Extract from Jim Gill’s article “Legal Operations: Building High-Performing Legal Teams”
In-House legal departments are under more pressure than ever to reduce costs, improve performance, and provide top-quality work. To achieve these objectives, leaders in legal operations can begin building higher-performing teams through optimization by focusing on these three key aspects: optimizing and maintaining organizational health, practicing operational efficiency, and training and developing the legal department.
In part two of our five-part Legal Ops blog series, we’ll take a look at ways to build a high-performance legal team.
Optimizing And Maintaining Organizational Health
To achieve success, building a motivated and efficient team is crucial. Many in-house legal departments are formed without a clear overall vision, which results in hiring for short-term necessity rather than considering long-term effectiveness and overall fit. To create and support a balanced, driven, and high-impact legal team, legal operations leaders should aim to:
- Bring a strong overall vision to their team.
- Develop an unbiased, fair hiring process that results in a diverse and effective team.
- Motivate their best employees by providing promotions and special opportunities.
- Prioritize their team’s well-being by focusing on work/life balance and mental health initiatives.
- Establish a talent pool by investing in mentoring, internship programs, and succession planning.
