Don’t Wait to Read This

I procrastinated in writing this column. Many wise people have said that we teach what we need to learn, so overcoming procrastination is the topic for this month. Let’s start with why we procrastinate. Here are some common reasons:
  1. It involves an unpleasant task.
  2. We don’t know or are unsure about how to do it.
  3. The task involves a tough decision.
  4. We don’t have all the materials or information we need.
  5. The project is too big and overwhelming.
  6. We underestimate the time required and have a lot to do.
What do we do to get past procrastination? In my coaching I find there are very few one-size-fits-all solutions. There are patterns and tendencies, however, so we experiment, and we understand that what worked yesterday may not work with a different project today. Here are some tips for your experimentation:
  1. Swallow the big frog first. Pick out the ugliest, hairiest, stinkiest job on your list, and tackle it first. Get it over with and everything else today will be easy. If you have the discipline to do this with regularity, you are probably not a true dyed-in-the-wool procrastinator. Perhaps you should lighten up on yourself. Most of us apply this technique in crisis situations when procrastination has piled up a lot of must-do tasks.
  2. Build momentum with small tasks. The opposite technique involves attacking a few tasks that can be completed quickly to give you a sense of success and build momentum. Once you’re on a roll, you can get a lot done.
  3. Create bite-sized chunks. Break those huge overwhelming projects into smaller bite-sized chunks. Identify the next action step for each chunk. This also works for those projects we aren’t sure how to accomplish. Often we can identify the first action steps, and once we accomplish them, we can see the next step more clearly.
  4. Ask for help. Why do we think we have to do everything ourselves? Are we reinventing the wheel? What a waste of time! Go back to the source of the assignment, go to a colleague, go to the library or the Internet. Ask for help, information, guidance or examples. Once you have help, the task won’t be so daunting and you can get moving.
  5. Team up with someone. This is a corollary to the previous tip. Literally ask for teamwork in doing the job or trade off with someone. Misery loves company and two heads are better than one. When I was 12 and had to clean my room, I teamed up with a friend down the street. First we cleaned her room, then we cleaned mine. We kept each other moving, got it over with, and enjoyed the company enough to make the time fly.
  6. Find a way to make it fun. Be as smart as a 12 year old. Do it with a friend, do it outside, do it with your favorite music on, or wear jeans to work to do it. Get creative. You won’t put off reading that 70 page Asset Purchase Agreement if it gives you an excuse to sit at a picnic table in the park on a pretty day.
  7. Do it for 15 minutes. This is another way of creating bite-sized chunks. Sometimes we just can’t stomach doing the whole project, but we can muster up enough discipline to work on it for just 15 minutes. In four such episodes we can dispense with an hour long distasteful task. Sometimes once we get 15 minutes into it, the momentum will carry us through to completion in one sitting. Maybe it won’t be as bad as we thought.
  8. Calendar it. We are much more likely to do those things we have set aside a specific time for. We don’t wait until we get a “round tuit.”
  9. Plot backward. If we have a deadline, sometimes we don’t get started soon enough to do a quality job. Before calendaring it, we need to think it through and estimate the time required. Most of us then need to double that time estimate. Even if we didn’t underestimated the time required, did we allow for interruptions, equipment failures and emergencies? To decide when we need to get started, we also need to plot the other tasks to be accomplished in the same time frame. We may find we have less time available than we thought.
  10. Promise yourself a reward. If we never celebrate our accomplishments, they just amount to preparation for the next job. No wonder we lose motivation and procrastinate! Maybe you get to take a 15 minute break and go downstairs for a snack when you get those answers to interrogatories completed. If it’s a big project, plan a big reward, like a day off, a shopping spree or a weekend getaway. During an average day, when you finish something you hate doing, let the next project be something you love to do. Have you noticed how much more efficient you get at the end of the day when you know you can go home as soon as you finish what you are working on?
  11. Create a negative consequence. Sometimes we are more motivated by the whip than the carrot. I once shared a goal with my coach, but then put it off for 3 weeks in a row. She verified that I really did want to accomplish that, and that there were benefits to doing it. She asked me to sincerely commit to doing it this week. I did. Then she said,”If you don’t do it this week, you’ll send me your watch.” I gasped. My watch! I didn’t dare ask if she intended to keep it. I had just committed to do the task. If I was in integrity with her, that would be irrelevant. Even if she ultimately returned my watch, it would be a strain to manage without it. That week I scurried to get the task done before the next coaching call.
  12. Get an accountability partner. As described above, this is where a coach really comes in handy, but a friend who isn’t afraid to hold your feet to the fire will work, too. Almost every week a client tells me, “I got it finished this morning because I knew I would have to talk to you about it this afternoon.”
  13. Delegate it. If you keep procrastinating on the same kinds of tasks, most likely they require skills that are not your strong points. You’ll be more productive, and your clients will be better served, if you devote your time to doing what you do best. Believe it or not, someone actually enjoys doing what you consider grunge work.
  14. Strike it off your list. If you have something on your list that keeps revolving to the next week and the next month and the next, perhaps it is time to get honest with yourself. However beneficial it might be, you don’t want to do it. Unless there are dire consequences, just take it off your list and get back into integrity with yourself and anyone else involved. Looking at that undone item every week is lowering your self-esteem, draining your energy, and affecting the quality of your work elsewhere. Fahgeddaboutit.
Good luck with getting into action. If having someone check up on you will help, email me your goal, and I’ll check back with you in a week.

