Setting Your Team Up for Success: Onboarding and Ongoing Lawyer Training

Setting Your Team Up for Success: Onboarding and Ongoing Lawyer Training

You’ve found your next fantastic team member. Congratulations! The work isn’t done. Too many lawyers simply show the new person to their desk, give them log-in information, and hand them files. Instead, be intentional about setting them up for success during their orientation, onboarding, and continued training and development. 

Onboarding New Team Members is an Ongoing Journey  

Your law firm onboarding program goes beyond the first day. In fact, most HR professionals say that your onboarding process really lasts up to 12 months. Law firm onboarding is different from an initial orientation. It requires integrating them into your team and setting them up to be successful and contributing team members.

Think about what your team member needs to know to succeed and weave this into your onboarding and law firm training program.

This could include:

Remember that it will take more than hearing it one time for it to really sink in. Share these ideas in several ways. Look for ways to incorporate active learning in your law firm onboarding. 

Having documented systems and processes will make training and getting your team up to speed simpler and faster. We cover that in more detail in Complete Guide to Managing a Small Law Firm. 

Finally, check in often. Set up daily check-ins for the first two weeks. Ask your new teammate how it’s going, what questions they have, and what they need to do their job. Continue with weekly check-ins for the first couple of months. The time you invest in them now will pay off. 

Train Lawyers and Team Members Beyond Required CLEs

Law schools aren’t necessarily designed to teach students how to practice law (a source of much current debate, and we agree it’s time to rethink things). Most managing partners realize this ?and continue to offer lawyer training and mentoring to recent graduates. But, the training and development should not stop once lawyers learn the basics of handling cases. Law firms should proactively seek to train lawyers and other team members throughout their careers.

Think about the skills each person on your team needs to master their job. For a newer attorney, it could be learning how to take a deposition. As their career progresses, they might need to master negotiation skills or learn how to gain a client’s trust. Administrative staff may start out knowing basic word processing skills but would be wise to master advanced functions. (Macros, anyone?) Everyone on the team who manages another team member should learn management best practices and actively hone their management skills.

Ongoing Training and Development Rewards the Business Too

You will benefit from their advanced skill set, and your team will appreciate your willingness to invest in their success. At least once a year, sit down with each team member and complete a professional development advancement plan. Ask them to evaluate their current skills. Consider areas where they could improve. Also, consider what skills they’d need to master to secure their next job or promotion at your firm. Where are their gaps? Now, engage in a conversation with them about what steps they can take to close the gaps. Is it more experience doing a particular type of project? Is there someone in the office that could mentor or train them? Or could they benefit from additional outside training? There are many reasonably priced (or even free) ways to learn new skills online. Decide which ones they will complete and create a timeframe for achieving them.

Create a follow-up plan. After they complete the training, check in to see what they learned. Look for opportunities to share their learning with the rest of the team. At Lawyerist, this can be as simple as reading a business book, sharing key takeaways, and answering questions during a team call. We then have them write up a summary to add to our learning center in case another team member is interested in learning more about the book’s topic.   

Law Firm Training: Mentors, Peer Groups, and Coaches 

To foster an even more collaborative and employee-oriented culture, you can implement a mentor, peer group, or coaching system in your firm. Especially for junior attorneys, having a mentor to show them the ropes helps them feel more focused and excited about their work. People want to know they’re doing well at their job, and having a mentor helps facilitate that feeling. 

Having peer groups can help your staff feel connected, learn from each other, and to develop deeper and more meaningful relationships with each other. Peer groups can help keep each member accountable and provide support.

Coaches help motivate individuals towards their professional goals by focusing on values, mission, and strategy. A coach differs from a mentor. A coach is usually around for a short period, like during a project, and helps people focus on a specific goal. A mentor provides guidance and helps people develop skills over a long period?.

As an effective manager, you want to be a mentor and coach to your staff. You want to mentor those who need more guidance and coach those encountering difficulties in the short term. Facilitating peer groups is also a good option, especially for staff members who aren’t ready for more one-on-one attention. 

The purpose of mentors, peer groups, and coaches is to help your firm and staff become more confident, productive, and empowered in what they do. 

Now that you have defined the roles for the team and successfully hired and onboarded your new team members, you’ll need to manage them. In Chapter 4, we’ll tackle the specifics of managing your team.