Let’s talk about how to measure KPIs in your firm and what to do when things go wrong. Understanding what they mean makes a big difference.

I run my firm based on data. Everyone has numbers they are supposed to hit, so we talk about them a lot and keep and eye on them as we go about our business. If you’re a data-driven law firm, people can sometimes think you don’t care about the quality of work. But the KPIs are not The Objective. They only measure the job someone is doing.

For instance, if you eat junk food, you’re going to start seeing the obvious results from that. The scale, when you step on it to weigh yourself, will start showing you the numbers – numbers you don’t like. It’s not the scale’s fault, right? And so it is with KPIs.