How Do I Set Quarterly Goals for My Law Firm?
The short answer
Pick three to seven priorities for the firm for the next quarter. Each one needs a single owner and a clear finish line, so that on the last day of the quarter everyone can say whether it got done. Then check on them every week in your leadership meeting. A short list that gets finished moves the firm further than a long list that sits in a drawer.
Why annual goals don't get done
Most firm owners have big goals for the year. More cases, better margins, a new hire, a new system. By March the daily work has taken over and the goals are mostly forgotten.
A year is too long to hold focus. There's no pressure in January to finish something due in December. Quarters fix that. A quarter is long enough to finish meaningful work and short enough that the deadline always feels close.
How to pick the right priorities
Start with where you want the firm to be in a year. Revenue, number of cases, team size, profit. Then ask what has to be true by the end of this quarter to stay on track for that.
Make a list of everything that could matter. Most leadership teams come up with ten to twenty ideas. Then cut it down. Keep the items that will make the biggest difference, and drop or postpone the rest. If everything is a priority, nothing gets the attention it needs.
Good candidates usually fall into a few areas: fixing a broken process, finishing a project that's been stuck, improving a number that keeps coming up off track, or preparing for growth, such as hiring or a new system.
How to write a good quarterly priority
A priority should be clear enough that nobody can argue about whether it got done. Compare these:
Weak: Improve intake.
Better: Every web lead gets a call back within 15 minutes during business hours, measured for the last four weeks of the quarter.
Weak: Work on billing.
Better: All invoices go out on the 1st of the month, and the over-60-day receivables balance is cut in half by quarter end.
Weak: Clean up the trust account.
Better: All client ledgers reconciled to the bank and trust statements, with a monthly three-way reconciliation in place.
Each priority gets one owner. Other people can help, but one person is accountable for getting it finished.
Track them every week
Quarterly priorities fall apart when nobody looks at them until the end of the quarter. Put them on the agenda of your weekly leadership meeting. Each owner says "on track" or "off track." If something is off track, it goes on the issues list to be solved that week.
Our post on how to run a weekly leadership meeting at your law firm lays out the full agenda.
End the quarter with a review
On the last week of the quarter, go through each priority. Done or not done. Don't give partial credit. If something wasn't finished, decide whether it carries into the next quarter or gets dropped.
Then look at the pattern. If the team finishes most of its priorities, the list was about right. If half of them slip every quarter, you're taking on too much. Fewer, clearer priorities almost always work better.
Common mistakes
Too many priorities. Seven is the upper limit for the firm. Each person should own no more than a few.
Vague goals. If you can't tell whether it's done, it isn't written well enough.
No owner, or shared owners. Someone's name goes next to each one.
Setting them and forgetting them. A weekly check-in keeps them alive.
Making daily work a priority. Answering calls on time is a job duty. Building a system so calls get answered on time can be a priority.
What it looked like at a growing firm
At the firm where I was COO, revenue grew from $2.49M to $8.31M. That growth came from many quarters of finishing a few important things at a time. One quarter it was rebuilding the intake process. Another it was cleaning up billing and receivables. Another it was hiring and training department leads. None of it happened all at once. Each quarter we picked the few things that mattered most, tracked them weekly and finished them before moving on.
Frequently asked questions
How many quarterly goals should a law firm have?
Three to seven for the firm as a whole, with each leader owning only a few. Fewer goals that get finished beat a long list that doesn't.
Who should set the firm's quarterly goals?
The leadership team, together. The owner or managing partner has the final say if the team can't agree.
What's the difference between a quarterly goal and a KPI?
A KPI is a number you watch every week, like signed cases or collections. A quarterly goal is a project with a finish line, often one that improves a KPI. Our post on the KPIs a law firm should track every week covers the numbers side.
What happens if we don't finish a quarterly goal?
Mark it not done, figure out why, and decide whether it carries into the next quarter. Don't stretch the deadline quietly.
Should staff have quarterly goals too?
Department leads usually do, tied to the firm's priorities. Individual staff goals can work well once the leadership team has the habit down.
Where to start
Block two hours with your leadership team before the next quarter begins. List everything that could matter, cut it down to the few that matter most, write each one with a clear finish line and give it an owner. If you're not sure which problems should come first, the Free Firm Gap Report will show you where the gaps are.
Or call 813-565-3050 to talk it through.
Related: How Do I Run a Weekly Leadership Meeting at My Law Firm?, What KPIs Should a Law Firm Track Every Week?, How Do I Build an Org Chart for My Law Firm?, How Do I Improve Client Onboarding at My Law Firm?, How Do I Stop Being the Bottleneck in My Law Firm?, Why Is My Law Firm Growing Revenue but Not Profit?, What Does a Fractional COO Do for a Law Firm?, How Do I Write SOPs for My Law Firm?, When Should My Law Firm Hire Another Person?, Why Aren't My Law Firm's Leads Turning Into Signed Cases?, How Do I Get My Law Firm Paid Faster?, How Do I Clean Up My Law Firm's Trust Account?, How Much Does a Fractional COO Cost for a Law Firm? and Fractional COO, Office Manager or Legal Administrator: Which Does Your Law Firm Need?
