Do you have fee earners who consistently under record time worked both while they are in the office and while they are away from the office? Do they seem incapable of writing good narratives that describe in terms of value what they have done? Does your finance director pull his hair out because of the late submission of time sheets? Do you have an up to date time recording policy that describes best practice?
2. Maximising Profitability
Are you achieving the levels of profit that your skills and endeavour deserve? Do you get frustrated by how intelligent professional people can be so bad at running their own business? Would it be helpful to have an independent expert benchmark the current financial performance to help fee earners, teams and firms to better understand what needs to be done and how incremental profit improvement can be delivered?
Do you continue to struggle with high levels of “lock up” that result in outrageous delays between profit being earned and cash being received? Do partners object to having to provide so much capital to fiancé the business? How much better would profits look with considerably reduced finance charges?
4. Transaction Management
Do fee earners take on assignments without giving proper estimates to the client? Is the firm sophisticated at noticing scope creep and going back to the client to agree extra charges promptly? Do partners simply quote to win the work or do they understand how to plan and price work to maximise profitability? Does the firm have templates and checklists that are used throughout matters to improve client service and maximise firm profitability? Do the management information systems provide the right information to the right people at the right time?
Are the remuneration structures which operate fairly rewarding partners and staff for the contributions they make? Is it difficult to review these structures without an independent person since everyone internally has different agendas? Are you putting your head in the sand and failing to address a major issue which if resolved could have a positive effect on staff retention and profitability? Would it be a better place to work if rewards were more tightly linked to performance? Have you worked out how to measure performance for a range of partners and staff?
Do you feel that people are possibly working too hard and could achieve considerably more in a shorter working day? Why do so many fee earners achieve so little during the day and then stay late in the office every night? Is this down to the fee earner and how they work or is it a failure to manage other people? Why do people never seem to find time for important activities such as business development, know how, billing, cash collection and staff development? Do clever people and common sense mix easily together?
If “people management” is getting other people to do what you want them to do with enthusiasm then how are you doing? Would you describe all fee earners and support staff as highly motivated and focused? Do you suffer from higher than optimal staff turnover? Do people feel comfortable giving constructive feedback? When delegating are partners and staff able to provide clear instructions and do they then retain control of the work through proactive supervision? How much time is wasted through inadequate staff management?