Post Date: May 25, 2007

Posted by Debra L. Bruce | Filed Under Articles by Debra Bruce, Attorney Time Management, Law Practice Management, Raising the Bar | Leave a Comment 

Questions May Be the Answer for Performance Problems

Do you have an employee who just doesn’t seem to be performing up to snuff? Is there a way to rehabilitate that employee? Or do you have to choose between termination and tolerating inferior performance? Employee turnover is time consuming, disruptive, costly and often bad for office morale (including yours). Before jumping to the conclusion that the employee just isn’t working out, it’s worth making sure that the problem does not lie elsewhere. If you don’t eliminate that possibility, you may be doomed to experience the same song, second verse with the next employee.
Managers often think that employees don’t do what they are supposed to do because they don’t want to, don’t care or are incompetent. That would lead to the conclusion that the manager must terminate the employee or settle for poor performance. However, in his bestseller Why Employees Don’t Do What They’re Supposed to Do and What to Do About It, Ferdinand Fournies points out that managers sometimes unwittingly create situations that cause the poor performance they complain about. What if getting better performance from your employee were as simple as changing your own behavior or restructuring something in the office? Would it be worth it?
Begin by determining the answers to the questions in this article. You should not assume that you know the answers, but rather, make inquiries of the employee designed to elicit evidence of the answers. For purpose of illustration, I may use some simple examples involving administrative staff, but the same principles apply to more difficult and complex performance and to lawyers as employees.
  1. Does the employee really know what you want? Often managers give vague instructions that leave out a lot of details, perhaps because the manager has not taken the time to think through the issue herself. Do you really know what you want? When I was a baby lawyer, a partner sent me back to the library again and again to research the res judicata issues on a case, but he still wasn’t satisfied with my product. Finally, I divined that he meant collateral estoppel. Have you made clear the desired result that you want? If you are particular about how the desired outcome is achieved, have you described the specifics of the process? Is the performance measurement clear? For example, if you tell the receptionist to answer all calls promptly, does he know what you mean by “promptly?” Does that mean as soon as he finishes talking to the current caller? Does it mean on the first ring or by the fourth ring?
  2. Does the employee know how to do it? If not, is there training, CLE, a book, a video, a form or another learning resource available? Continuing with our example, if the phone rings while the employee is talking to another caller, are you sure he knows how you want him to handle that? We lawyers seem particularly inclined to expect employees to already know what to do, or to learn by the sink or swim method. Perhaps that’s because many of us got tossed into the deep end without floaties in our first few years out of law school. Before you doom yet another person to learn by the trial and error method, however, think about what their learning errors and insecurities may cost you. The time and money you invest in training pays off with higher quality work product, greater efficiency and client satisfaction. Did you know that the Texas Bar CLE program has a low cost training program for paralegals and law office staff? The next one occurs on March 29, 2006 in Waco. For more information, go to www.TexasBarCLE.com. The Law Practice Management Program has a video library and other resources to help you, as well.
  3. Does the employee know why it is important? If you want the phone answered by the second ring, explain how that helps to foster an image of responsive service to clients, which gives the firm a competitive edge. Without explanation, it may appear to be an arbitrary, unreasonable and unnecessary requirement. When employees don’t understand the reason for something, they may assume it is not important and skimp on performance. Knowing how their role is important to the client and to their co-workers can give them pride in their work and a sense of being an essential member of the team. (If you don’t view them and treat them as essential team members, why were they hired?)
  4. Does the employee have all the tools he needs to do the job well? This can be a sore spot for law firms. Every year our budget for technology and equipment swells even larger. Equipment, however, is cheaper than manpower, and up to date equipment (and the requisite training to use it) allows us to get more done, or do a better job, with fewer people. For a simple example, if you can’t read the messages taken by your receptionist, does he have a good headset so that he can have his hands free to type the messages? Does he have the ability to give the caller the option to leave voicemail? Is your office using outdated software or computers that lack the RAM or processing speed to run today’s programs well? Ask your employees whether there are additional tools that would help them do a better job. You may be surprised at how they have been “making do.”
  5. Is there anything in the environment impeding peak performance from the employee? Some people are distracted by a noisy environment or have difficulty dealing with interruptions. Some get headaches or can’t see well in fluorescent lights. Some are too short to reach high shelves, or can’t bend over easily to reach low ones. Often desk chairs are not ergonomically suited to the sitter, causing bodily discomforts. Some lawyers use their speaker phone a lot and the person in the next office hears everything they say all day. Some people don’t get along well with the person seated next to them. In our example, if the copier is near the phone, perhaps the receptionist has trouble hearing the callers. Just ask.
  6. Can the job be restructured to better fit the strengths of the employee? Do you have the right people in the right jobs? If you have a brilliant strategist whose work looks sloppy due to typos, can she be teamed up with someone with an eye for detail? If someone has a tendency to chat too much, perhaps he would be perfect using those social skills in a client relations or recruiting position. Are you asking someone who would prefer to work alone doing research and analysis to play a role that requires frequent interaction with others, while someone who loves teamwork feels isolated stuck in front of a computer all day?

