Leveraging All Available Resources
Who says that all lawyers care about are billings per hour?
No doubt this statistic is critical in determining a lawyer’s livelihood. But in the long run, the ability to create value is at the heart of being able to produce billable hours.
In 2009, CMI conducted a presentation skills workshop at one of Boston’s major law firms. While the session went well, the biggest surprise was what happened after the session concluded.
The group that assembled for the workshop continues to meet and practice the techniques that they gained from the session. It does not matter whether everyone can attend, or whether people have polished presentations ready to present, the goal is to continue to practice and to provide and receive feedback.
According to these legal experts, lawyers have ample opportunities to build relationships, stimulate interest in their services and gain positive exposure for their firms.
One member reported making a pitch to her alumni association at an Ivy League School located in New Jersey. The members of the association were more senior to her in age, primarily male and fairly successful–definitely a group that could be intimidating. However, her presentation was a smash because she was fully prepared.
She had a chance to test out her comments and receive constructive criticism before ever leaving Boston. By the time she had completed the actual presentation, there was little doubt that she had achieved her goals and made a most memorable impression on her audience.
Others members reported how working with the group after the workshop has been beneficial. The bottom line is that this group of attorneys continues to leverage the firm’s investment in their development and have taken their training to another level.
What makes this story of interest is the fact that all professionals, especially lawyers, are extremely busy. Even with full calendars, it is noteworthy that this group has made a concerted effort to establish a user-friendly, sustainable process that includes:
• selecting each month a new volunteer moderator to
- organize the meeting
-ensure that the meeting date and time are on each member’s calendar
-identify topics that members can present easily with little or no preparation for two to five minutes
• enlisting different presenters to reinforce basic strategies gained from the workshop during the meeting
• calling upon each other outside of the scheduled meeting for feedback and suggestions in preparing for various presentations
This group of lawyers is definitely about leveraging resources. Most importantly, they are thoroughly committed to doing what it takes to create the value necessary for generating billable hours.
Tuesday, May 4th, 2010 | 11:03 am
Filed under Communication.
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