Afraid your practice can’t run without you while you’re on vacation? A visual task management system can give you the confidence to assign work, know it’s getting done, and actually unplug while you’re away.
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Spend Summer Vacation Putting Out Campfires, Not Client Fires
When was the last time you took a truly unplugged vacation?
As lawyers, it’s rare. Even when we’re “off,” we’re not really off. We’re checking email over coffee, answering client texts before breakfast, reviewing documents poolside, and putting out client fires between sightseeing stops.
Why? Because we don’t trust that things will get done right — or done at all — without us.
If this sounds familiar to you, don’t despair. There is a tool that can give you the confidence to assign work, know it’s getting done, and actually walk away from your firm: a visual task management system called a Kanban board.
What Is a Kanban Board?
A Kanban board is a simple, visual way to manage workflows. We encourage all our coaching clients to use visual task management and matter management, and help them set up Kanban-style “matter management boards” to track work moving through their firm.
Whatever you call it, a board typically consists of columns labeled:
- To Do
- In Progress
- Waiting/Review
- Done
Tasks or entire matters are represented by cards, and they move across the board as they progress. We recommend using digital tools like Trello, Legalboards, Clio Matter Stages, or a project management platform like Asana or Monday.com.
The beauty of the system lies in its clarity: Everyone sees what needs to be done, who’s doing it, and where each matter stands. And that’s the key to trust and peace of mind.
Why Most Lawyers Struggle to Let Go
Delegating is hard. Not because we don’t want to delegate work, but because we worry:
- Will it fall through the cracks?
- Will someone drop the ball and I won’t know?
- What if a deadline gets missed while I’m away?
Without visibility into your team’s work, these fears are valid. But with a Kanban board, they evaporate. Here’s how to use Kanban for law firm task management.
Ways Kanban Helps You Delegate with Confidence
1. It Makes Work Visible
Most law firm tasks live in email threads, someone’s head, or scattered to-do lists. That’s chaos. If that’s your set-up, it’s no wonder you feel compelled to check in with work when you’re supposed to be on vacation. A Kanban board pulls all tasks into one shared space, organized by stage and assigned to specific people. Now you and your team can see the work.
2. It Builds Accountability
Each task card includes a clear owner and due date. No more ambiguity or chasing people down. Team members know what’s expected of them, and you can see who’s on track without micromanaging. Even if you want to check on work from time to time while you’re away, the board is the only thing you need to check. You’ll see the status of matters without scrolling through emails or calling in. And once you and your team are used to working with a visual matter management board, that visibility and clear ownership will make it easy for you to delegate supervision of the work to another person while you’re away. They just have to check the board … while you enjoy another day at the beach.
3. It Reveals Bottlenecks Early
If tasks pile up in “In Progress” or “Waiting on Review,” you can spot issues fast—before they become problems. That’s crucial when you’re preparing to step away. A quick scan of the board in the days before your vacation tells you which things need attention now so they don’t blow up later.
Read: “SOP Magic: Managing Your Law Firm’s Processes With LegalBoards.”
4. It Enables Smarter Workloads
You can’t delegate effectively if you don’t know your team’s capacity. A visual board shows who’s overloaded and who has room to help. That means better workload balance across your team and fewer fires while you’re on vacation.
5. It Keeps Clients Happy
Want fewer “just checking in” emails while you’re away? With better internal tracking, your team can respond confidently, update clients proactively, and keep matters moving without interrupting your nap on the dock.
The Secret to an Unplugged Vacation? Systems
Most lawyers dream of a vacation where they can truly unplug. But that only happens when your practice can function without you. And that only happens when you have systems in place that allow you to delegate work confidently. Systems allowed one of our coaching clients to take a 2.5 week vacation last month without his laptop. He worked a total of 15 minutes on the only thing he couldn’t delegate, but everything else was done by his team, who knew what they had to do and how to do it.
Implementing a visual law firm task management system isn’t just about improving daily operations (although it does that really well); it’s about building a firm that can run without you. That’s what gives you the freedom to take a real break.
Imagine your next holiday:
- You monitor your board carefully in the weeks before vacation.
- You ensure everything is assigned, deadlines are clear, and workloads are balanced.
- Everyone on your team knows what they’re responsible for, before you leave, whether that’s intake decisions and scheduling, managing your inbox, or completing client work.
- You brief your team on key priorities—and then you log off.
And your firm? It runs like clockwork.
Read “Three Reasons to Run Your Firm With Visual Matter Management.”
Final Thought
You deserve a vacation that doesn’t include email triage, phone calls from panicked staff or late-night document reviews. A visual task management system like a Kanban board is more than a productivity tool. It’s your ticket to trust, team empowerment, and real time off.
Get the Power Zone Playbook for Lawyers
By Karen Dunn Skinner and David Skinner
Get out of the grind and into your power zone! Learn to align the work you do with the work you love, finding the sweet spot where your expertise, passion, and client needs intersect. It’s here, in your Power Zone, that you will discover the secret to a thriving practice.
Everything you need is in your Playbook.
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Image © iStockPhoto.com.
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