If you are in a role where you operate a billable hour model like so many of my professional services firms, implement these strategies to increase the productivity at your firm:
Employ professional administrative staff to reduce the opportunity costs (lost billable time) of anyone involved in management – you might be thinking it is easier and quicker to do it yourself … short term thinking. Don’t waste precious billable hours doing things you are not good at – give it to an admin specialist!
Stop management from hoarding work and practice delegation – choose the highest impact projects or cases to focus your attention on…delegate the rest – simple!
Provide the high-income earners with tools to track and report their billable hours – you have heard of the Pareto Principle (or the 80/20 rule), that 80% of your results come from 20% of your efforts. Focus on your top 20% income earners.
Set individual targets for income earners and track diligently – people are motivated by success, set big goals and measure them with big rewards.
Increase training for young associates to shorten their learning curve and improve productivity sooner – never underestimate the investment training will make in your firm.
When you implement these five strategies you will see the productivity of the firm increase and your billable hours will increase also.
What are you doing to increase the productivity in your firm? Share your ideas with us here on our blog.
