Tools you can use:
- The 5 Whys A simple but powerful tool rooted in Total Quality Management that helps teams get to the root cause of a problem.
- Empathy Map A structured approach to identifying the pains of your stakeholder audience and the gains your solution should deliver.
- Value Proposition Template A “mad-lib” template for creating a compelling value proposition for your product or service.
- Kanban board A kanban board is a simple, visual method in paper or digital format to track the progress of projects and tasks.
- Accelerate your law department with Excel Most Excel users barely scratch the surface of Excel’s features and capacity to visualize information. Check out LinkedIn Learning for more than 100 courses on making the most of Excel.
Practices to try:
- Make a pitch deck A pitch deck is a powerful tool for articulating the value proposition of your solution and getting buy-in. Check out this analysis of a perfect pitch deck for tips you can use to structure your own story.
- Conduct a “voice of the customer” interview Choose a primary stakeholder and conduct a structured interview to learn more about her pains and gains.
- Write a 30-60-90 day plan Choose a “day one” on your job, even if you’ve been in your role for years. Create a plan for what you will achieve in the next 30, 60, and 90 days. Use it to outline achievable goals and priorities for yourself and your team. Measure and refine for the next 90 day period.
- Develop Key Performance Indicators for your department Developing and implementing KPIs is a first step to to improved performance and parity with other business functions. Check out our classic guide for a comprehensive set of tips to get started.
- Conduct a stakeholder analysis The first step in stakeholder management, this exercise will help you build understanding, gain resources, and avoid project potholes.
Articles to read:
- Make Way For The “Unicorns,” Lucy Bassli, Law 360
- Why Lawyers Don’t Run Startups, Steve Blank, LinkedIn
- 5 Signs You’re a Unicorn Employee, Ryan Holmes, LinkedIn
- The “Delta” Lawyer Competency Model Discovered through LegalRnD Workshop, Natalie Runyon, Legal Executive Institute
- From the Knowledge Economy to the Human Economy, Dov Seidman, HBR
- The 21st-Century T-Shaped Lawyer, R. Amani Smathers, American Bar Association Law Practice Magazine
- What are the Qualities of Tomorrow’s Top Leaders?, Andreas von der Heydt, World Economic Forum
- 14 Leadership Trends That Will Shape Organizations In 2018, Forbes Leadership Council
- The Business Case for Curiosity, Francesca Gino, HBR
- What Resilient Lawyer Do Differently, Paula Davis Laack, Forbes
- How to Label Your Thoughts, WikiHow
- Report from the National Task Force on Lawyer Well-Being, American Bar Association
Quizzes and inventories to try:
- 16 Personalities, NERIS Type Explorer (based on the MBTI)
- ACC Legal Operations Maturity Model Toolkit
- The CLOC 12 Core Competencies
- IPIP Big-Five Factor Markers, a Measure of the Big Five Personality Traits
Videos to watch:
- Diversity is Being Invited to the Party: Inclusion is Being Asked to Dance, Verna Myers
- The Five-Second Rule, Mel Robbins
- Start With Why, Simon Sinek
- Hypervigilance and How to Overcome It, School of Life
- Why You Should Read Self-Help Books, School of Life
- Neuroscientist Explains One Concept in 5 Levels of Difficulty, Wired Magazine