Data-Driven Decision Making and Productivity Systems with Chelsea Riekkola

I’m Melissa Shanahan, and this is The Law Firm Owner Podcast Episode #309. 

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.

Hey, before we jump in today, right when we stopped recording this, I remembered that I wanted to say this, so I am adding it at the beginning. Chelsea, who you're about to hear on this interview, just received the Top 40 Under 40 award by the Anchorage Journal of Commerce. And I wanted to dig into on that with her, just congratulate her. So we're doing it upfront. Congratulations, Chelsea, you so deserve it. I'm so glad you got it.

Chelsea Riekkola: Oh, thank you. The joke is that my mom has a hat trick because my two sisters were also Top 40 Under 40 back in the day. And so when I texted my mom to let her know, I was like, "Hey Mom, I'm Top 40, so you have a hat trick. It's a sports reference. You'll have to Google it."

Melissa: That's great. Yeah. Well, congrats.

Chelsea: Thank you.

Melissa: And now we'll get into the episode.

Welcome back, everyone, to this week's episode. I'm so pumped. We have Chelsea Riekkola here with me today, and actually, really legit here in our space.

Chelsea: We're just in different rooms.

Melissa: Yes, this is really funny. Welcome to the show.

Chelsea: Thank you.

Melissa: Very glad you're here. Most people know we're getting a studio together. That's actually not ready yet, but Chelsea was here. I wanted to interview her for the podcast. So we have her in one room and I'm in another because I can't figure out the audio another way. So this is how we're doing it. Thank you for being here, seriously. Thank you for coming all this way. Maybe tell everybody a little bit about who you are, where you live, what you do, and why you're here.

Chelsea: Sure. Okay. So, I am Chelsea Riekkola. You did nail that part on my name. I'm an estate planning lawyer. I work and live in Anchorage, Alaska. I was actually born and raised in Anchorage. You know, it's a city, but it's not huge. It's got a population of like 300,000, so that's our market. But we do have an aging population, and my firm, which does pretty much exclusively estate planning and administration, serves not only Anchorage, but also other areas of Alaska because it's a big old state. And lots of the tiny towns don't have attorneys that do specifically what we do.

So, I stumbled upon you at ClioCon. And actually, it's funny because the day I met you is the day I learned about KPIs. I did not know what a KPI was until I listened to your talk at ClioCon, and it kind of just unlocked something in my brain that was from the business side of things because I actually have a business degree. I graduated from my undergraduate program with a bachelor's in marketing.

And then I went to law school because that's what smart people do when they don't know what else to do. And luckily, it worked out, and I really like it. But I had never really thought about it from that perspective. I was a baby partner, so I'd only been a partner for a couple of years, and I was just starting to think about the business side of things in that way. Like it was a huge mental shift. So, that led me down the rabbit hole that is your podcast, where I listened to many, many other things on KPIs and measuring data. And it spoke to me, like at the core level. I just, I had never thought about it before, and it really, really resonated.

So, I, after much to do, finally joined Mastery Group, which I'm loving, and have decided to do one of the Mastery Group live sessions. I swear to God, it was really just because I wanted to get into that tracker with you that we fixed earlier. But in-person stuff, I love in-person stuff, like especially as like we're all survivors of COVID at this point. So, it's just nice to see people in person and see some of the other group members. It's been like a huge resource for me when it comes to all things legal tech. So to be here when he's here is also a privilege.

Melissa: Mastery Group Live is just an opportunity members have to come here. There's no registration cost, but they need to make their way here with travel. And Alex is another member, and he's also here. That's what you're referencing, is like you guys have helped each other a lot, actually, over the last two days, but yeah.

Well, okay, you're talking about the tracker that we fixed. One more thing before we dig into specific questions for you. Maybe give people a rundown on how your firm works. How many people are at your firm and partnership, et cetera?

