focus everyone on the big issues.
by marc rosenberg
the rosenberg practice management library
most firms spend their time at retreats planning for the future, forming goals and addressing pressing issues and problem areas. the problem areas aren’t day-to-day issues such as purchasing a new copy machine or revising the policy on sick days. the problem areas are more strategic: morale issues, recruiting problems, profitability, etc.
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here are some specific examples:
- are you happy with the direction the firm is headed in? do you have a direction? does your firm have a formal, written strategic plan?
- are you satisfied with profitability?
- is your firm growing at a proper rate? is your firm active enough in practice development? do you need a marketing plan?
- is your firm’s partner compensation system performance-based? is it fair? does it motivate the partners to do what the firm needs them to do?
- where do you stand on succession planning? do you have enough partner-potential people coming up that will provide your partners with an eventual exit strategy?
- do you have programs in place to develop your staff into future leaders?
- do you have sensible plans in place to structure new partner buy-ins and buying out existing partners? many firms these days are taking a close look at these plans and finding that they are ineffective and archaic.
- is your firm’s management structure effective?
- how effective are your partners and managers in supervising staff in a way that enables you to retain them and help them grow? firms are increasingly turning to upward evaluations by the staff to help them gauge this effectiveness.
- does your firm have partner accountability? what needs to be done?
- should you be looking for merger and/or lateral hire candidates?
- how do you evaluate your staff? what should you be doing to help them develop?
- how is morale at your firm? how can it be improved?
- are you satisfied with productivity, both of partners and non-partners?
- do you have effective billing and collection procedures? are they working?
no list can be all-inclusive, but this might be a good start.