Articles
Are you a critic or a confidence builder?
Providing feedback to junior members of staff is a critical skill that leaders and supervisors within law firms need to master, writes Tanya Dunbabin.
Some supervisors see the value in providing feedback and some do not, or they simply say they do not have the time. However, watch the teams with leaders who get feedback right and who know how to build performance. You will notice that those teams function differently – and better.
The truth is that, as a supervisor or leader within a law firm, it is your absolute responsibility to provide feedback to staff regarding their performance. This has a primary and exacting impact on how engaged they are and their loyalty towards the firm.
Shaping culture
The links between performance, engagement and culture run deep, and leaders of law firms set this tone. We operate at a time when there are multiple generations engaging within firms and contributing to their success, ranging from leaders and newbies to the profession. This comes with different strains and challenges.
It is no longer tolerable for leaders to train juniors in the way they were trained early in their own careers. The way people engage in the workplace has changed, and leaders must understand this evolution. Leaders need to accurately know their strengths and then capitalise on them as they build a team that brings other complementary strengths to the table.
People are engaged by the work they do and the autonomy they have, along with challenging and interesting projects and having a supportive team around them. As much as the profession is experiencing the effects of automation, it is still truly focused on human capital and, as a result, individual interactions are a key engager for most people.
Rotating graduates are often the biggest advocates you can have in representing the experiences of working in a specific practice area. Grads more generally can be the cheerleaders that supervising partners need to connect practice groups across the business and build knowledge and internal business development.
For graduates to be advocates, however, they need to feel that they are part of the team, valued, trusted and adding value. At the same time, for them to gain trust they need to demonstrate their skills and value to their supervisors. In short, trust needs to be built on both sides.
This scenario starts with the graduates – they must showcase their best work and demonstrate to supervisors that they are exerting true effort. In return for their good work, they need to receive feedback on their approach and performance.
Giving feedback
There are multiple ways that feedback can be shared, elicited or prised out of people. How supervisors do this will have an impact on the team around them. As a supervisor or leader, does your feedback delivery style mimic that of a critic or a confidence builder? Are you a critic who provides one to two minutes of feedback on the fly, with only one direction of dialogue, without the right of response? Tough love does not always work and, subject to such feedback, members of your team may feel that they can do no right. Their efforts, commitment and involvement need recognition.
Or are you a builder? Do you provide support and strength to earn confidence, inspiring juniors to push harder, challenge outcomes and respond with innovative solutions? Are you open to hearing return dialogue from junior team members about how things could be done differently in this technology-focused world? It needs to go beyond saying, “Of course I am”. Juniors need to see this in action before they can take the brave step to engage you in such a conversation. They need permission to step outside the hierarchy. Firms that encourage such actions will gain an edge. By engaging your staff in this way and in such a dialogue, the results will speak for themselves.
Of course, it is a two-way street – grads have to take some responsibility for seeking out feedback and wanting to uncover ways they can improve their work, style and approach by demonstrating an active interest and curiosity to develop their skills. It is those grads who thrive on feedback (and receive it) that develop at a rapid rate and who can add value more quickly (equating to increased profitability). Navigating the feedback loop for grads is an art form, and it takes practice. The key is knowing the when, where and how to that makes the biggest difference.
Why direct is best
Delivery of feedback can be a pleasant or unpleasant experience, for both sides. In my view, direct feedback is best. People value honesty and truth, but the delivery should also include supportive comments that encourage a person’s growth and commitment to learning. It ideally sparks a fire for the junior to excel in the future. Appropriate feedback and appreciation is an often forgotten aspect of creating an inspired team of lawyers.
Leadership that incorporates such factors can empower and strengthen the team, while also providing an edge for the firm at a time when competitive markets have led to headhunting calls occurring on a daily basis.
As a leader, your ability to inspire is the key – people will look to you for that, and expect to have the opportunity to learn from you. If you provide this through a strong feedback loop, you will have an invincible and impenetrable team.
5 ways to engage with your team
Do you want to be a confidence builder? Leverage individual performance and a strong team culture? Following is my top-5 list of engagement strategies that supervisors can apply to be a confidence builder.
1. Show your thanks. Junior team members need to feel valued, so when you see effort exerted, show your appreciation directly to them. The millennial generation needs to hear appreciation, as opposed to just receiving a monetary reward. A heartfelt thank-you and genuineness goes a long way towards this.
2. Ask questions. Feedback should be mutual – ask your junior team members about their experiences working with you and your team. You may even elicit some information that helps you enhance your team’s operation. Millennials also have different ideas regarding business dealings which your clients may, in fact, be keen on. Give them a platform to share their ideas openly with you.
3. Communicate with every member of your team, not just the senior ones. Develop relationships with each team member.
4. Allow some autonomy in your juniors’ work day. Like anyone, they need to have some control of their production of work. Yes, work quality still needs to be checked, but most will respond positively when they get increased autonomy and push for an increase in performance levels.
5. It is not all about you. But it is about how you lead the team. So taking time out as a team to celebrate the small wins in professional and personal lives of your team members really helps the culture of the group. In turn, this will support profitability and loyalty levels, but you need to organise and be part of the fun that the team experiences. Be actively present in these events and do not flake on them, even if you want to.
Tanya Dunbabin is the founder of LawGraduate Coach, a consulting firm that helps law students and junior lawyers demonstrate their unique skills and develop fulfilling career strategies. She also provides support to law firms in an outsourced graduate consultant capacity, supporting execution of the recruitment process and the graduate program. Tanya has 20 years’ experience in the legal sector, including seven years managing the graduate recruitment program at Herbert Smith Freehills. She can be contacted at tanya@lawgraduatecoach.com.au.