Chelsea: Yeah, yeah. So there are three partners, kind of like the middle partner, as it were. Bill Pearson, the senior shareholder, majority owner, has been with the firm for 22 years now. I have been with the firm for 11 years and a partner since 2020. Yeah, that was a COVID adjustment because we were making it, and I got credit for that.

And then Melanie, our junior partner, she just became partner this year. She's been with the firm about 6 years. And then we have one associate, Emil. And then we got a lot of staff. We have 3 paralegals, 3 legal assistants, an office manager, and a receptionist, who we call our Director of First Impressions.

Oh yeah, hot take, I'm not going to waste this opportunity. If anybody out there knows someone that might make a good operations manager, we are hiring because my lovely office manager has been with the firm for also 22 years, and she's ready to retire. So, we are trying to build her off-ramp as we are designing it, and it involves hiring someone new. So if you guys know someone, see our job posting on Indeed for Foley & Pearson.

Melissa: Nice. Yes. I think your firm would be fantastic to work for.

Chelsea: Oh, we are so fun, and we're fancy. My legal assistant, especially Lizzie, she is so fashionable. She's like the fashion diva of the office. She keeps us together. Like we all have to kind of like get to the next level because otherwise she'll just make us look shabby.

Melissa: Oh, that's hilarious. That's great. Well, okay, so you became partner, 2020. And okay, I saw you at ClioCon. Was that 2021?

Chelsea: I think it was 2022.

Melissa: Yeah, I think you're right. 2022. And so I did not know that, by the way. I did not remember that, if I did ever know that, that's the first introduction that you had to Velocity Work or to me. That is super interesting. Okay, so that's where you first heard of it. You started thinking about KPIs, you started listening to the podcast. Talk to people about, because now you are very organized with your data, but that's been a journey for you. As we were talking about this before the episode, you're like, "Oh yeah, I used to not have that." So maybe talk to people about what it was like as you started getting your stuff together.

Chelsea: Yeah, journey is the right word for it, for sure. It's been an evolution. So, one of the things that your podcast has, especially in kind of like your earlier episodes, because I went back and I like started at the beginning. So I had my own little journey with like you in my head, which is hilarious. You had said like, "Oh, if you go to this page of our website, like you can download this tracker thing." And so I actually went and I downloaded it, and I was like, "Oh my God, I do not even know." I was very intimidated by the idea of having to pull those numbers out of the system, and like running the reports and looking at the reports. And like for anybody out there who uses Clio, like if you are Clio and you're listening to this, like I'm about to test your beta version of your reports, but like I'm skeptical.

So, you know, getting that data out, I think I knew it was going to be challenging, and it wasn't really my skill set. But listening to enough episodes convinced me that like it was worth doing. It was worth the headache. And once I kind of started to get into it, I figured out enough about the reporting and enough about the Excel sheets it generated to be able to manipulate the data and be able to actually see what it was telling me. And that was so empowering to get that handle on the numbers because it's it really was always a blind spot for me.

And especially in baby partner land, when senior partner has such a good handle on the numbers. Like checking QuickBooks daily, like he knows where everything's at. He's been steeped in that, and his background is in finance, actually, his degree is in finance. So he was just like good at the numbers, I think, from the beginning. And I really had to force myself to learn it, but I'm so glad I did because it's been super helpful and eye-opening as an owner. And it allows me to have intelligent conversations and opinions about what we should do and why.

Melissa: Mhm. Yeah. How long do you think it took you to get the basic tracking template? Now, we have it even, it's to someone new, it's more complex, but it is more organized, and it's different and better now. The original one didn't break it up into practice areas. Like I'm just curious, how long did it take you to just get the basic information where you felt like, "Okay, I've got this month over month?"

Chelsea: Okay, this is like a little bit embarrassing. It took when I joined Mastery Group and you made me do it.

Melissa: Okay. Okay.

Chelsea: Yeah, legit. Like I saw it. I knew that it was valuable. I kind of messed with the numbers. I got halfway through. I was like, I can't do this. I don't know. I need help. And then I just sat on it for a while. And then I called you. And here I am.

