Page 33 - MASTER COPY LEADERS BOOK 9editedJKK (24)_Neat
P. 33
Leaders in Legal Business
Depending on what needs to be done, this element may simply take the form of a structured management
interview, though additional assessment work is likely (financial, client, process, culture, talent, etc.). Even our
best-structured assessment tools need to be tailored to each law firm in order to accommodate its unique features,
and often to accommodate the lack of sound management information that goes beyond basic financial data.
For a major project that seeks to change how partners operate the business (and their practices) or to help
a partnership make fundamental decisions about their future, we usually encourage that partners outside the firm’s
management are involved early in the diagnostics process.
If this initial stage discovers that the problem the firm’s management wants the consulting firm to address
isn’t the most important issue, a good consultancy will not blindly carry through the project that was sold but have
a candid discussion with the client about a fundamental adjustment to project scope.
Second, developing and testing options: Unlike in law, in business there usually is more than one right
answer to a challenge or more than one way to reach a goal. Developing different options and testing which option
will provide the maximum benefit to the law firm with the least investment of partners’ cash and time is a better
approach than to provide one solution and ask the partners to accept or decline this single option.
In our experience having worked with major law firms in more than 50 countries, we find time and time again
that most well-meaning initiatives put forth by firm management end up not being implemented or adopted by
partners because firm management concluded on a single path too early.
Third, involving partners in decision-making: Most readers of this e-book will belong to law firms
with 150 or fewer partners; most if not all partners will know one another and expect some degree of understanding
about what management is doing and why. Horror stories within law firms abound of Big 4 accounting firms
where “partners” are employees who are paid high bonuses but who do not even have a say when their firm
undertakes a major merger or acquisition, let alone a lesser decision to acquire a certain piece of software.
We have seen even the simplest measures fail because an insufficient number of partners was involved in
the creation of the solution. Diversity and social mobility initiatives are a key example where well-meaning and
well-designed initiatives by heads of human resources fail to be implemented properly and, thus, provide a
questionable return to the firm simply because the partners were merely informed about how that initiative will
add value to the firm but are now sufficiently involved in understanding and shaping how that initiative will
change their practices.
The approach that will work best really depends on the size, style, and sophistication of the firm, and the
nature and complexity of the problem. In some cases a factual and directive report is all that is required, but the
range of issues that a consultancy deals with tend to be contentious and involve a range of overlapping factors
(e.g., culture, governance, and process). Thus, a bespoke engagement plan will need to be designed that steers
over time a course of fact and opinion gathering; stakeholder (client, staff, partner) involvement; and
communication, which will lead to consensus and usually a vote. The ”consultation” is particularly important:
People want to feel that they have had a chance to contribute to the debate, air their views, and feel they are being
taken into account. You cannot satisfy everyone, but even if the final outcome is not everything that they had
wanted, they are much more likely to accept and support if they feel that the consultation was fair, open-minded,
thorough, inclusive, balanced, and transparent. If you fail to get the consultation right, then the outcome will feel
like an imposition; with people of high intellect and egalitarian principles, you can expect heels to dig in!
Fourth, implementation testing and day-to-day implementation: A consulting firm usually assists
with implementation in some way, whether by pilot testing the implementation; conducting the full, hands-on
implementation; training and coaching firm members through their own implementation; or simply reflecting the
progress of implementation with the relevant members of the firm.
Fifth, establishing and managing feedback loops: The above elements rarely work sequentially;
overcoming a challenge or reaching a goal often requires the above elements to be applied iteratively. For instance,
a high-level development of broad options for a solution may follow an initial shallow-dive diagnosis, followed
26
Depending on what needs to be done, this element may simply take the form of a structured management
interview, though additional assessment work is likely (financial, client, process, culture, talent, etc.). Even our
best-structured assessment tools need to be tailored to each law firm in order to accommodate its unique features,
and often to accommodate the lack of sound management information that goes beyond basic financial data.
For a major project that seeks to change how partners operate the business (and their practices) or to help
a partnership make fundamental decisions about their future, we usually encourage that partners outside the firm’s
management are involved early in the diagnostics process.
If this initial stage discovers that the problem the firm’s management wants the consulting firm to address
isn’t the most important issue, a good consultancy will not blindly carry through the project that was sold but have
a candid discussion with the client about a fundamental adjustment to project scope.
Second, developing and testing options: Unlike in law, in business there usually is more than one right
answer to a challenge or more than one way to reach a goal. Developing different options and testing which option
will provide the maximum benefit to the law firm with the least investment of partners’ cash and time is a better
approach than to provide one solution and ask the partners to accept or decline this single option.
In our experience having worked with major law firms in more than 50 countries, we find time and time again
that most well-meaning initiatives put forth by firm management end up not being implemented or adopted by
partners because firm management concluded on a single path too early.
Third, involving partners in decision-making: Most readers of this e-book will belong to law firms
with 150 or fewer partners; most if not all partners will know one another and expect some degree of understanding
about what management is doing and why. Horror stories within law firms abound of Big 4 accounting firms
where “partners” are employees who are paid high bonuses but who do not even have a say when their firm
undertakes a major merger or acquisition, let alone a lesser decision to acquire a certain piece of software.
We have seen even the simplest measures fail because an insufficient number of partners was involved in
the creation of the solution. Diversity and social mobility initiatives are a key example where well-meaning and
well-designed initiatives by heads of human resources fail to be implemented properly and, thus, provide a
questionable return to the firm simply because the partners were merely informed about how that initiative will
add value to the firm but are now sufficiently involved in understanding and shaping how that initiative will
change their practices.
The approach that will work best really depends on the size, style, and sophistication of the firm, and the
nature and complexity of the problem. In some cases a factual and directive report is all that is required, but the
range of issues that a consultancy deals with tend to be contentious and involve a range of overlapping factors
(e.g., culture, governance, and process). Thus, a bespoke engagement plan will need to be designed that steers
over time a course of fact and opinion gathering; stakeholder (client, staff, partner) involvement; and
communication, which will lead to consensus and usually a vote. The ”consultation” is particularly important:
People want to feel that they have had a chance to contribute to the debate, air their views, and feel they are being
taken into account. You cannot satisfy everyone, but even if the final outcome is not everything that they had
wanted, they are much more likely to accept and support if they feel that the consultation was fair, open-minded,
thorough, inclusive, balanced, and transparent. If you fail to get the consultation right, then the outcome will feel
like an imposition; with people of high intellect and egalitarian principles, you can expect heels to dig in!
Fourth, implementation testing and day-to-day implementation: A consulting firm usually assists
with implementation in some way, whether by pilot testing the implementation; conducting the full, hands-on
implementation; training and coaching firm members through their own implementation; or simply reflecting the
progress of implementation with the relevant members of the firm.
Fifth, establishing and managing feedback loops: The above elements rarely work sequentially;
overcoming a challenge or reaching a goal often requires the above elements to be applied iteratively. For instance,
a high-level development of broad options for a solution may follow an initial shallow-dive diagnosis, followed
26
