The 1, 2, 3 Practice Management Series
from Added Value Corporation Pty Ltd
Five techniques to keep happy in your firm
Preamble
It is disappointing to come across practitioners who are not happy. There can be a variety of reasons for this. Conversely there are many practitioners who are very happy with their lives and practices. It is worth considering why, in both cases.
1. Profits
Well they really help, don’t they? If at the end of the day you can see great profits building, it makes lots of other issues seem minor.
So, work to build the practice profits. Focus on efficiencies in the practice, improving processes, better client engagement and your own delegation skills, as start.
2. Hours worked
I remember years ago a sole practitioner saying he was very concerned with the number of hours he was working each week, he was averaging 60 hpw. Happy with his clients and profits though. So he went to an ICAA CPE activity and approached various participants. He introduced himself, chatted and then asked how many hours they worked. It seemed many of them were also working 60 hpw. So he decided that was the norm, hence OK and moved on.
3. The clients and enjoyable work
It is no fun working for unappreciative clients, or doing boring work. Gradually weed out clients who are disrespectful. Value the work you do, remember to explain to clients how you have helped them. It is important to do this, practice saying it so you do it with with grace. Quantifying benefits helps with what one partner called “guts in billing”.
Regarding interesting work, I remember a lawyer who moved from the bar to a legal firm. I asked why, he said because he was tired of being on the end of poorly structured and documented deals which had gone wrong. He wanted to be in at the beginning when the deal was negotiated, structured and documented. More satisfying.
4. Relationships with colleagues
When I used to ask partners in firms “What was your best business decision”, often the answer was getting rid of an underperforming partner. I then asked “What was your most expensive learning experience”, then the answer was not acting quickly enough to get rid of under-performing partners and staff.
If people in the office are causing you grief, change something. Maybe the problem is you, if so, get counselling.
5. Keeping positive
I feel accountants are trained to “spot the error”. We continually review things and find what is wrong. So it needs a conscious thought to stay positive and make positive responses. I suggest when speaking with clients it can help to congratulate them, just surviving in business can be a success. Paying off loans can be a success, so also is growing turnover, even better, growing profit.
Conclusion
Some people seem naturally happy and positive, others critical and negative. I know I need to be careful to make sure I focus on the positive. The more anyone can work on these 5 points, the more they will be happy with their practice.
Written by Thea Foster of Added Value Corporation www.addedvalue.com.au
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