Melissa: Well, you have been a total joy to work with. Oh my gosh. You're just a ray of sunshine, but that almost makes you sound like, sometimes people think of ray of sunshines or as someone who's flighty, and that is not you. You are very sharp, you are very grounded, and you are generally, I think you even said this at one point, you live from a position of positivity, typically.

Chelsea: I don't know. Yes, resting state of optimism. Yeah, that's my.

Melissa: Resting state of optimism. Yeah, exactly. Okay, so now you figured out quite a lot about your data. I would just love to hear from your perspective, like what is the most useful thing about having and being organized with your information? How has that changed things for you?

Chelsea: I mean, it just helps me understand and make decisions about what things should cost, which is such a fundamental question to the practice of law, right? Like, and I think a lot of lawyers, too, we struggle with this. We're bashful about our fees because it is expensive. I mean, like legal help is not cheap, especially good legal help. But on the other hand, you're solving unsolvable problems, right? For people that need them solved and the question is what should that cost? And being able to see how much time is actually spent, and measuring that, and like getting adjusted to the idea of measuring things is good. Like you do want to know.

For a while, I think it was a little bit like we don't want to know because like if we knew, then we'd be mad. But it's been really informative and empowering too. I think I was struggling the other day with like, you know, feeling like I had to hit a certain metric because we have a revenue goal this year. And you were like, "Well, you don't have to do this all by yourself." And also, like, don't you have numbers that you know that if you hit, it's going to be fine? And I was like, "Oh yeah, that's right." I don't have to sweat it. I just have to meet the metric. And I know what the metric is because our data is organized.

Melissa: Mhm. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, we're kind of on this topic. I feel like we're jumping ahead of the bullets of what you and I were going to talk about, but it just feels like a natural dovetail here. Can you talk about how this year you brought to Bill, the senior partner, the goal that you wanted to set for the year based on data, right?

Chelsea: Yes. So we had this phenomenon. It was it wasn't last year, but it was the year before, where Bill had set a revenue goal because the firm had never hit this particular number. And like he was very excited about trying to make it happen. And it was a really interesting phenomenon because everybody in the firm got on board. And the staff was really excited about it. And people were like trying to hit this number, which I don't think he saw that coming. I certainly didn't. I wasn't like, "Oh, well, if you just tell everybody that they're working towards this common goal, like they'll get on board." Like, no, legit. Like, we didn't even have an incentive tied to it. It was just like hitting a goal for the sake of hitting a goal. And everyone was jazzed.

And so like at every month, we'd say, you know, like we had this many cases, and like this is where we're at, and everybody would get all excited. And like at the end of the year, we made the goal, and everyone was feeling really good about that. And the staff actually asked like, "When is Bill going to do that again? Like, we want to set another revenue goal." And we went all last year without it ever happening, mostly because Bill was emotionally exhausted. He just like had a lot going on in his life and just didn't have the bandwidth to be like the rah-rah cheerleader.

But literally, maybe not on a monthly basis, but at least a bimonthly basis, like someone would say, "Well, how come we don't have a revenue goal? Like, can we do the thing where like we know what we're supposed to hit?" And finally I was like, "Bill, I think we need a revenue goal." And like this is what I think it should be. And he was like, "Oh, I don't know." Like, you know, what happens if we set it and we don't make it? And like, I don't want to stand up there and do that song and dance. And like, I don't, that seems like a stretch.

And I was like, "No, I really think we can make it." And here's why. And I had worked on the numbers and figured out like through one of our quarterly retreats, like we get into the numbers, we figure out what things are supposed to be, and like what's achievable and what's a stretch. We've had some staffing changes that I think ultimately are beneficial for the bottom line long term. But you know, it's still about getting people up to speed and but I was adamant. I was like, "No, I think we can do this."

And it was hard for me to feel that confident because I'd never been like the numbers person before. Like that was not my role. And I was like, "No, Bill, I really, I think we can hit this." And he's like, "Well, show me the math." And I was like, "Here's here's the math." And he was like, "Okay, you know what? If you want to set this, like you can, but it's on you."

