Where do we start? The overall task can feel daunting but let us first break down the management of a firm into its key components. We need to achieve four things.

Strategy
It can sometimes be a bit of a challenge, but getting your partners to decide on what they really want from their firm is the first vital task. Do they want the absolute maximum in profits? Perhaps, but taken in the round many do not. Have they a clear vision for the kind of client they want to help? I know a firm that goes all out to help clients that some might see as disadvantaged - they don't make the income they might but they get real satisfaction from their work. Most firms will choose a path somewhere between these two and only when you have really understood where you want to go with your business can you begin to work on making it happen. A vision that everyone accepts will mean that every decision you take will be understood, as it will reflect that aim. And when everyone is pulling in the same direction you are half way there before you even start!
Remember too that the market is the biggest single element in deciding upon your strategy. You cannot lay out detailed plans to offer legal services unless you know who will buy them, in what quantities and whether the prices they will pay will enable you to make a profit.
Finally and just as important, you need a clear strategy for your future. We face so many threats these days and you must sit down quietly from time to time a plot your route through them. If you don't do so you wil be at their mercy.

Structure
Only when your strategy is clear can you make the vital plans you need, plans for finances, plans for revenues and expenses, plans for certain skills and the support they will need, and so on. The structure of your business is the servant of your strategy, arranged to provide the machine that will do the job you want.

Systems
You can now start on the "how". Good organisations only ever do things in an pre-planned, organised way. They know that there will be far fewer mistakes or bad decisions made if they follow a procedure that has been well thought through. This system will not be set in stone though. Whenever it becomes clear that it could be better done in some other way changes will be made and the system changed. Decisions made "on the fly" are rarely good ones. Of course they often need an element of judgement, of "gut feeling", but that should only be brought to bear when the full facts have been assembled and considered.

Measurement & Analysis
Finally, we must monitor the results of our decisions. Good analysis will enable us to see quickly whether what we decided upon is working well and will mean that if it is not, whether because it has proved to be a misguided decision or because outside factors have affected us, we can re-consider and change before damage is done.

Good management is all about good information. Everything can be measured and most things need to be. Financial results? Of course. Problems, complaints and claims? Certainly. Satisfaction levels, among clients and also among staff? Oh yes. But we can also measure many other things, such as service levels - for example how long we take to answer the phone and how long we keep clients waiting, and how long we take to handle each type of matter, thinking as we do this about whether it is reasonable or whether it could be improved.

Unless we measure how can we know whether what we are doing is working? And we always look for trends. A result that looks good is one thing but if it is deteriorating gently we should be concerned and doing something. Similarly, a worrying figure is a great deal less worrying if we can see a steady improvement. In fact good businesses look constantly for improvement in every area and as soon as something useful has been achieved they start again.

In essence, these are the four elements in our work. In the following pages we look in greater depth at the practicalities.

And one final thought here. If you are starting from scratch and this all seems overwhelming, simply do one thing at a time. Browse through these pages, decide what you think needs the most urgent attention, print off the page, and get started.

Every journey has to begin with a single step..........