for most projects, but you can adjust the frequency based on the needs of your project or team. What’s most important is consistency. We recommend you schedule them in your calendar and make them mandatory.

Just to recap: speed checks are a great way to stay focused on your goals and motivated to complete the project. Plus, the regular evaluation of your efforts allows you to adapt to any changing circumstances that might affect your progress. 

So this week’s tip is to use regular speed checks with your team (or with a coach if you’ve got one) to stay motivated and on track with your goals.

Legal professionals who stay accountable for progress on their improvement initiatives are much more likely to complete their projects. As a result, they’re able to 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.

If you want to experience speed checks and implementation support first hand, improve your operational efficiency and your firm’s results, and get clarity around your critical priorities, then apply to join Practice Accelerator.

This exclusive practice management and business coaching program only accepts 30 people. We keep groups small—only 15 people—so we can personally help you solve the real problems in your practice. Practice Accelerator only opens a few times a year. Some places are still available. 

Thanks! Join us next week for more on building a profitable and productive law practice.