And I was like, "Okay, we're going to do it." And we did. And now we have a revenue goal, and like we do have an incentive tied to it this year, which is fun because I just listened to your incentive podcast released. And I was like, "Oh, we're doing that where it's like, you know, some individuals, some team." But this one is for the team. If collectively we hit the revenue goal, everybody gets basically credit for a plane ticket. And like a couple of days off to go use their plane ticket.

Melissa: I mean, the cool thing about yours is you're a bigger firm than most people in Mastery Group, but it just makes sense for where you are and considering Bill's doing Bill and you're you're into it, right?

Chelsea: God love him. Yeah.

Melissa: So the cool thing is the number that you gave, and you backed up with math, he was able to say, "Okay." Like, he didn't totally believe you. But tell everybody where tell everybody what's going on now at this point.

Chelsea: Yeah. Oh yeah, we're on target. And it's crazy like how it's almost exactly the number, right? Like we're not above, we're not below. It's and every month I'm like sweating it, right? Because I'm looking, I'm like, "Oh gosh, are we going to make it?" And then I talked to the office manager, and she was like, "Oh yeah, we have the stack of checks we need to deposit." And I'm like, "Oh, okay." And it's invariably it's the amount that's needed to get to that number.

Melissa: It really, it is wild to me how I get so geeky about doing the math in a certain way and doing your best to project forward, knowing that you can pull certain levers and you're planning on pulling those levers and seeing what happens. It is wild to me how often it's super close. Sometimes you blow it out of the water. Sometimes you fall a little short. It is surprising how when you really dig deep and you really think through how this is going to play out and how it's going to work and what your barriers are going to be and what's going to have to happen, it makes sense that you're pretty close.

Now, there are things outside of our control that can happen that could throw that off. And I don't know if you would say you had any of those this year or not. I mean, you've definitely had some changes happening, but maybe you anticipated those. But I don't know. To me, it gives me goosebumps when someone is so close and they surprise themselves because it's like, yep, yep, yep, yep, yep, on target, on target, on target. It's like that's because you did the work. You did the work to figure out what makes sense. So, kudos to you.

Chelsea: Oh, thanks. I mean, I think it's just very affirming when it's worth the lift. You know, when I came to Bill and I was like, "I want to do this coaching program. I think it's really going to help. Like it's very numbers-focused. I'm trying to get better at the numbers." And he was like, "Great. Like, go for it." But I think he sometimes laughs that we've created a monster a bit. And I don't think he really anticipated some sort of like sleeper cell that now has become like obsessed with making a more productive and like, I don't know, effective business.

And you know, the other funny, very positive, unintended consequence of this is I feel like because the staff is engaged with a goal, it's almost like they're more engaged with the work, which actually delivers a better product. It's kind of a funny, like you would think that those things are kind of unrelated, but it seems like they're not. I mean, at least that's what I'm finding.

Melissa: Well, that's neat. It's been so neat to watch your journey and you're like a dog with a bone, you know?

Chelsea: Oh, girl. Yeah, I don't do anything halfway. Like my poor husband. I just cannot.

Melissa: This is true. Your husband, who's also amazing. I met him at ClioCon. He's also a law firm owner.

Chelsea: Yeah, shout out to Brian, North Star Law Group. Woo.

Melissa: Yes. Yes. Okay. I would love to, just considering the time we have left. I wanted to share, or have you share this episode, something around your productivity. You get a lot done, and you are very busy, as are most listeners. You have a little one at home. You are a law firm owner, your husband is a law firm owner. There's a lot going on. And you are actually, just for context for listeners, Chelsea is very into and very good at creating processes and systems and workflows and thinking through it. And if she has time to focus on that, like she can knock it out, and she loves it. Like you love that work.

Chelsea: I do love that stuff. Oh my gosh.

