Staff should play key role in tough times

By Nancy Byerly Jones Dolan Media Newswires Many law firms are still trying to recover from the economic chaos of recent years. Others are in the midst of different challenges. They may be defending against allegations of ethical violations or malpractice, in shock and grieving over the unexpected death of a co-worker, or trying to stabilize after the departure of key employees or partners. Rough times sneak up on us with little or no warning and can descend upon us after plenty of tell-tale signs that we choose to ignore. Either way, every staff member, regardless of title, plays a key role when it comes to successfully surviving change. The starter list below offers essential staff "must dos" in tough times (in good times, too, for that matter): --Fully comply with all risk management procedures and systems and remember that ethics grievances and malpractice claims usually rise significantly during economic downturns. --Delegate authority (if you have the authority), and quit thinking you can do it all by yourself, or that you're the only one who can do it right, or, worst of all, that another employee will do "it" better. If you sport any of those attitudes, you're wrong on all counts. --Help come up with ideas to improve efficiency, build morale, enhance the quality of client services and more. Suggest the firm start a monthly awards program to acknowledge cost-saving and other worthwhile ideas that are suggested (and better yet, actually implemented). --Be empathetic regarding the extra stress on attorneys during tough times (e.g., the financial strain of making payroll when income is down, the loss of great employees from unavoidable down-sizing, retirement or resignations, etc.). And the same is true for your co-workers. Like you, they are feeling the strain of financially tough times or they may have other difficult situations occurring in their lives. --Share seminar materials that could benefit your firm and clients. Summarize these "lessons" in a memo. Or better yet, get permission to conduct a luncheon workshop during which you re-teach a mini-version of the seminar. Share any worthwhile handout materials, and tell all attorneys and staff where the complete set of materials will be kept in case they want to learn more. --Share your talents and skills with co-workers. Let go of competitive attitudes or fears that others may appear smarter than you. Think instead about the value to everyone when there's a team spirit atmosphere instead of an "every man for himself" environment. --Mentor others and make the time to be mentored. We are never too experienced or old to learn new things, to be guided, to guide, to be coached, to coach, to be encouraged or to motivate. --Attitudes are highly contagious, so ask yourself: "Is mine worth catching?" If your answer is "no," immediately ask yourself why that is and begin necessary attitude adjustments, pronto. The best of the best get slack occasionally, but during tough times we can't afford that option if we want our firms (and our jobs) to survive. There are silver linings to be gained when tough times meet up with tougher legal teams: a genuine team spirit, improved efficiency and productivity, cost savings that make a big difference in the bottom line, more empathy and understanding for co-workers, maximization of quality work product, happier clients and the "you-earned-it" pride from staying the course, making any changes needed and successfully surviving the storm. Nancy Byerly Jones is an attorney, management solutions consultant, mediator and author of "Easy Self-Audits for the Busy Law Office" and other law office management publications. Entire contents copyrighted © 2010 by Dolan Media Company. All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part without written permission is expressly forbidden. Published: Thu, May 20, 2010

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