By Kristina Schneider, Practice Success Coach According to a study, the average time spent per day by employees being interrupted and trying to refocus is 2.1 hours. Interruptions at the workplace is estimated to cost businesses in the U.S. over half a trillion dollars each year! While interruptions at the workplace are inevitable, it doesn’t mean that they cannot be minimized or reduced. Below are what I consider to be the top ten strategies for managing (and reducing) the amount of interruptions at the workplace. Strategy #1: Evaluate (and change) your physical workspace. One of the biggest eye-openers for me…
Top 9 Mistakes Attorneys Make Bonusing Support Staff
By Kristina Schneider, Practice Success Coach The concept of financial bonuses is not unknown to most people. It is highly used in a lot of sales and marketing industries. Even in the legal world, many lawyers have, at some time or another when working for a firm, received some kind of bonus. However, the concept of bonusing non-attorneys is relatively new, particularly for the estate planning lawyer world. Attorney and Ultimate Estate Planner President, Philip Kavesh, did not consider or implement the idea of a formal staff bonus system until about 12 years ago. He, as well as the attorneys…
Are You a Helicopter Boss? How Micromanaging is Killing Your Practice
By Kristina Schneider, Practice Success Coach You may have heard of the term “helicopter parent”. It’s a term used to describe that parenting style where they “hover overhead”, like helicopters, over everything that their child is doing, overseeing and trying to control and supervise all aspects of their lives. This type of style can also be found in the workplace. A helicopter boss, whether it’s the attorney business owner or perhaps an office manager or other person in some type of supervisory role over others, is someone whose management style is similar to this parenting style. It’s someone who is…
Having Disconnects and Conflicts in the Office Right Now?
By Kristina Schneider, Practice Success Coach With everything going on in the world right now, it is safe to say that most people are under much more stress than usual. From dealing with concerns around the pandemic and working in a post-pandemic world, managing the constantly barrage of headlines, politics and war, to feeling a whole spectrum of emotions about all the change and heaviness that has happened in past couple of years. Business owners and employees with young children are having to juggle their own set of challenges trying to navigate care and schooling for their children, while we…
How Do You Properly Compensate (and Incentivize) Associate Attorneys?
By Philip J. Kavesh, J.D., LL.M. (Taxation), CFP®, ChFC, California State Bar Certified Specialist in Estate Planning, Trust & Probate Law One of the biggest mistakes I see attorneys that own their own practices make is failing to properly incentivize associate attorneys. The primary way I have done this successfully for many years is through monthly bonuses. Whereas attorney bonuses are usually purely discretionary and undefined in advance as to their amount and frequency, the bonus system that I have developed is based on a clearly defined formula. By utilizing monthly bonuses, you will not only make your associate attorneys…
Conduct a Successful 2022 “Kick-Off” Meeting with Your Firm
By Philip J. Kavesh, J.D., LL.M. (Taxation), CFP®, ChFC, California State Bar Certified Specialist in Estate Planning, Trust & Probate Law I’ve found that the best way to ensure a successful new year is to start off with a big stride in the right direction, by holding a firm “kick-off” meeting. The purpose of this meeting is to establish clearly defined goals for the year, outline the implementation process and get everyone on board, excited and motivated! It also provides an action checklist that you and your firm can periodically refer back to during the year, so you stay on…
6 Signs You (or Your Staff) Are Burning Out – – And How to Fix It!
By Kristina Schneider, Practice Success Coach Burnout is real and it’s affecting businesses all over the world. Whether you’re an estate planning professional who owns your own practice or not or perhaps you’re a support staff (employee), it is important that you are aware of the signs of burnout and do what you can right now to make necessary corrections to resolve the issue. If you don’t, your own physical and mental health will be dramatically affected and possibly your business (or employment), which will then impact your personal life as well. What Is Burnout? Before I get into the…
Are You Missing Out on the Lucrative “New” Estate Planning Market?
By Philip J. Kavesh, J.D., LL.M. (Taxation), CFP®, ChFC, California State Bar Certified Specialist in Estate Planning, Trust & Probate Law Over the past 15 years or so, I’ve seen a big shift in the new client market. It used to be that a large percentage of the people coming to our office had no Living Trust or other estate plan. Today, the market has almost completely flipped, with many if not most people coming in with an existing trust or plan. Why has this market shift occurred? Like it or not, the truth I’ve witnessed (and you likely will…
Kick-Start Your Boss’ Calendar in the Right Direction for 2022
By Kristina Schneider, Practice Success Coach It’s hard to believe that we are already heading into the final months of 2021. As the former Executive Assistant to busy attorney, Philip Kavesh, what this time of year typically meant for me is that I would be typically preparing Phil’s calendar for the next year so that we can maximize the best use of his time, while also making sure that I don’t overlook important items that need to get onto his calendar. Here are some tips for laying out the 2022 calendar for your boss (whether he or she is an…
Top 10 E-mail Etiquette Rules for Estate Planning Professionals (and Their Assistants and Staff)
By Kristina Schneider, Practice Success Coach Electronic mail (otherwise known as e-mail) plays an important part in any business these days. It’s helped make communicating and doing business far more efficient and simpler. However, as with most things in business, there are certain rules that professionals should follow when it comes to using e-mail. If not done correctly, it can actually create unnecessary confusion, chaos, and an unnecessary amount of miscommunication (and maybe even legal liability!). Below, you will find what I consider to be the ten most important e-mail etiquette rules to live and work by. (NOTE: These are…