Melissa: So you've done a lot of that. You work on the business quite a bit, even considering how busy your firm is, and how like you guys grow at a good clip consistently year over year. As an owner, you have a lot of responsibilities that aren't just cranking out the work. You do it all. You get your rocks done. You fill out your trackers. Yeah, most of the time, which is that's I mean, no one's perfect, you know. And there's a difference between, you can see it in people who, they have justifications for why things don't get done. And listen, you could look at them as real reasons, but some people don't do that. And I think that's interesting. And I think that I would like to hear what you have to say. And if you're willing to share a little bit about ADHD and your view on that. So go for it.

Chelsea: Totally. Yes, girl. Let's get into it. Okay, so full disclosure, I do not have an ADHD diagnosis. However, my son is diagnosed ADHD. Both my sisters are diagnosed ADHD. I mean, we all look at my mom and we're like, "Well, there's where it came from." Because it is, there's a genetic component. You know, some of the signs of ADHD can be, you know, hyperfocus, which it turns out is like a freaking superpower if you find the thing that you're good at and you like.

And I think it's actually been a huge asset to have some of these tendencies to like be all in on things. And part of that has been being all in on the, I'm sure the listeners like are, you know, very familiar with the Monday Map thing. But like I started doing Monday Map, and I'm I've always been kind of a creature of routines, and I fall back on routines a lot. And now I'm realizing as an adult, after all these conversations about ADHD, it's because I don't have any working memory. Like I don't, I have no RAM, dude. I just, but if I write it down and I like go through the exercise of placing things where they need to be in order to get them done, and I do the math of what can be accomplished in any given time, and I stick to it, well, look at that, it all gets done. It's wild.

And it was funny because I was on a run with a couple girlfriends the other day and they actually said what you just said. They're like, "How do you get it all done?" Like, you're so crazy. And I was like, "Well, I do this weird Monday Map thing, and also I'm like religious about it." I mean, like it is my religion is productivity and scheduling. And I know that might seem really like hyperstructured and like off-putting to some people, but it has reduced my stress and increased my productivity at the same time, which seems impossible.

But I do things like I schedule, for example, from 5:00 a.m. to 10:00 a.m. on Sunday mornings, it is in my calendar and it is in my husband's calendar for the spring and the entire summer, Chelsea's gardening time. Everyone understands this is Chelsea's gardening time.

Melissa: You get out there at 5:00 a.m.?

Chelsea: Hell yeah, dude. No one else is up. I get so much done. I am an extreme morning type, which also turns out to be kind of a superpower in this world. But yeah, so I wake up at like 4:00 and I like do my little breathing exercises and I do my yoga and I…

Melissa: Oh my God, you're like the book that everybody's trying to be like.

Chelsea: Except for that I turn into a pumpkin at 8:00 p.m. So like careful what you wish for because like anybody who wants to go to dinner at 6:00, I'm like, "Oh no, mm-mm." My eating window closes at 5:30. Like, sorry, I'm not down.

Melissa: That's hilarious. Well, okay, but you're not just like you are sort of saying this indirectly. Just from talking to you today, just a little bit that we touched on this, it became really clear to me that it is your “religion,” quote unquote, because it is what you need in order to stay sane. Like you said, accountability is a big deal for me. You show up to Mastery Group calls. And a lot of people don't. A lot of people rely on the recordings, and some people can't, you know, like they have court or whatever. So I totally get that. But you do, religiously, you show up to calls, and you said it's because of accountability. And if you don't do Monday Map, you had your hands in the air like a crazy person.

Chelsea: Oh yeah, I was just like, whoa. I mean, like, yeah, I cannot function at the same level without that planning. Like having that structure around what I'm going to be doing with my life is the only way that I could live my life with and do all of the things. If I don't do that, because I have had a couple weeks where I was like, coming back from vacation, and I was like, "Oh, well, it's not on there. I guess it's just not happening." And then the next week was a bleep show. It was like, untenable.