In short, before terminating a poorly performing employee, consider trying to save the investment you have in them by substituting curiosity and questions for your assumptions. These are the easy questions. Next month we’ll take a more in-depth look at how your own behavior may cause the performance problems you experience.

Post Date: May 15, 2007

Posted by Debra L. Bruce | Filed Under Articles by Debra Bruce, Improving Communication, Law Practice Management, Raising the Bar | Leave a Comment 

The Unwritten Rules for Associates

When I was a young associate in a big law firm, I began to fear that there were unwritten rules to the game that everyone knew except me. Sometimes I wanted to cry out, “What are the rules? Just tell me what they are! I’ll follow them!”

Gradually over the years I began to figure them out, one by one, often as the result of transgressing them. Sometimes I was fortunate enough to learn a rule by merely observing the consequences of a transgression by another associate. On rare occasions a more senior associate, or even a partner, would bless me by privately advising me about one of the rules.

Law firms really do want their associates to succeed, so why do they seem to hide the rules of the game? Here are my guesses at a few possible explanations:

    1. By the time you get to high school, it is hard to remember what you didn’t know in first grade. Sometimes something seems so obvious to partners, that it never occurs to them to point it out to the associates.
    2. The rule is so patently unfair or illogical (or perhaps illegal) that it is embarrassing to admit it.
    3. The rules are not actually the same for everyone, which creates some confusion when they are applied unevenly.

Here are a dozen of the unwritten rules I have observed in some law firms, described in an admittedly jaded way. Please share with me those you’ve observed that I failed to include.

