In your experience, what strategies foster effective communication and collaboration between legal operations and legal teams?
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no title2 years ago
I agree; communication is so important. <br>It also helps to define the roles and responsibilities of the legal operations department/team to avoid any confusion. <br>One way to do this is to establish a dedicated section on your company's intranet that provides clear and accessible guidance on the various roles and functions of each department, along with information on what the legal operations team can provide (with links for requests, intake processes, etc.)<br> <br>
Maintaining open and constant communication and making myself available as a resource is crucial. Even if I don't have all the answers, I believe in taking on the responsibility of finding solutions for our team. This allows our attorneys to focus more on the legal work at hand. I'm working on implementing a first-level review of our invoices from outside counsel. I believe I can handle clearing audits or addressing fee discrepancies, allowing our internal team to concentrate on more substantive work.
Initially, I sent weekly emails about new insights I'd discovered. Admittedly, it has evolved into a mix of helpful hints and requests for review, but I think it’s just as important to be inclusive of the team and ensure everyone feels like their concerns or issues are being addressed. It's essential to create an environment where the team feels supported; my goal is to be the person to assist with that.
Our team is scattered across different time zones from Australia to the UK to Nigeria. Despite the occasional early morning or late-night calls, I make it a point to touch base with everyone regularly as a monthly effort to connect and stay in the loop. We leverage Teams quite often. We do a lot of instant messaging if it's something small. If we need to track something, we use email or a quick Teams meeting, even just to say hi. I think all of those things are just good ways to remind people that legal operations are here as a resource.