And all I need is for that to happen to me a couple times, and I'm like, fool me twice. Like, I'm done with that. Like I have to do the thing. And I know it's hyperstructured, and I know it's not always the most convenient, but like I put it in my calendar. Like everyone in the office understands that's how I work best now, because I was really adamant about it. I was like, "No, this is how I do this now."

And then they're like, "Okay, Chelsea's all in on a thing." Like we're used to this. We know to just let it go. And now it's been a year, two years, and I'm like still Monday Mapping, and if Bill calls me at like 8:58 on Friday, I'm like, "Bro, you got two minutes. Go." Yeah. I got to get to my Monday Map call. I have to be there for the 5 minutes of BSing before we really start.

Melissa: Right. Yeah. Yeah. No, that's so good. I would love for you to share. You told me a little bit earlier today about your process that you use a diagram. I don't know if you just want to share a bit. For those of you who have listened to Monday Map, this is probably going to be easier to wrap your head around or for those of you who are familiar with Monday Map. If you are not, you can get the guide at velocitywork.com, but.

Chelsea: Get the guide. Do it. Get the guide. It will change your life. Especially if you have ADHD.

Melissa: And I do know this. Everybody's going to find their groove with it in their own way. So, I would love for you to talk about the tools that you use to plan your week. We're not saying Friday Wrap, but you do Friday Wrap when you come to those calls, and then you go into planning your week. So maybe just tell people the tools that you use, just to see if it jogs an idea for anyone listeners.

Chelsea: Sure. Yeah. So, shout out to Friday Wrap, too. Like, I love that part because it just makes me feel good about myself. Like it's like, you know, the only way that I look back at the week that I had and actually recognize anything good I did is because I have to do it on the Monday Map call. So that's also like the reason I show up. That little dopamine hit of like, "Yes, I did things."

But for the Monday Map process, and like this has definitely evolved, and Monday Map was definitely the gateway drug for this whole like productivity journey, and like working with you. Like that was the thing that I wasn't too intimidated about. I was like, "Oh, I can do this." And then I tried it and I was like, "Oh, that's hard. Like it doesn't all fit." Oh, that's math. But now I feel like I've got it super dialed in to the point where I like, I don't even know if I would change anything about how I do it.

So, when I think of a thing I have to do, I have, this is so silly. I have an unsent like, “to: blank” email saved in drafts. So I can get to it from my phone, I can get to it from like wherever I am, and I just type it into that running list. And it's and every week, it's stupidly long, but it's got like all the things. And it's, I mean, it's everything. It's like, you know, send this letter to a client or like follow up on this bill or sign my kid up for swim lessons or, you know, like don't forget to get bagels at the grocery store, or like do the Costco Instacart, like all like all that stuff. Oh, pot up the tomatoes. That's on my list for this week.

Melissa: But this is very like your brain is meant for processing, not for storage. So you're getting it out of your head and into somewhere that works for you.

Chelsea: Right. And then I can trust that, like I know I will look at that. That's not a list that goes nowhere. That's not a post-it. Like the danger of post-it is like you write it on a post-it and then later you're like, "Where's that goddamn post-it?" Like you can't find it. And so this list is always there. It's just running in my phone. And then, when we get to Friday, I guess what I should also say is, part of the Monday Map process is assigning time values to everything. And I've started trying to do that as I put things in. Not always for like the personal tasks because it might not matter, or I just know that it takes 5 minutes, and that's not that hard. But like if I'm adding client work in there, I'm like, "Ooh, that's going to need like a two-hour block. Like that's a heavy project." And so I'll put like just 2:00 at the beginning, and I will know that's 2 hours.

Then, when we get to Friday and we're actually doing the Monday Map, part of the exercise is in order to try to make things more efficient, categorizing the things you need to do and like grouping them. So you have like mine are shallow work, deep work, personal admin, things to delegate, and then my like, I have like a separate little bucket that's for my board work because I'm on a couple boards. And I don't want those to like always be the last priority, so sometimes I'll take those things and kind of move them up the queue so they get done.

