Page 22 - Law Society of Hong Kong MPMC Manual v8 - With checklists (1 March 2018)

Practice Management Course | Unit 3
Talent Management

UNIT 3: TALENT MANAGEMENT

Introduction
Managing people is a significant challenge for many lawyers. The personal development skills
involved in people management are distinct from the legal technical skills we have learned, but are
just as important for the success of a legal practice. Lawyers who possess the skills to create
effective workplace relationships are better positioned to increase productivity, implement a
coherent strategy, reduce administrative overhead and generate success for themselves, their
clients and the practice.

In this unit, we focus on how one may create productive work environments as a leader, as a
manager, and as a contributor. Such environments require open and honest communication,
positively engaging in constructive conflict, and effective collaboration.

Objectives
At the end of this unit, you will be able to:

• Analyse the elements of practice teams and effective working environments.
• Discuss the value and importance of leadership and collaboration.
• Explore what makes teams work, including maximising open and honest
communication.
• Analyse the reasons real collaboration is difficult to achieve and what to do about it.
• Recognise how you ‘fit in’ and can boost your contribution to your team and practice
group.
• Identify the elements of effective workplace relationships.
• Examine ways to create productive environments as either a contributor or leader of a
team.
• Outline techniques and create plans for effective ‘influencing’.

Creating effective work environments and fostering teamwork
1. With more law practices merging and hiring laterals, new teams are formed,
consisting of team members who do not have a long history of working together
and resulting in low levels of coordination and trust.

2. Indeed, in workplaces with low levels of coordination and trust, it may be necessary
to implement rigid rules to regulate the actions of team members. This reduces the
flexibility of the organisation and the ability of the organisation to respond quickly
and effectively to risks and opportunities: a fatal flaw in today’s fast-moving legal
environment. Further, managers end up spending much of their time micro-
managing junior lawyers and requesting copious reports and documentation,
resulting in less time available for actual legal work.

3. To create an effective work environment and foster teamwork, law practices should
focus on (1) maximising open and honest communication; (2) positively engaging
in constructive conflict; and (3) expanding collaboration. We tackle each of them in
turn.

Maximising open and honest communication
4. In a team where open and honest communication is prevalent, no team member is
afraid of offering their opinions and asking questions. No topics are off limits.

© The Law Society of Hong Kong (2018) Page 18