The fall season in the legal industry is a time when many lawyers feel burned out, not just because it gets dark and gloomy, but also due to the pressure of reaching annual goals. To help the legal industry community avoid this seasonal stress, Crespect, a developer of intelligent legal practice management systems, hosted a webinar on how to boost energy and stay on track in the busy fall season.
The webinar’s speakers, Neringa Petrauskaitė, a legal marketing strategist, and Manu Kanwar, a founder of a legal consultancy, shared some valuable tips on how to avoid burnout and achieve goals.
Fresh Inspiring Ideas or a Sign of Derailing?
Neringa pointed out that it’s common for lawyers to come back from summer vacation full of new ideas for marketing and business development. However, she warned that it’s important to be strategic about these new initiatives and not to abandon your existing plans.
“The B2B sales process, as well as in the legal industry, takes on average 4-12 months,” she said. “This means that our marketing activities must be long-term and consistent, like running a marathon, not a sprint.”
Manu echoed this sentiment, adding that misalignment between your goals and your actions can lead to burnout.
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“It’s important to really think about why you’re doing what you’re doing,” he said. “What’s your purpose? What’s the client’s purpose? When you’re aligned with your purpose, it’s easier to stay motivated and avoid burnout.”
Wellbeing Issues Caused by Misalignment
As Manu noted, the beginning of a new season brings us not only the relaxed summer energy but also a sense of overwhelm with deadlines coming towards the end of the year and increased pressure from clients who have also returned from vacation.
“Pursuing new ideas might look a bit more exciting than continuing what was started half a year ago. Not to ignore that it is getting colder and darker, also, and annual goals and billable targets contribute to creating constant pressure. This frenzy can lead to misalignment, both in terms of our own energy levels and our goals, which can lead to wellbeing issues, stress, and potentially burnout,” he warned.
Manu shared a module of four alignments that can help individuals, legal teams, clients, and firms stay aligned: awareness, acceptance, autonomy, and adoration. You are invited to watch the webinar and learn about the inspirational module from the webinar recording on LinkedIn or YouTube:
Remain persistent yet check in with purpose
According to research Neringa reviewed, business strategies in the legal industry need more consistency and less seasonal frenzy. She adds: “In a marathon we can’t get halfway there, stop, and then change direction hoping that the other path will be easier, faster, and simpler.”
According to research she reviewed, people need to see a message at least 9-16 times before they remember it and associate it with a person or brand. This means that repeating knowledge, insights, thoughts, and ideas is essential.
Manu agreed, adding that it’s also important to check in with your purpose regularly. He recommended reviewing business plans and checking the changing energies and motivations of legal teams that are now regrouping after remote work and scattered summer holidays.
“The more people there is in the organization, the more complex the relationship system becomes. As a system it is always intelligent, generative and creative; it is always moving towards achieving the objectives of the people within it, but the people in it don’t necessarily know what impact they’re having and taking away. So if we can find ways to bring more awareness back into that system, then we can drive more intentionality, more purpose and positivity,” he said.
Technology Can Help Put Your House in Order
Crespect co-founder Karolina Šilingienė, who moderated the webinar, wrapped up by reminding attendees that technology can help law firms avoid the “fall frenzy” and disarray that can come with new ideas and refreshed goals.
“At Crespect, we believe that technology is essential in helping law firms reach their goals. That is why we created an intelligent legal practice management system to help you grow and manage your business. Our solution includes everything that a successful law firm needs in one place: from clients, cases, time tracking and billing to collaboration and legal CRM.
We are here to enrich your business decisions with intelligent data and recommendations; we aim to help law firms reach their business goals and track them daily instead of quarterly/annually.”