But in those buckets, that's actually, I do that electronically. Like when we first started doing it, I would do the thing where I like handwrote everything down. First of all, anybody who knows me already knows my handwriting is absolutely atrocious. Like, I can barely read it. There's one person in the office who can always read my writing, and that's my legal assistant, Lizzie. Second shout out to Lizzie.

So, instead I started using, I use Lucidchart. It's like Visio, it's for like diagramming. And so I use it for like my workflows and processes and stuff. And I was like, "Oh, that's a place where I could drop some things." So then every Monday morning Map, I just open up my same sheet with my buckets and I paste the things from my email into the appropriate bucket. And then when the step comes to get it onto my calendar, I just paste things from there into my calendar. So I cut out all of the writing and like retyping because it's already typed. I put it in an email, and then I just paste it back and forth. And that way it never disappears.

And sometimes it'll stay on the bucket. Not very often, but I'll have one that I'm like, "Oh, there really isn't room. I'm not going to put it back on the to-do list. I already know what it is and how long it takes. I'm just going to leave it in that bucket. I'll see it next week and then I'll figure it out."

Melissa: That's great. I love that. That seems super efficient. I could totally see why that works well for you. Is Lucid kind of like Miro? Do you know Miro?

Chelsea: I don't know. God, there's so many platforms. You could just get lost in the platforms. What's your tech stack?

Melissa: It's like a diagram and you can draw arrows between things, and like…

Chelsea: That sounds the same. Okay. That sounds okay. Yeah.

Melissa: Okay, that's good to know. That's super cool. And you use the same board every week. It's like your board.

Chelsea: Yeah, because I cut and paste. It's like I remove it for these things. Yes. So, and hot tip with the parking lot because I love the idea of parking lot. I do have like, of the draft email that has my regular to-dos, at the bottom of that is my idea parking lot, where it's like long-term things. And so when we have like a strategic retreat or something coming up, I'll look at that to kind of see what might be the next important thing I need to do to make us better.

Melissa: Mhm. How do you prevent shiny object syndrome or like, like you just said, the fact that you put that there and you're not going to entertain that idea until it's a more appropriate time, where some people will just let it derail them.

Chelsea: Well, I think having had a couple shiny object interactions really has helped with that. You know, we tried to onboard a new platform. I don't have to say which one it was. You know who you are. And because we were kind of, I didn't think we were that early as far as early adopters, but I think we were early enough that we were getting beta tested, and the company wasn't very clear that's what was happening. And essentially, it was a practice management platform that was also a CRM. But the fact of the matter was that the money couldn't get into QuickBooks because of a glitch.

And so I built out this entire process based on the shiny object that had, you know, automation capability and stuff. And it would have been really cool if it had worked, but it didn't work. And so I spent like a year and a half like building out a platform that ultimately we had to pull the plug on.

Now, I will say it was not wasted time because that was where I learned to think in systems at kind of the next level. Like event, trigger, action, event, trigger, action. Like what is the trigger? What's the timeline? How do you have to order these things? Whose job is it?

So I got a lot out of that exercise. It was really painful to have to learn, and expensive to have to learn that way. But that experience has taught me like, no, thoroughly, thoroughly vet and have maybe a smaller way to beta test it within your own system before you go all in. So you know, we're considering a couple other platforms, but I'm just letting it roll around in my brain while I get my SOPs in line because like what we've discovered with staff turnover is so often you think you have an SOP and it turns out that it just lives in someone's head, which is horrifying.

Melissa: Yeah, yeah, absolutely. Yeah, I mean, those lessons, it feels like the best lessons are never easy one lessons. But you're sort of a pro at thinking through processes and working on workflows. That's interesting. I didn't know you….

Chelsea: I think that's why, though. I think it was that, I think it was that exercise of like, I mean, it unlocked the part of my brain. And the only frustration I've had that has arisen out of that is, I don't understand why everyone else can't also think this way. Which it turns out like when you are the only one then trying to explain it to other people that don't think that way, or ask them to do like a piece of the project is like it's a big ask because you're like, "Write this workflow." And then they just give you a list of things, and you're like, "It's not really what I was hoping for."

