Hone Your Management Skills to Improve Your Well-being (and Others’)
I often joke that no one went to law school to become a people manager. However, firms expect successful lawyers and professionals to be adept at managing themselves and others.
You might not realize it, but management skills are essential at all levels. For example:
A junior associate needs to manage the expectations of those giving them assignments and needs to receive and process feedback to learn and improve.
A mid-level associate needs to be able to manage their increasing set of responsibilities, and manage up to senior associates and partners while delegating to junior associates and providing them meaningful feedback.
A newly-promoted partner must set clear expectations, navigate shifting relationships with those who were recently peers, and absorb additional expectations of people and process management.
Senior partners must set and manage expectations for their clients, communicate clearly as firm leaders, and provide thoughtful feedback on a variety of matters and situations to a swath of others across many firm levels.
Developing a resilient mindset.
Time and expectation management.
Delegation and feedback skills.
Communicating clearly.
Managing conflict and having difficult conversations.
These are management skills that all attorneys and business professionals need.
While some firms are adept at providing training in these areas, far too many have left the learning process up to trial and error and learning on the fly. When these skills are underdeveloped, there is a detrimental impact on individual and organizational well-being.
Think about it:
An associate who is chronically late and behind causes extra stress for those who must wait for them. Others’ work is delayed because of their delays. Everyone’s performance reviews are impacted negatively. Developing time management skills and habits can help.
A new partner who needs to deliver constructive feedback may experience anxiety if they haven’t learned how to deliver feedback effectively, or deal with difficult conversations. They may not provide feedback at all, leaving the person with the performance issue at a loss as to how to change and improve their work. It’s a no-win situation.
A senior associate with several ongoing matters may feel overwhelmed by all their to-dos, and without knowing how to delegate well, can experience burnout and depression, and negatively impact multiple teams and client matters.
WHEN FIRMS PROVIDE ESSENTIAL MANAGEMENT SKILLS TRAINING, THEY ARE ALSO CONTRIBUTING TO ATTORNEY AND BUSINESS PROFESSIONAL WELL-BEING.
Here are five ways management skills can impact individual and institutional well-being:
Improved stress management and increased resilience: Management skills like time management and delegation help to reduce stress levels by allowing individuals to better prioritize tasks, manage workloads, and delegate responsibilities effectively. Providing effective feedback helps others know how they are performing, which often alleviates the fear of the unknown.
Improved relationships: Effective management skills help to improve relationships both professionally and personally. This can include improved communication, better collaboration, and increased trust and respect between individuals. These factors can contribute to the improved well-being of everyone involved.
Increased job satisfaction: When you can manage your time well and manage your own and others’ expectations, you are more likely to derive a sense of achievement and satisfaction from your day-to-day work, and to be resilient when unexpected situations occur.
Better work-life integration: Expectation management, boundaries, time management, and delegation can all work together to help individuals navigate the challenges of remote and hybrid work, family and personal responsibilities, and the many unexpected moments that arise during our days and weeks.
Career advancement opportunities: Demonstrating one’s ability to manage themselves and others can help make the case for promotion and prepare individuals for the next level of performance, responsibility, and leadership.
When firms invest in management skills training, they are equipping their attorneys and business professionals with tools to help them navigate the inevitable challenges that arise. Having these skills, tools, and techniques empowers individuals to work better, communicate more clearly, and be ready to deal with whatever may come their way.
