What Strategic Planning Really Is for Law Firm Owners

Most law firm owners say they have goals, but very few have a real plan, one that's strategic, actionable, rooted in truth. Today, we're breaking down what strategic planning really is and why it's the single most important practice for building the future you want.

Welcome to The Law Firm Owner Podcast, powered by Velocity Work, for owners who want to grow a firm that gives them the life they want. Get crystal clear on where you're going, take planning seriously, and honor your plan like a pro. This is the work that creates Velocity.

Hi, everyone. Welcome to this week's episode. I am thrilled to be talking to you today about a topic near and dear to my heart. What is strategic planning? That is what we're digging into today. This is one of my most favorite topics. It's why I centered an entire business around it. So, get ready to geek out.

Now, as you know, Velocity Work partners with law firm owners to create strategic plans for the future they're building. And there's accountability and there's support for executing on the strategic priorities that come out of the planning session. Most people don't really understand what strategic planning means, so I want to break it down for you here today. And if what you hear today, in fact, sounds interesting to you, it sounds like something that would be a great idea for you, I invite you to explore our Foundation program.

Foundation is a short-term, a one-on-one, private engagement, not with, not one-to-many. It's not with a group, it's us and you. And it's designed to help you get your hands around the things that we're going to be talking about today, so that you can understand your future that you're building and you have a sense for the strategic priorities that are going to bridge you from where you are now to where you want to be. It's a highly focused engagement. It gives you clarity, it gives you direction right away. And if at the end we all agree it's a great fit to continue working together, we could talk about that and what next steps might look like. 

If you'd like to learn more, book a call using the link in the show notes.

 Okay. So, what is strategic planning? Do you know what it is? Do you know what it is really? I mean we think we understand it, but if you've actually done it, it changes your whole world. It changes your business.

Recently, I flew down to work with a client and their entire team. It was a special arrangement so that we could go deep together in person. After our session, we all went to dinner, the owner, his wife, who's also in operations in the firm, and myself. And partway through dinner, he looked at me and said something that will stick with me for a very long time.

He said, "I want to repay you somehow. You've changed my business, you have changed my life, you have changed my marriage. And coming out to Denver to make those plans with you was exactly what we needed. We're on the right path now. Things feel exciting again, less frustrating, and the sky is the limit for where we're going."

He told me he hadn't felt that way in a really long time, despite showing up every single day and doing his best, putting one foot in front of the other. That feeling of possibility hadn't been there until he worked with us. Now, I don't share that to take all the credit. That's not fair. I mean, the truth is, Velocity Work facilitates this process. And I'm very pointed about the data that we need to see with the client. And if we can't get it, we identify what we'll gather next to make sure that we are working with what's actually true. I'm pretty ruthless about getting to the truth of a situation because only then can we make plans that actually make sense for the practice and for the owner leading it.

When you have a partner like that, it allows you to fly because the cognitive load of trying to figure it out all by yourself is heavy. You could do it if you had time and space. You're a smart person. You could do it if you had the time and space to really dig in, but having a partner means you don't have to carry that alone. And that kind of partnership lets you move faster, more clearly, and with more confidence.

This client will come on to the podcast soon to share his perspective directly. But for now, I wanted to offer that glimpse because it's not uncommon for owners to feel a profound shift when they finally go through the process of strategic planning.

Strategic planning is a systematic process that a business will use to lay out the vision for the future and really paint the picture. And then work backwards to figure out goals and strategic priorities that are going to help make that picture real. But it is more than just reverse engineering goals. True strategy starts with clarity about the real challenge. Before we can decide where we are going, we have to accurately diagnose where we stand. What's really in the way of progress. Once that is clear, we can choose an overall approach that makes sense for the business. And then we'll map out a set of coherent actions that bring that future to life.

So, yes, there's reverse engineering here for sure, but it's not about making a long list of objectives and calling that a plan. It's about choosing the few things that actually create leverage, the things that will move you closer to the future you've envisioned, and then lining up your goals and actions behind those few powerful priorities.

People talk about this stuff all the time, like they've just got it handled. They read about goal setting, and they know that they should do it, and they tell themselves they're already doing it. But the truth is, most people don't really know how to do this well for themselves.