Melissa: Gosh. I mean, I feel like there's other things that are hitting my brain, but I know I'm just being mindful of time. I am so appreciative that you're willing to sit down and do this. Thank you for coming to Mastery Group Live, first of all, and making it all this way. And thank you for being willing to sit down and just share just a piece of your world, you know, and how it's how things have evolved for you. I think it always helps to hear others' experiences.

Chelsea: Yeah, thank you for having me. I really appreciate it. And I mean, I just, as far as, you know, the gateway drug of Monday morning Map, I mean, I just, I would encourage any attorney, especially one who's as distractible as me, to like find a way to focus your energy. You don't have to necessarily time block like as strictly as I do, but like, I mean, even in my office, other people have been starting to adopt the idea of like, I have a thing, I need to put time on the calendar to do the thing. Other people respect that time on the calendar. And it's a very linear relationship of like the more you do that, the more productive you are. Like it's it's so clear. And they're starting to see that too. So, it's been great to have you in my life, Melissa.

Melissa: Oh my gosh, it's been great to have you in our world. For anyone who's thought about joining Mastery Group before, do you have anything to say that might help them figure out if they should just get off the pot?

Chelsea: Yeah, I mean, I feel like a good way to figure out if it's a good fit is to try a couple of the tools that you have put out there that are just like free and available, like the tracker and Monday Map. And like if you find that becomes at all effective for you, like kids, that is the tip of the iceberg. It's definitely like an evolution as a professional, but this has helped me run the firm in a way that benefits everybody. Like it's, you know, the clients are winning, the staff is winning, I'm winning. Like, I go to work and I'm like, "Yay, things are working." And I mean, of course, there's all troubles and fires you have to put out and that never goes away, but to feel like I'm on top of it starts the week before. And that's been super game-changing. So if that process speaks to you, like you should probably pull the trigger.

Melissa: I will say, since you joined, we don't have the tracker available anymore, just to the public. And maybe someday we will, but for the reason that you just shared, and we've we've increased the awesomeness of it, but I think it ups the intimidation factor, the way that we've increased.

Chelsea: Yeah. I would say if you're listening to this episode and you haven't listened to all the other episodes and like the best free resource is just listen to all the episodes. And if you find yourself like me listening to four episodes on a row because you love it, that's a sign that you're the right person, and it might be a good match.

Melissa: You'd probably agree because you see the people that we get to be around. We're all of the same ilk. You know, like we all really enjoy each other. We all jive, we all have fun, and we all get to work. This is not one of those programs that's just like Kumbaya. This is like roll up your sleeves and get dirty. We're going to figure this stuff out, and we're doing it together.

Chelsea: Yeah, I was joking with Alex yesterday. I was like, you know, I think my problem and my strength is that I love an impossible project. I love the never-endingness of it. Like you I mean it's like gardening, right? Like every year you just plant stuff, see what works. Yeah, this has been a great group to kind of like just enjoy kicking ass together. I think that's probably the biggest takeaway.

Melissa: Yeah. And there's a lot of that happening, which is really cool to watch. Yeah. Well, thank you so much. I appreciate all of it. All of it, all of it. All right, everybody. And if you know any good ops managers that are willing, willing to move.

Chelsea: You know, I'd pay moving expenses for the right person. And Alaska's awesome. Oh my gosh. We got mountains, we got rivers. You hike early like I do, you see the sheep just out there sleeping, and they're in a safe place where they don't get hunted, so they just look at you. Yeah, like doll sheep just like, "What up?" It's crazy. It's like a flock of them. Are they a flock when they're wild, or are they a herd? I'm not sure.

Melissa: I don't know. I'm not sure. Oh my gosh. Oh, thank you, thank you. And safe travels home.

Chelsea: Oh, thank you.

Hey, 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.

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