Performance guide

I know that some of you found the article “What makes a team” by Karen Barton and myself (Journal, September 2007, 34) of interest, and felt that the characteristics of the types of firms we had identified in our “virtual law firms” were worryingly familiar.

This article focuses on how to achieve the high performing team quadrant, with its characteristics of high trust and learning, strong and effective task focus and mutual support and recognition.

Most managing partners and legal department heads would identify with the aspiration of being able to achieve this, with its rapid response to tasks, flexible work roles and division of responsibility, and people playing to their strengths without the need for long debates and haggling about status and recognition. However, too many of us spend our time dealing with the “legal eagles” quadrant, where people argue at length over details, do not listen to what others are trying to say and exhaust each other trying to prove that they are right and others are wrong.

Small firms/departments tend to have people working in the “friendly society” quadrant. In one particular single practitioner firm I was asked to help, everyone chatted openly at their desks and went out to get each other sandwiches every day. The end result was that when a mistake was made on a client file, no one would openly address what went wrong, so as not to upset anyone. Similarly, in larger firms/departments the “legal eagles” are all too prevalent, mostly because people tend to be rewarded and promoted on the basis of their individual performance.

So, how do we achieve high performance teams?

First of all, we need to ensure that we have in place a culture that rewards “team work”. This may include monetary team bonuses, and/or specifying the importance of contributing to teamworking in formal appraisals and job roles.

Secondly, we need to articulate that our success as a firm or in-house legal department is dependent on effective teamwork. It is vital that everyone appreciates that working collaboratively is an essential element of being able to deliver high quality professional services. This may require to be reinforced by asking our clients what they see as the strengths of the firm/department.

Thirdly, there needs to be some aspect of teamworking included in the statement of the core values of the firm/department. One of the core values, for example, might be “helping others”. Another might be “honesty” or “respect”. We need to be able to make a direct link between our culture and working collectively.

Fourthly, we need to define our teams formally as “teams”, so that people are in no doubt that this is how they work and who their fellow members are. This may mean that for every large client project, the team needs to be redefined, or it may simply be a recognition of what normally happens, such as with a small litigation department.

Fifthly, someone needs to be allocated the role of coach to the team. It is preferable if this is someone not directly involved in the day-to-day work of the team. This is where this type of coaching differs from sports coaching (although sports coaches are increasingly looking at mental attitude as well as technical). If the team has a need for increased expertise, an expert should be assigned to them to help them with technical issues and assist their learning. The external coach has a different role: rather one of “enabler” to help them work better together. The role of the coach should be clearly agreed and will usually include being available to be brought in when problems arise, talk issues through with individual members and being able to intervene to prevent potential difficulties.

What makes a good coach?

Some people are naturally better at coaching than others, simply because they are more interested in people, are more patient and are better listeners than other people. However, if we break down the various elements of coaching into individual skills and abilities, it is possible to identify potentially good coaches and focus on developing them.

Good coaches have the ability to:

• build rapport by being interested in other people, listening to identify what is important to them and demonstrating that they recognise that importance;
• see things from other people’s perspective and seek ways to address their concerns;
• listen a lot more than they talk, paying attention to what other people are saying and not saying;
• get their message across by using the rapport and understanding they have, and facilitating an agreed solution rather than imposing one;
• build trust and mutual understanding, and facilitate learning by other people;
• identify problems in advance, devise ways to solve them and negotiate win-win solutions;
• be flexible and adaptable at the same time as being consistent and fair;
• be patient and forward looking, focusing on long term goals;
• be self-aware and able to minimise the impact of their own behaviour, be adaptive and chameleon-like in the approaches they can take; and
• be enthusiastic, self-resilient and determined to see things through to a positive result.

This list illustrates the wide range of skills that need to be drawn from, depending on the particular problem. Sometimes, for example, where the team is working well, the coach can merely be a sounding board for developing its ideas. This can be the case in busy private client or court departments that operate as strong and effective teams on a daily basis, but may need coaching to be able to find ways to improve their overall profitability rather than simply keep churning out the work.

With a less experienced team, the coach may need to be more directive and agree stepping stones to ensure that they stay on the correct path. This may be required when a senior team member is taken ill unexpectedly and the team has to adjust to this at short notice. Yet again, if the team is going seriously off course, the coach may need to take individual members aside and be quite clear about what change of behaviour or attitude is required.

One of the main pitfalls that good coaches are able to avoid is the temptation to become the “parent” for the team, as this tends to create a dependency by the group. Like most parents it is difficult to stand by and watch children fall over and hurt themselves too often, yet coaches must be able to intervene directly only when absolutely necessary.

Reward teamwork

It is important to put an effort into making our teams successful, accepting that many professionals are not natural team players. We should aim to develop the characteristics of high trust and learning, where members are task-focused in an adaptable and responsive way, communicate openly with each other, share information willingly and value their individual strengths. 

Using a skilled coach can help develop such teams. Again, these coaches must be encouraged and developed to acquire the wide range of skills and abilities they will need to inspire trust and respect, at the same time as being objective and adaptable. It is essential to ensure that our culture rewards teamwork and celebrates the successes our teams achieve.

Fiona Westwood runs her own management and training consultancy, specialising in working with the professional sector. A solicitor with 20 years’ experience of private practice, she established Westwood Associates in 1994. She has published two books, “Achieving Best Practice – shaping professionals for success” (McGraw-Hill, 2000) and “Accelerated Best Practice – implementing success in professional firms” (Palgrave Macmillan, 2004) that provide a model for developing successful professional organisations. e:  faw@westwood-associates.com