I mean, I facilitate this for a living. This is what I do, and it's still incredibly valuable for me to have someone else guide me and my team through it. It is hard to be both in the work and in the thinking. It's hard to stay fully present and reflective while also trying to steer yourself to ask the right questions, to make sure the goals are the right ones. And that's why facilitation is such a powerful part of strategic planning. It helps you bring better quality thinking to the table. 

So even though most of us understand, at least conceptually, that it's about setting goals and working backwards from where we want to be, that doesn't mean we actually do it or do it well. And when we try to, it's easy to get lost in the weeds, to let the day-to-day pull us out of that higher-level space that we need to operate from. It's not that people don't care, don't try. It's just not that simple to do on your own.

And that's why strategic planning is such an important practice. When it's facilitated well, you get to step back, see the whole picture, and think clearly. You can make higher-quality decisions, you can set better priorities, and leave the session with clarity instead of confusion. And if you want to get the most out of your planning time, having facilitation and structure around it makes all of the difference.

And with strategic planning, yes, we are defining the future you're building. We are determining the goals and the strategic priorities that need to be executed on to bring that future to life. That's all true. But what's even more important is how you move through that process. The quality of your thinking determines the quality of your plan. And when you have the right structure and facilitation around you, you think at a higher level and you make clearer choices, and you leave with alignment, not just a list of goals, not just a list of efforts that you're supposed to put forth.

And that's what this work is really about. It gives law firm owners a dedicated space to step back from the noise to articulate and truly see the future that they're building and to make decisions rooted in clarity and truth instead of urgency or emotion.

When we facilitate these sessions, that's the outcome we're after, a plan that is real, grounded in data, and lined up with what matters most to you. So you can walk out knowing exactly what to focus on next and why it matters. And when I say the future that you're building, I'm talking about being able to articulate what that looks like in real, specific terms. The elements of it, the conditions around it, and the things that would make you feel proud when you get there.

For example, I have one firm that's building towards a 30-hour work week for everyone on the team without reducing anyone's pay. That's the future they're building. There's a lot of moving parts to make that possible, and one of them is keeping the business healthy. 

So the goal isn't just 30-hour work weeks for everybody, it's 30-hour work weeks with a certain profit margin and revenue targets that make sense given the size of the team and their output. That's how they define success. Revenue is still a part of the picture, but it's a byproduct of the future they are creating.

Another example, an immigration firm I work with just finished their strategic planning day, and the future that they're building is a firm that wins 100 cases per month. That's the North Star. Now, right now, they're at 18 cases won per month, and next year's goal is to reach 36 on average cases won per month. Then it will grow from there. So 100 cases per month is the future they are building toward, and there are other elements mapped out to ensure that the business is thriving when they get there, strong systems, clear roles, profitability that supports the growth.

And sometimes the future you're building is more traditional. Maybe the main goal is a revenue goal. That's okay. But the key is to define the conditions that go along with it.

For example, one firm I work with is building towards a specific annual revenue number, top-line revenue, but when they hit that number, the owner also needs to be working no more than 40 to 45 hours per week. They need to be out of the legal work, except for the cases that they truly want to handle. They need to be able to take the number of weeks off per year that they are shooting for. And their systems need to run smoothly. Their culture needs to be strong.

And so there's really specific elements laid out along with that revenue goal. It's not just about hitting the number. And that's what it looks like to really define the future that you're building. It's not about the number, it's about painting the full picture of what healthy success looks like for you, about what you care about, what does success mean to you and to your firm. Because if you don't articulate those conditions, you can end up chasing a goal and sacrificing things that actually matter to you in service of what, a number? And this often happens without realizing it.

So, the work is about thinking through what you want your future to look like, and then identifying a goal that feels motivating and right. A goal that you can line yourself up with, knowing it has to meet certain conditions in order to be a win.

And listen, this doesn't need to be a perfectly worded vision statement. You don't need a paragraph that sounds like it belongs on your website. You just need to get honest about the future you're building and write down the key elements that define that for you. That's it. Because that kind of pressure, trying to make it sound perfect or inspirational to everyone, it's not helpful when you're sitting down to do strategic planning. What matters is that it is true for you.

