Incrementalism Helps Lawyers Tackle Big Ideas

Incrementalism—dividing large goals into bite-sized chunks—is the key to finishing a project on time and remaining sane. This is why Lawyerist Lab members work in 3-week sprints. Working in sprints, lawyers meet with their community and a coach to tackle one specific goal, like automating their client intake.

With this type of snappy incrementalism, attorneys use this time to get projects done. This includes projects that lingered on to-do lists because the goal felt too daunting or unimportant in the moment. 

For example, say a lawyer wants to revamp their client onboarding process. Instead of tackling that giant, complicated beast, they start by spending one hour a week, for three weeks, analyzing and rewriting their engagement letters. Then, they would move to the next part of their onboarding plan in the same time-limited format.

Short, Sweet, Effective, and Efficient

Since October, lawyers in Lawyerist’s Lab coaching program have been working in sprints. Facilitated by a coach, the community has met for one hour a week for three weeks. They’ve tackled automating their client intake, updating their operations manual, and creating a hiring process. 

During their weekly one-hour virtual meeting, the groups brainstorm, edit, and build. Then, they spend the time between meetings fleshing out their projects.

The format has been wildly successful. “I thought this was a near-perfect format,” said Lawyerist Lab member Matthew Swanlund. “Short, sweet, effective, and efficient. No wasted time and everyone was focused on results.”

Working in sprints also makes measuring progress easier. For example, Lawyerist Lab Ryan Riesterer worked on automating his client intake this past quarter. 

Instead of a long project where time measurements get muddied as the project goes on, he could nail down his exact time saved. “I estimate saving myself one to two hours per prospective client,” said Riesterer.

Finding Time to Work on the Business

Working in sprints also allows lawyers to work on their business in between doing actual client work. Finding time to squeeze this type of work in can be stressful. Portioning the work into a short period with small steps creates a much-needed space to get things done. 

Labster Allison Harrison worked on creating a delegation plan this quarter. For her, the most valuable part of working in sprints was “making delegation the top of my radar for three weeks.”

Ready to get the tools to work on your business? The Lawyerist Lab coaches are ready to meet you. 

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