Thought leader

It is not a good idea to announce a major change programme to a partnership with no warning, background or context. Most managers of law firms say that they would never do such a thing and yet, in various ways, it happens time and again.

It is commonplace for partners to say that they had no idea that management had gone so far with an issue, be it a new organisational structure, a partnership-remuneration process, a new strategy, or even a merger. Generally they are aware that a particular issue is floating around, but are taken by surprise when a proposal lands on their desks. Management, on the other hand, thinks that it was sufficient to mention it in a meeting.

A consistent problem in developing change programmes in law firms is this apparent miscommunication between management and the partnership at large. The consequence can be that partners feel something is being imposed on them, they do not fully understand the issue and then go back and unpick the decision. This delays agreement, creates tensions and can lead to an important project ending up either on the back burner or abandoned.

The danger here is that management can run too far ahead of the partnership. Partners often complain that they do not receive enough communication about the agenda of management. Issuing minutes and other papers does not guarantee that partners will read them or, if they do, understand the importance of specific issues. A board can proceed a long way down the path of preparing a proposal for a major change only to find the partnership up in arms about it. Once management realises that the matter being discussed could lead to a major change recommendation, these questions must be addressed:

Do the partners agree that this is a major issue that needs to be dealt with?
How deep is their understanding of the issue and its implications?
What other issues could be raised by the change that might be resisted strongly?
Who might be the opinion formers in the partnership on this topic (both positive and negative)?
Talk to partners who are not in management. Raise the matter with them and gauge their reaction. Talk to some of the likely opinion formers. If the evidence suggests that the particular topic is not on their radar screen, then the first step is to ensure that it is. Or, if it cannot be raised to a higher level of urgency, then management might be wise to put the issue aside until greater awareness is achieved.

There is no point management pushing ahead with developing a proposal that involves major change, if the majority of partners do not believe that the matter is important. The first step is to ensure that there is agreement about a matter and about its level of priority. Asking people to change when they see no particular reason, benefits or urgency will lead to a rejection (certainly in terms of taking action) of any proposal for major change.

Extract taken from the ‘Leadership and change management in law firms’ report, written by Alan Hodgart and published by Ark Group, March 2006. For more information, or to order a copy of the report, contact Adam Scrimshire at ascrimshire@ark-group.com