Someone asked me recently why I write articles and I responded “Because I like to write and am interested in the dissemination of good ideas, whether they are mine or someone else’s”.
Ideas about high trust teams particularly interest me because team functioning is central to the success of any venture involving more than one person. Hence this article.
I am a linear thinker and used to think: “Here I am at point A. What is the quickest way to get from here to point B?”
Although this was a seemingly efficient way to practise law, I now realise that sometimes one must “spend” some time to “save” even more time. My personal definition of efficiency has evolved.
Lawyers tell me they aspire to have an efficient team that does things right the first time, meets or exceeds client needs, has high morale, communicates well, has low turnover and so forth.
Despite these good intentions, time is money in the practice of law. It can be difficult to have the time to invest in and develop one’s team members. If that happens, trust levels within a team can deteriorate. When trust levels drop, team efficiency, effectiveness and productivity also suffer and revenue decreases.
Lawyers who are too busy to invest time in their teams do so at their own peril.