Now, after you've identified the future you're building, the next key aspect of strategic planning is a current state analysis. This is where we look at the truth of where things stand today. And it starts with the data. You have to know the current state of your business. You've heard me harp on this in many episodes and many even recently.

You have to really understand it. And that means understanding, yes, your top-line revenue, of course, but also the numbers that sit underneath that. Case numbers, depending on your practice area, that might be cases open, cases closed, cases filed, cases settled each month. Depends on your firm. You want to know your average value per case, and for many firms, it's helpful to know that by case type or by practice area.

What's your people cost as a percentage of revenue? What's your conversion rate on the leads that your firm receives? What's your net profit? These are just some of the basics that give you an honest view of the health of your business. It is about taking stock for real.

When you pull that data together, you start to see your firm clearly for what it is today. And you can stop guessing, you can stop assuming, and start working from facts. And when you get honest with yourself about the truth, you suddenly have something solid to work from, something to work with.

People don't do this well enough. They sit down to plan, they set goals, they dream big without first really evaluating from a business perspective, what is the current state of the firm? And just doing this piece alone can be game-changing, and it's often glaringly obvious what needs your attention when you start to look at the facts of the business, where you're supposed to focus, and what kind of goals will actually move the needle for you.

Okay, once you know the future you're building and you've taken an honest look at the current state of your firm, the next step is to identify the goals that will move you forward. Goals are numbers. They're indicators of progress towards your future. They show you whether or not you are on track to create what you have envisioned.

Now, at the top level, you'll have firm-wide goals, the big outcomes that define success for the business as a whole. That might be revenue, profit margin, cases won, or some other key results that represents forward motion for the firm.

But beneath that, each department should have its own set of goals that serve the larger picture. Those departmental goals are about the health of that specific area of the business.

So, for example, your intake team might focus on conversion rate. Your legal team might focus on average case value or a metric centered around time, case length, or number of days to file, et cetera. Your operations team might track revenue, people cost percentage, or net profit.

And one thing I should note here is that when I'm saying teams, you could be a small firm, but there's someone in the operations seat, right? Like these are their metrics, is the revenue, people cost percentage, net profit. It could be their metrics. You may have one or two people in intake. That's their metrics are conversion rate as an example, right? So when I'm saying team or department, you don't have to be huge for this to apply to you.

Now, when each department has clear, measurable goals that reflect its health, the larger strategic goals, the ones that represent the future you're building, they become so much more achievable. Every part of the firm is pulling in the same direction, and that alignment is what creates real progress.

This is part of the bigger work that we do with clients. We help you determine which goals matter most and what those numbers should be. So you can measure progress in a way that's simple, meaningful, and connected to the bigger picture.

And the next step is developing strategies to hit those goals. We call these your strategic priorities. These are the key efforts that are going to move the needle the most. And you might also hear these called rocks. That term was popularized by Gino Wickman through a book called Traction and the company EOS. And before that, by his mentor, Verne Harnish, in Scaling Up. But it actually goes all the way back to Stephen Covey in The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People.

We still do use the term "rocks" inside of our organization because it's sticky and people remember it. But at the core, these are your strategic priorities, the meaningful efforts that line up with the future you're building. They're stepping stones to that future. They are the leverage points to get you there.

When you are trying to identify your strategic priorities, I like to ask, "What are the things that if you don't do them, you will be held back from reaching your goals?" Or, "What levers can you pull that will take you there?" That's how you uncover the work that truly matters. These are the efforts that will have the biggest impact on progress towards your future.

And sometimes, the easiest way to spot them is to look for what Richard Rumelt, who is sort of the grandfather of strategic planning, he calls it the crux. It's the main lever. It's the biggest obstacle or the single most important thing that needs to be true in order for that future that you have your eye set on to be built. And once you've defined that, your strategic priorities often are very obvious.

From there, constraining down is critical. You can't do everything at once, not well anyway. So you pick the few priorities that matter most and you focus on those to completion before you move to the next strategic priority or the next set of priorities. This is where meaningful traction is created. I did a whole, I say a whole, I did a podcast episode that was about 10 minutes long, but it was all about this, and it was recent. So go back and check that out. We'll link to it in the show notes.

