March Tips for Solo and Small Firm Office Management

1. Clean up the reception area. Get rid of old magazines. No one wants Christmas cookie recipes or Christmas gifts under $10 in March. Re-pot or replace plants if necessary. Get some silk flowers. Have upholstered chairs cleaned and spruce up the reception area. Burn some candles for ambience.
2. Help staff meet their goals. It’s almost three months into the new year. Start conducting quarterly reviews with employees not to discuss raises but to see where employees are and discuss any areas of concern. Be sure these conversations are constructive and not destructive. Waiting to discuss some things on an annual basis is counterproductive. When things happen and you wait a year to discuss it with an employee, they file it under “old news.”
3. Summer associates. Does your firm hire summer associates? If so, start looking now and consider your recruiting methods. Are you going to attend recruiting events or have a luncheon? Prepare an onboarding package including welcome letters, job descriptions, and training letters. Make sure that you have sufficient support staff for the additional associates.
4. Marketing. Review your return on investment for the past year and consider revisiting your marketing plan. Remember to do some market analysis and size up your competition. See what they are offering new clients and consider reworking your marketing strategy. Remember, for the client it is always about “what can you do for me?”

_{Elizabeth M. Miller is an independent/contract law firm administrator in Tampa, Florida.}

_{Copyright © 2017, American Bar Association. All rights reserved. This information or any portion thereof may not be copied or disseminated in any form or by any means or downloaded or stored in an electronic database or retrieval system without the express written consent of the American Bar Association. The views expressed in this article are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the positions or policies of the American Bar Association, the Section of Litigation, this committee, or the employer(s) of the author(s).}