The last quarter of the year is a great time to review your previous goals and begin to set new goals for the upcoming year. Hiring a business coach to assist you in getting the valuable data you need to make decisions for future improvements in your firm forges a path to longevity, functional operations, and an opportunity for growth.

Create a Year-In-Review of Your Firm

I advise entrepreneurs to use a scoring system to rate their departments: this gives you a clear idea of what areas need improvement in your firm. You’ll use these ratings to foster discussion with your staff to review your progress and the areas needing improvement. Find out the answers to questions such as:

• How many cases were handled by your firm in the past year? Did your firm reach its previous goal of business?
• In what areas has your firm excelled? Who excelled in performance?
• What challenges stagnated the progression and resolution of cases?
• Who underperformed and why?
• What were your threats and risks, and have they changed during the year?

Determine Your Priorities

Your year-in-review should supply you with the information needed to create ideas for new goals for your firm. Determine what area of your business you want to restructure or improve, and then you can come up with SMART goals: (specific, measurable, aligned, realistic, and timebound).

Goal Achievement Process

To stay organized and on track in pursuing goals for 2023, follow the GOSPA method:

• Goals
• Objectives
• Strategies
• Plans
• Actions

Plan Effectively

Create a checklist of responsibilities every day. Every minute you spend planning will save you as many as 10 minutes in execution. Creating a list of objectives to be completed daily keeps a visual record of accomplishment.

Start Your Strategic Planning Process

Once you’ve established your new goals, you can start your strategic plan to include the objectives, staff, and resources needed to complete them. Your strategic plan should be concise and transparent about the roles and responsibilities of the firm in accomplishing your 2023 goals.

Communicate Your Plans

You will now have a rough idea of a comprehensive strategy rich with resources to inform everyone about the changes you will make in your firm and their roles and responsibilities in the upcoming year. I suggest my clients make a company call where leadership can communicate the plan, provide resources, and conduct quarterly check-ins to confirm everyone continues to follow and understands your firm’s new goals.

Take Action

Create action plans for yourself and your staff to complete objectives and tasks: this helps you to use time efficiently and productively. Lawyers and attorneys seeking to restructure and improve their positions in firms can book a consultation with me today.