The More, the Merrier - Reap the Advantages of a Firm-wide Retreat

Target Audience: Law Firm Professionals, Lawyers, Law Firm Associates, Paralegals, Law Firm Staff, Lawyers Offices, Human Resources, Firm Operations, Staff Motivators

Most law firms hold retreats for partners, associates and even paralegals. But it’s not often enough that firms include the entire staff.There are many benefits to holding a firm-wide retreat. It can energize the entire staff, enhance internal operations and improve working relationships between lawyers and other employees. So when planning your next retreat, consider making it an all-inclusive one.

How Your Firm Benefits

Many issues addressed at lawyer retreats affect the entire firm, such as governance and industry changes, opening new offices and creating ancillary businesses. Areas affecting day-to-day operations, which are important to support staff, are also usually covered.

Including all staff members is essential because everyone has the opportunity to ask questions, share their input about important issues and benefit from others’ insights. More important, a firm-wide retreat boosts morale by promoting a feeling of inclusion among all staff members and sending the message that everyone’s contributions are valuable.

This can impact operations in a variety of ways: Roles and responsibilities are clarified, workflow runs more smoothly, and systems are improved.

3 Ways to Get Them Talking

Whether the focus of your retreat is to ramp up business development or simply create an environment for staff to get to know each other better, ensure the retreat is successful by following these three tips:

1. Ask Your Staff. To help determine what you’ll discuss at your retreat, involve staff in the planning process. Perhaps the simplest way is to develop an anonymous survey to solicit their views about the firm and its operations. It should ask questions such as: Are you happy with the firm’s direction? Do you have any concerns with where it’s heading? What could make your work life more enjoyable?

Also include questions regarding specific areas of the firm’s operations, including:

• Objectives and future plans,
• Client selection and development,
• Marketing,
• Internal systems,
• Employee training and professionalism, and
• Staff relations and communication.

Keep in mind that you can survey the entire firm or subgroups, such as paralegals and support staff, or just associates.

2. Prepare Your Staff. Provide your staff with background information before the retreat to give them time to prepare questions and effectively contribute to the discussions. For instance, a recent accounts-receivable statement broken down by clients may better facilitate a conversation about collections. Or a list of referral sources for the past two years can help employees discuss business development and referrals.

3. Get Outside Help. Consider hiring a retreat facilitator. He or she can objectively lead discussions about sensitive subjects and best practices, encourage staff to articulate their thoughts, and build a consensus.

How to Hold the Retreat

Generally, the best time to hold a retreat is before or after summer and holidays when staff can be more focused. It can last from one to two days, depending on the agenda. It’s generally best to hold the retreat away from the office where staff won’t be distracted by phone calls, e-mails and other everyday business.

With large retreats, having small group sessions can be more effective than holding only a firm-wide meeting. Why? Creating smaller groups and breaking apart the different aspects of an issue allows each group to focus on its topic and encourages teambuilding. Afterwards, the facilitator can lead the whole firm in a discussion on the results of the breakout sessions.

Follow Up

A retreat isn’t just a one-time event. It’s a starting point for implementing necessary changes in your firm. Before you do anything, compile all the valuable information that was recorded during the retreat and distribute it to your partners.

Next, develop a committee composed of staff at all levels to address issues raised during the retreat and determine how the firm will handle them. Ensure the committee has concrete plans in place, such as having quarterly meetings to check progress on goals, scheduling appropriate training, hiring an outside consultant or conducting another retreat in six months.

Be specific when creating follow-up action plans for individuals, departments or other teams. Rather than simply creating a goal to increase morale among support staff, for example, develop a list of action items to help you achieve that objective. Also, you may wish to establish monthly committee meetings, create a timeline for implementation of the program and develop a means for measuring its effectiveness.

Invest in Success

Investing your firm’s time and resources in an all-inclusive retreat can yield great results. With effective planning and clear goals, you can gain consensus on important issues, improve relationships and enhance your firm’s performance.

Sidebar: Don’t Forget to Have Some Fun

It’s always a good idea to include an educational or training component in your retreat, such as a seminar on industry trends or how to get referrals, or have an exercise in teambuilding or communication.

But don’t forget to have some fun. Plan a recreational activity — it can be anything from a softball or volleyball game to bowling to horseback riding — that’s appropriate for your staff and setting. Letting loose is a great way to inspire and motivate your staff. Who knows, perhaps your next big idea will result from a little friendly competition.

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