Tips for Successfully Managing Remote Legal Teams

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Remote legal teams are becoming increasingly common, but how do you manage a dispersed group in a way that allows the department or firm to function smoothly?

Not that long ago, it was customary for legal teams to be based in one central location. Over the past twenty years, however, this consolidated dynamic has shifted for many organizations. Overall, the remote workforce is becoming increasingly common, making up about 3.6 million people, or three percent of the working industry, in the United States alone.

While many smaller corporate legal departments still function out of one office, numerous medium and large organizations are operating with dispersed legal teams, and for good reason. The benefits of working remotely are hard to ignore.

Increased productivity and improved work-life balance are some of the more common reasons that many lawyers choose to work in a virtual capacity. A remote workforce may also offer benefits similar to increased diversity in the workplace. A virtual team is comprised of people located in various places with different backgrounds, roles, and skills working together to achieve common goals. This type of melting pot and the expanded talent pool it provides are uniquely positioned to foster a dynamic where multiple perspectives, differentiated legal expertise, and a variety of working styles are welcome and valued.

While a virtual legal team can produce stellar results over the long haul, there can be challenges to managing a dispersed group. Some of those challenges include:

So, how do you handle these challenges in a way that allows the department to function smoothly? Let’s explore:

1.       Create a thoughtful onboarding process

The onboarding process is a critical time for both the organization new employees. It sets the stage for relationship-building with management, stakeholders, and peers, while simultaneously laying the foundation for trust.

For remote teams, a strong, in-person onboarding process can help foster engagement, minimize any misconceptions, and reduce the amount of time that it takes for someone to assimilate and become a real contributor. During onboarding, managers should schedule substantial one-on-one time with the new hire, and assign a “buddy” who can answer any questions and serve as a general advocate for the new hire.

2.       Implement rules of measure

As a manager, it can be tempting to try and confirm that remote employees are at their desks all day operating in a way that you deem efficient. But be warned: managers who try to micromanage in this capacity will ruffle top performers and be deceived by under performers.

To effectively manage a dispersed team’s productivity, performance and communication measures should be standardized and communicated. Discuss your expectations and decide which online media the team should use for communication, how accountability will be measured, and how often you will be checking in with everyone. It’s also a good idea to ask team members to create shared, up-to-date calendars.

Giving your team the flexibility to transparently create their own schedules will help ensure accountability and make it easy to schedule individual and team meetings.

3.       Don’t approach challenges in a vacuum

Even the most organized teams will face challenges associated with working remotely. Issues pertaining to lack of communication or miscommunications, less access to management, lowered social interactions, and uncertainties surrounding performance can cause rifts or disruptions in a team’s dynamic. As counter intuitive as this may sound, challenges like these are excellent growth opportunities if they’re tackled as a team.

Try holding weekly meetings where each team member has a chance to discuss their challenges and successes associated with working remotely. Include a scribe on the call to record these notes and share them with everyone via email after the meeting. From there, you could ask each team member to rate the challenges based on a relevancy scale of 1 to 5, average them together to help you identify the most pressing issues for the team, and then discuss the largest problems at the next team meeting. This will help you focus on and solve the most critical issues in order of priority.

4.       Encourage real-world relationships

Even virtual teams should get together in one location at least once a year. This meeting should encompass business matters, yes, but it should also include substantial time for team members to get to know each other in casual, social settings. Offsite meetings can offer some of the greatest team-bonding opportunities and have the added benefit of increasing engagement and retention among team members.

While managing remote workers is not always an easy task, having the right outlook will help you create and maintain a top-performing team that spans times zones and even borders. Just remember to use common managerial sense, think about how you would want to be treated, and do what you can to make everyone feel involved and valued.

Carrington Legal Search is a woman-owned business committed to providing a diverse slate of candidates for every engagement. We seek out and maintain a diverse pipeline of candidates. To make our nationwide network work for you, get in touch at 512-627-7467 or email carrie@carringtonlegal.com.