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Managing and leading great staff meetings 

By: Nancy Byerly Jones
Published: January 5, 2011

Tags: practice management, staff meetings

A #1 request from staff is the desire for upbeat and informative meetings. In some firms, they just want meetings that are taken seriously and not cancelled at a moment’s notice for non-emergency reasons (or excuses!). In others, they object to information and instructions being shared in a “shoot-from-the-hip” and rushed manner.

But history shows that firm leaders who plan for and hold productive, regular staff meetings are rewarded with high productivity, good office morale and efficiency.

Five ways to reconnect with disgruntled clients 

By: Nancy Byerly Jones
Published: November 5, 2010

Tags: client relations, practice management

Some attorneys tend to forget one or more of these simple basics of excellent client service, causing many of their clients to become frustrated, confused and often beyond angry. Here are a few suggestions on how to regain your disgruntled clients’ confidence.

Ten tips for better staff evaluations 

By: Nancy Byerly Jones
Published: August 26, 2010

Tags: practice management, support staff

Good evaluation systems are well worth the time and effort put into their creation, implementation and monitoring. Whether your office’s employee evaluation methods need to be established or could stand to be updated or perhaps entirely overhauled, these tips are intended to help you get the ball rolling.

Staff plays key role in tough times 

By: Nancy Byerly Jones
Published: April 29, 2010

Tags: law practice management, support staff

Rough times can sneak up on us with little or no warning, or they can descend upon us after plenty of telltale signs that we choose to ignore. Either way, every staff member, regardless of title, plays a key role when it comes to successfully surviving change.

Four tips for stress management 

By: Nancy Byerly Jones
Published: March 25, 2010

Tags: practice management, stress management

Practice management consultant Nancy Byerly Jones gives solos and small firm lawyers tips on how to manage stress.

Office morale deserves priority status 

By: Nancy Byerly Jones
Published: December 28, 2009

Tags: law practice management

Keeping a close watch on firm-wide morale is often overlooked by management and leadership. Yet if morale is chronically low, it dilutes investments of money and time made into other efforts to maintain a highly respected, well equipped, state-of-the-art and profitable law office.

Columnist Nancy Byerly Jones takes a look at some common “morale busters.”

Preventing partnership implosions before it’s too late 

By: Nancy Byerly Jones
Published: September 11, 2009

Tags: practice management

Columnist Nancy Byerly Jones offers some suggestions for how to proceed when partner disputes arise.

Treating ‘non-lawyers’ with respect

By: Nancy Byerly Jones
Published: July 27, 2009

Tags: law practice management, legal staff

Columnist Nancy Byerly Jones talks about the importance of finding respectful words to use when referring to those who do not practice law for a living.

Short-term action plans for challenging times 

By: Nancy Byerly Jones
Published: April 6, 2009

Tags: actions plans, practice management

In this month’s column, contributor Nancy Byerly Jones focuses on the value of short-term action plans during challenging economic times.

These smaller “road maps” can be adapted and revised more quickly than longer-term plans and help you keep moving productively forward rather than stagnating or worse.

Weathering the economic storm 

By: Nancy Byerly Jones
Published: November 17, 2008

Tags: financial crisis

There are few things we can count on with 100 percent assurance in these tough and frightening economic times. Our worlds are overwhelmed with uncertainty and very few are immune from financial losses resulting from this global mess.

This month’s column focuses on two of the things we
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