A time to make changes

by David J Bilinsky

We can start all over – In the new beginning
We can learn, we can teach
We can share the myths, the dream, the prayer
The notion that we can do better
Words and music by Tracy Chapman

I have always viewed September as the start of the New Year. Perhaps it was due to seeing September as the start of the school year for so many years. Perhaps it was due to September being the end of the summer. The middle of winter always seemed to me to be an odd time to start making changes anyway. So with a view to making a fresh start in the fall, let us look at a few tips and techniques that we can use to positively change how our practices run:

Goals:
What are your goals? As Yogi Berra said: “If you don’t set goals, you can’t regret not reaching them.” In order to grow, all of us need goals that make us stretch out beyond our “comfort zone” and achieve things that were previously not even considered achievable. The death of progress is complacency. Start by sitting down and writing out (or keyboarding) your goals for the next 12 months. By setting your goals (combined with ways to measure your progress toward those goals in a meaningful way), you move forward out of your comfort zone and look for ways to do things better.

Attempting Too Much:
One of the other ways to stop any meaningful progress toward your goals is, perversely, to set too many of them – thereby diluting the energy that you can put into achieving any particular one of them. After writing out your annual goals – sit back and choose the one goal that has the most meaning for you. It could be a financial goal – typically, these are the first ones that come to mind when embarking on this path. However, rather than trying to work harder or longer or trying to squeeze that last efficiency percentage out from yourself and your staff, I believe that your time is better spent on building the foundation upon which financial success is dependent – and that means setting goals that relate to strengthening the relationships that you have with your clients.

Ask, and Ye Shall Find:
Now, instead of acting on what you think will benefit your clients, do something different that does involve stepping outside of your comfort zone – and that is ask your clients what they would like you to do to better deliver your services to them. This means becoming quiet and opening up your firm to possibly receiving some negative feedback and engaging in actively listening to your clients’ needs. Once you have that invaluable feedback (and just asking can be the first step to strengthening the solicitor-client bond), then you can start developing ways to meet (and hopefully exceed) your clients’ expectations by implementing their suggestions. But be cautioned – having taken that first step, your clients will now expect you to act in a meaningful way as you have now raised their expectations. Failing to properly move forward on their suggestions will clearly demonstrate lack of commitment, insincerity and a lack of desire to implement change not for your sake, but for the sake of the client.

Budget:
Goals can fail for other reasons, some of which relate to not providing sufficient resources (time, energy, and money) toward implementing the steps necessary to achieve change. It is rare that a firm lacks the financial resources to underwrite a goal exercise – typically, it is much more subtle than this. Usually it is due to the fact that, while the expression of and the commitment to a goal is high, the firm’s compensation system is not adjusted to reward the behaviour that would result in the achievement of the goal. For example, if no reward is given to the hours that otherwise would be billable that are put into achieving the goal, the person who takes on the task is at a disadvantage when it comes to annual bonuses or draws that are dependent on meeting billable hour expectations. The goal has simply fallen on barren ground.

Look Inwards:
One of the other reasons that goal attainment fails is that a particular goal does not “light a fire” inside the person entrusted with the goal. Motivation – preferably internal but sometimes external – is the magic ingredient in someone finding the time and energy to produce change. If the goal is badly matched to the person, then the project is off to a rocky start at best.

Leadership:
In most cases, the person entrusted with a goal-oriented project will not be the person cutting the firm’s “red tape” and dealing with the inevitable political issues that are kicked up in any change process. Every successful project has someone acting as a mentor and leader, quelling the opposition and crafting the space and the resources that allow the “worker bees” to act, and shouldering the weight of the process before it produces any measurable results. The leader communicates the vision and the expected “pot of gold” at the end, s/he acts as a sounding board and ensures that political and other steps are not taken to undermine the work.

Adjust to Challenges:
With any project, it is inevitable that the original vision and goals may have to be revised in light of new information. Being able to accommodate and adjust to changing circumstances allows the project to gain life and not be a millstone around the neck of the firm.

Make Some Visible Changes:
Any new project should produce something tangible early in the process – if for no other reason than to demonstrate that you intend to make a bigger impact later in the process. If the project is big enough, consider bringing in a graphic artist, web designer, or legal marketing consultant and seek their input in ways to incorporate your vision, your goals, and your changes into the fabric of way the firm reaches out and communicates with your clients.

Prototype:
Start with a smaller scale test of your proposed changes to gauge the reaction(s) of everyone. This allows you to make adjustments while it is still easy to do so.

In the end, the most important thing is to begin. By taking that first action (after all, the journey of a thousand miles begins with one step), you have taken the mental step to not be complacent with where you are and begin to share the myths, the dream and the notion that we all can do better....

David J. Bilinsky is the Practice Management Advisor at the Law Society of B.C. E-mail: daveb@lsbc.org. The views expressed herein are strictly those of the author and may not be shared by the author’s employer, the Law Society of B.C.

This article originally appeared in the August 2006 issue of BarTalk and is reproduced here with permission of both the author and the Canadian Bar Association, British Columbia Branch.