Improving Team Performance

Each department or team within your firm should be organised as its own strategic business unit, with the Head of Department (HOD) empowered to run the department and be accountable for its performance against a range of KPIs, with the gross profit percentage being the most important.

By empowering your HODs to manage, lead, and grow their departments/teams, they will be able to focus on the concerns that impact their area of business and move more quickly to address the needs of their clients and their markets.

Each department or team within your firm should be organised as its own strategic business unit, with the Head of Department (HOD) empowered to run the department and be accountable for its performance against a range of KPIs, with the gross profit percentage being the most important.

By empowering your HODs to manage, lead, and grow their departments/teams, they will be able to focus on the concerns that impact their area of business and move more quickly to address the needs of their clients and their markets.

However, there may be circumstances where a particular practice area or branch office is not achieving its full potential and is underperforming. There may be one or a myriad of reasons causing departmental or office underperformance, such as: do the lawyers have enough work; are you overstaffed; are the lawyers recording time accurately; are the lawyers spending too much time on administration and requiring additional support; are your internal procedures efficient; is your IT hindering productivity instead of helping it?

However, there may be circumstances where a particular practice area or branch office is not achieving its full potential and is underperforming. There may be one or a myriad of reasons causing departmental or office underperformance, such as: do the lawyers have enough work; are you overstaffed; are the lawyers recording time accurately; are the lawyers spending too much time on administration and requiring additional support; are your internal procedures efficient; is your IT hindering productivity instead of helping it?

How I Can Help


    I can work with you to conduct a thorough analysis of what is going wrong, identify the barriers that are hindering performance, and implement a plan that addresses this by:

  • Reviewing the historical performance of the department or office and benchmarking it against its peers.
  • Conducting interviews with partners and teams to gather their thoughts on the causes, both internal and external, and ideas for improving performance – independently if necessary to obtain candid responses.
  • Reviewing the roles performed, reporting structures, and processes to ensure maximum efficiency.
  • Identifying the issues that need to be addressed to improve performance; and
  • Preparing an action plan that will specify what needs to be done, by whom, and when, along with measurement criteria.
  • Defining the HOD role and training/supporting your HODs so they become effective line managers.
  • Reviewing progress using law firm management KPIs to ensure a return on investment.
  • If you are considering transitioning to a strategic business unit framework or seeking to improve the performance of your existing framework, I would be delighted to discuss the various options and determine the best path forward for your firm.


Partner Meetings and Conferences

Let’s Talk!


Your first consultation is free.

+44 79166 69095 | ih@hopkinslegalconsulting.co.uk


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