    1. Turning down work from a partner will give you a black mark. If the same partner has already filled your plate, remind her of what you already have to do and ask her to prioritize the workload. If a different partner is adding to your pile, you can tell him how delighted to work on the project you will be, and that based on your current commitments, you can get started on it in about three weeks. He’ll probably take the project elsewhere. If you really do want to work on the new project, you can ask to conference in the first partner to discuss schedules and priorities, but there is a risk of igniting a turf war.
    2. Learn as quickly as possible who the super stars are (whether partners or senior associates). Try to get work from them, and be sure to do an excellent job. Their opinions of you will carry more weight with the other partners, and they will also have the best projects with the most valuable experience. Even if you don’t get to work with them often, this will give them an opportunity to form their own opinion about you.
    3. About the only acceptable reason for not being available when requested is your commitment to other work. If you’ll be unavailable because you’re going to the school play or have front row tickets to the most important professional sports event of the season, just say your plate’s too full or you’re all booked up. Better to be mysterious than to confirm that you have a priority higher than work. Most associates have stories similar to the one told to me by an attorney who received a call from a partner while in the recovery room following surgery.
    4. You can fail to make partner by misplacing a comma. When they say “just do good work and you’ll be ok,” they mean just do perfect work. Long gone are the school days where someone feeds you the answers and you just have to remember the correct ones to regurgitate. You are expected to figure most of it out yourself, and you’ll be lucky if you get to watch someone else do it first. B+ is not an acceptable grade, and 97% is not an A.
    5. Laughing in the halls can knock you off partnership track. It’s a sign that you are not serious about your work. Someone who will never work with you may witness it, and form a nearly unshakeable opinion about you, which they will then share without remembering its genesis.
    6. Don’t believe the partner who tells you “Don’t worry about developing business. Just keep your billable hours up doing quality work.” He probably just wants to get his projects done. Your perceived ability to generate business will be an important factor in the decision about whether to let you into the partnership. The moment you make partner, you will be expected to start generating business to sustain yourself. Your billable hours may drop as partners give work to associates that they used to give to you.
    7. While many law firms today have alternative career tracks, in most, the only track that counts is the full out equity partnership track. If you choose an alternate track, be prepared to pay the price of diminished respect and lower quality work assignments that will stunt your professional growth.
    8. Each firm has its own cultural definition of how commitment to the firm and its work should be demonstrated. In some firms, lawyers demonstrate their dedication by arriving early, in others by staying late. If your natural rhythm runs against the grain, you may be judged a slacker, regardless of the volume of paper you generate or the hours you bill.
    9. Court your administrative assistant as your respected teammate and ally. An admin can protect your back or feed you to the wolves. For example, when I call lawyers in the morning, one admin might say “He hasn’t made it in yet,” while another says, “He must have stepped down the hall.”
    10. It’s virtually impossible to make it up the ladder without a mentor of some sort. You need someone to show you the ropes, warn you about the hidden booby traps, funnel the kind of work to you that will make your experience valuable, and go to bat for you during bonus and partnership discussions. Most partners don’t feel much obligation to mentor someone, even if they were formally assigned a protégé. If they do mentor someone, it is most likely to be informal and someone they see as like them—a Mini-Me. You must assertively seek out a mentor if you don’t have one.
    11. There is a good chance that you will take home less money as a first year partner than you did as a senior associate, so prepare your finances accordingly. You’ll have to start making payments on your capital account buy-in, and you’ll be responsible for self-employment tax (instead of having your employer pay half of your F.I.C.A.). You’ll also have to make estimated quarterly tax payments on income that you may not actually receive until December.
    12. Becoming partner is like graduating from middle school to high school. Just when you think you’ve made it and can stop to breathe, you discover that you’re at the bottom of a whole new totem pole.

If you know any young associates, kindly leave this article on their desks in the dark of night. You won’t have to admit whether you subscribe to the rules. Of course, the foregoing are the opinions and observations of the author (after coaching hundreds of law firm partners), and do not represent the opinions or policies of the State Bar of Texas.

Post Date: May 3, 2007

Posted by Debra L. Bruce | Filed Under Articles by Debra Bruce, Law Firm Associates, Raising the Bar, Reduce Conflict in Law Practice | Leave a Comment