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Long-term exposure to stress can harm you mentally and physically. Stress can diminish your productivity even if you’re working at a job that you love. Work-related stress is a common experience for all attorneys. It is a high-stress career filled with secrets and ethical questions that can make even the most stone-cold lawyer lose their hair. Below are tips on managing work-related stress.
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Trauma can touch anyone at your law firm. National events such as 9/11, local events such as a natural disaster, or something more personal; law firms (and all organizations for that matter) should get ahead of the negative impact that emotional trauma brings to the office. Handling trauma is different for everyone. Law firms should deploy specific strategies that will prepare employees and help them cope with trauma.
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Yesterday we talked about the one thing. It is the one thing that escalates a casual conversation into something more, something serious, something that now potentially involves outside counsel. As the law firm grows it is important to have a process for handling complaints and conflicts. The addition of associates, support and administrative staff means that you have more personalities in one central location and more opportunities for someone to say that "one thing." Failure to handle employee complaints appropriately can lead to employee attrition and ruin your reputation as a firm.
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If you’re lucky, you work at a company where everyone treats each other with the utmost respect. Usually, that is not the case. If you’re like most people, it is inevitable someone will say that one thing. That one thing that crosses the line. That one thing that catapults a "harmless" coworker to "oh no, you gots to go!" Regardless of how great your job is, there will be at least one person who engages in unprofessional behavior including harassment. It is unfortunate, oftentimes there is the backlash in saying something, but you need to file a formal complaint even though filing a harassment complaint at work comes with a lot of risks.
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Things can ALWAYS be improved. That is innovation. Every day, there are better ways of executing your tasks and projects. Those best practices are innovations as well. Innovation is the very core of the tech industry; the reason why tech companies release a new version of their smartphones every - single - year. People who complain see things in a different way. Chronic complainers can quickly poison the team. Complainers harm team morale by placing doubt and suspicion into the minds of associates and support staff. To avoid the toxic impacts of chronic complainers, firm leaders must be intentional and proactive.
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Whether the country is in the middle of a big election, midterms, or at the tail-end of the political season, talking politics at work can be stressful and can create conflicts that harm productivity especially if there are opposing views. Of course, as professionals within the legal industry, everyone knows the first amendment: Freedom Of Speech. Freedom of speech, however, does not constitute freedom of consequences. This is one of many reasons why political talk needs to be avoided at work.
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Law firms that have a balanced team of associates with complementary skills and strengths can successfully compete in the marketplace. Associate symbiosis (yeah, we just coined that) is when associates understand how their strengths help the law firm achieve its mission. This also helps associates align their strengths to the responsibilities in their job description in conjunction with their teams.
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The point of associate development is to expand the knowledge of the attorney beyond their current role. It focuses on growth and future performance instead of immediate roles in the law firm. Law firms that invest in the development of their existing associates reap the rewards of greater retention by helping their associates become more productive and capable of operating on a higher level.
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Beyond new and amended laws, it can be difficult to maintain a teachable mindset when you’ve reached a high level of competence in your profession. Regardless of how skilled you are, there is always room to grow and learn something new. Here are tips on maintaining a teachable attitude.
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Hiring the right people for your law firm is the first step to success but it’s not the only one. If you want to survive and really thrive, you must build a powerful law firm/legal team. Here are a few tips for powerful team building.
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