Now, between strategic planning sessions, we, and that's quarterly, we stay connected with clients for accountability and support because this is where the real progress happens, in the follow-through. We meet you where you are when we talk to you in between. We meet you where you are, we help you reshift if necessary to refocus, go again so that you can see your strategic priorities all the way through to completion.

Part of being successful in execution is planning for when and how you're actually going to get these things done. You can't just set priorities and hope that they happen. You have to decide ahead of time when you're going to focus on them and how you'll make space for that focus. Focus is one of the most important resources you have as an owner. And if you don't decide ahead of time where that focus will go, it gets eaten alive by the day-to-day.

So once you've identified your strategic priorities, you need to make a plan for when those things are going to get your attention. We teach a process called Monday Map, Friday Wrap, and it's a simple structure that helps you get intentional about where your time and where your focus are going.

I won't go into depth on that here, but it's all about making sure you're spending your time on what matters the most and not letting the week slip away without progress on your strategic priorities. If you want to learn more, you can check out episodes 216 and 217 of this podcast.

Now, depending on your situation, this planning will look different. You might leave a strategic planning session and still carry a full case load. So you're balancing client work with making headway on your priorities, and that's totally normal. It just means you need to think carefully about how your time gets used so you can move both fronts forward. And that balance evolves over time. As you continue to execute quarter after quarter, you gain more freedom. And gradually, you'll be able to step out more of the legal work, and that changes how you spend your time again.

So each quarter, it's worth reassessing what does my focus need to look like now in order to be successful at this stage? That kind of intentionality with your time is what turns plans into results. And once the planning is done, execution begins, and this is where accountability matters the most.

I would put money every single time on a law firm owner who takes space every single quarter for strategic planning and stays connected through accountability over someone who doesn't. And it's not because one person's lazy and the other isn't, it's because one person has the structure and support that they need to stay aligned with what matters most.

When you work inside this kind of framework, you have someone helping you keep your focus on the right things. You have a rhythm for checking in, recalibrating, staying the course. That's what allows you to build momentum quarter after quarter.

And when you come into Velocity Work, you are not a number. We care about every client we work with, genuinely. We see ourselves as a partner in what you are building, someone who's in it with you, helping you think, plan, and execute with clarity.

We've made some bold, intentional changes this year that deepen that partnership even further. Our structure, our systems, even how we define success with clients, everything we've refined is designed to let us serve at an even higher level. So when I talk about accountability, that's what I mean. It's about having a trusted partner who knows your business, who cares about your success, and who helps keep your energy and attention on the things that will truly move the needle.

When you take space every quarter to plan, to really look at your firm, your data, your progress, your people, it changes everything. You lead with more clarity, you make decisions faster, you start to feel the weight of confusion and uncertainty fall away. And when you have a partner walking beside you through that process, someone who's helping you see what's true, what's next, and what matters most, you build momentum you didn't know was possible.

That's what this work does. That's what the client I was telling you about at the beginning, that's what he's referencing. It helps you build a firm that actually gives you the life you want, one that's healthy, profitable, aligned with what you care about the most for yourself and for your firm.

If you're listening to this and something in you knows it's time, if you're tired of feeling like you're just reacting, if you're ready to be more deliberate with the future that you are building, then reach out.

Book a call by going to velocitywork.com/consult or by using one of the links in the show notes. We'll talk through where you are right now, where you want to be, and what it will take to bridge that gap together.

This work is powerful, and it's personal. Every client we partner with gets our full attention and our full care. You'll never be a number here. You'll never walk this road alone.

All right, everybody. Thank you for listening. I'll see you here next Tuesday.

Hey, want to watch the video of this episode? Head over to Velocity Work’s YouTube channel. You’ll find the link in the show notes.

You may not know this, but there's a free guide for a process I teach called Monday Map Friday Wrap. If you go to velocitywork.com, it's all yours. It's about how to plan your time and honor your plans so that week over week, more work that moves the needle is getting done in less time. Go to velocitywork.com to get your free copy.

Thank you for listening to The Law Firm Owner Podcast. If you're ready to get clearer on your vision, data, and mindset, then head over to VelocityWork.com where you can plug in to quarterly Strategic Planning, with accountability and coaching in between. This is the work that creates Velocity.