Button Law Firm December 2018

Don’t Let the End of the Year Go to Waste HOW TO GET THE MOST OUT OF GOAL-SETTING

As I shared on the cover, I’m a big believer in maximizing time and not waiting until the new year to start planning. The end of the year is a valuable goal-setting time that’s often wasted. Don’t let that happen. When things slow down because of the holidays and everyone else is taking a break and relaxing, use the downtime to fix some of the systems in your office. This is what I’ve found to be most effective for my team: Sometime after Thanksgiving, we get together to review our processes and brainstorm how to maximize the year ahead. When everyone else is away from work, we’re getting better, bonding more as a team, and understanding what each person brings to the table. Here are some of the questions we ask: • What are three big things each person does that we want to help them do more of? • What are three things that cause bottlenecks and how do we eliminate them? • What are three things that my team is consistently waiting on me for that I could delegate? • What training do I need to provide to help my team member do a task as well as I could or better?

These questions become jumping-off points for implementing improvements everywhere. We also do cross-trainings where one person teaches the rest of the team about their role. For example, a month ago we did a cross-training about our follow-up campaigns. These are just as important for me as they are for everyone else on the team. I’m no exception to learning how all of our processes work and understanding the value of each person’s role. If you don’t know how to do everything from top to bottom, you’re doing your team a disservice. I get so pumped for this time of year because of how much we get done at our firm. We have a lot of fun and get better at the same time. I highly recommend making use of this valuable planning time. a very hard person to say thank you to because he always bounces it back to you.” In true Russell style, he tried to turn the celebration into an appreciation day for his team, but they were insistent that he be the center of appreciation for once. “It was a lot of fun, and it was really great to show Russell how much he means to us,” Gaby adds. “We are so lucky to have him as a boss.” In addition to other gifts, the team ordered a framed quote from someone Russell looks up to for his philosophy on teamwork, Bill Belichick. “He is always quoting him and referring to him when he talks about the future of our firm and what he sees for all of us,” Ashley explains. The quote reads, “There is an old saying about how the strength of the wolf is the pack, and I think there is a lot of truth to that. On a team, it’s not the strength of the individual players, but it is the strength of the unit and how they all function together.” –Bill Belichick As Ashley shared, “Rosie, Gaby and I selected this quote from Bill Belichick because it encompasses what Russell stands for as a leader. He believes that while every person has their individual talents and their own unique perspectives and ideas, we cannot be successful if we don’t function together. If we don’t help each other when needed, if we can’t pick up the slack when another team member is busy, and if we don’t all work together and value each other’s input, we cannot be the best at what we do. The individual wolf is nothing without its pack.”

HOW OUR TEAM SURPRISED RUSSELL FOR BOSS APPRECIATION DAY

SAYING THANK YOU TO OUR FEARLESS LEADER

It all started in August when Rosie noticed that Oct. 16 was Boss Appreciation Day. She knew instantly that the team needed to celebrate their fearless leader, attorney Russell Button. “He’s such a great person, and such a great boss, I knew for sure we had to plan something to celebrate him,” Rosie explains. Ashley and Gabriela were 100 percent on board. A cookie cake and balloons were ordered, the conference room was reserved, and the day was planned — all as a surprise for Russell. And it worked. On the day of the celebration, Russell walked into what he thought was a conference room full of balloons and gifts for someone else — only to find out it was all for him. “I was completely surprised,” Russell says. “It was awesome; I didn’t expect it, and it ended up being the perfect end to the week.” “He’s not somebody who likes to take credit for anything,” Ashley says. “He’s

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