7 Tips for 2022 Strategic Planning

By Camille Stell

What It’s NOT

Heyden Enochson, strategic communications manager with OnStrategy, says that strategic planning as we have always done it is dead, especially in the age of hybrid work and the fatigue that many organizations face today. He even suggests calling it by a different name such as growth planning or future planning. This provides a fresh approach while staying true to the core components of being strategic.

Make Your Outcomes Clear

Do you want to see revenues increase? Then identify specific goals around revenue growth:

• Earmark business development dollars in your budget to support your plan
• Identify clients who have more work you want to target
• Set revenue milestones for every partner; view and discuss monthly
• Share revenue targets with everyone so all team members know what they are working towards
• Share the financial results with everyone through words of appreciation, gifts, or financial rewards

Build for the Future

Heyden also shares his thoughts on balancing time focusing on the past versus planning for the future. While it’s important to review past performance and learn from our efforts, he suggests using an 80/20 balance with 80% forward looking and 20% learning from the past. Many people get excited by the thought of building the future; this is a good way to increase energy and morale in your office.

STOP

In your review of what’s working and what’s not, stop doing those things that aren’t working. If your partners aren’t meeting their collection goals, maybe something is wrong with your collection process. Stop and evaluate your process. And if the process is broken, stop using the process and create a new one.

One Page Plans are Magic

OnStrategy uses one-page strategic plans with their client teams to keep them engaged in what matters most. One-page plans are easy to remember, easy to review, and agile.

Talk to Clients

Understanding your clients’ needs and challenges will help you create a plan designed to meet their needs not just fulfil your firm’s mission statement.

Trends

Do you know what trends are driving the legal marketplace? If not, how can your strategic plan guide you if you don’t know what the future brings?

For solo and small law, view the 2021 Clio Legal Trends Report – Legal Trends Report | Clio

For Big Law, view the Bloomberg Law “By the Numbers: 2021 Stories” – By the Numbers: The Big Law Stories That Mattered Most in 2021 (bloomberglaw.com)

Resources

Law Firm Strategic Planning: Steps to Create a Winning Plan (clio.com)

Take a Deep Dive

For a deeper dive, join our virtual community, Leading Law, in a conversation about Strategic Planning on January 20 at noon EST. Register here.