Page 36 - CCCA 239285 Magazine_Fall 2015

{ strategic ManageMent }

the down-And-dirtY dozen:

prACtiCAl strAtegies For legAl to emulAte Business

By Susan Hackett, Susan Kennedy and Joe Milstone

The legal department was frequently seen as the one area 3. use legal department key
of the business that did not function according to the rules performance indicators (kpis).
■ KPIs are specifc, periodic measure-
of business. However, times are changing. effective GCs are ments related to progress.
implementing initiatives and approaches that make them ■ Measure results, not activity. Measur-
ing hours/quantity is mostly riskless
proactive business partners. and controllable, but it also reinforces
a cost- rather than value-centred per-
spective toward the department.
o help get and keep you on track, term, and how management’s incen- ■ The best way to establish legal metrics
Susan Hackett, CEO of Legal Execu- tives are or are not aligned. is to align with the business’s objec-
ttive Leadership; Susan Kennedy, GC ■ Calculate legal’s role beyond daily re- tives and resulting business metrics.
at Ornge; and Joe Milstone, CEO and Co- active activities, and establish internal For example, if clients are looking
Founder of Cognition, conducted a busi- objectives and incentives in the depart- to speed up the delivery of goods to
ness session for legal department lead- mental business plan. market, your metrics in turn should
ers at the CCCA National Conference in focus on advancing contract processes
April. It featured 12 concrete operational 2. Crunch the numbers. and prioritizing the conclusion of fa-
tips that CLOs could implement using ■ Calculate effective time-based rates for cilities or supply agreements.
their own customized value scorecards. internal staff (using full-loaded num-
These strategies were largely drawn from bers that include benefts and overhead 4. harness the power of big (and small)
practices successfully employed by lead- allocation), so you can properly com- data.
ing companies across a number of indus- pare against external legal and other ■ Focus on the meaningful data you al-
tries, and the scorecard included “marks” cost options. ready likely have but can’t control or
on various value criteria such as need, ■ Understand the quantity of “billable” properly sift through.
complexity, efforts, barriers and cost. work generated and truly available ■ Establish a few data goals, and then
Below is a summary of the twelve toolkit (due to more inherent interruptions reverse-engineer the tasks that would
items to help make your legal department and non-“billable” requirements like precede them.
more business-savvy in its approach and operations meetings) to properly gage ■ Operate in increments. Use bite-sized
distinguish the value your team provides. productivity. chunks for motivation and momentum.
■ Don’t neglect “softer costs,” such as burn- ■ Leverage external frms’ data manage-
1. embrace strategic planning. out, boredom and morale, and resulting ments systems, which will be differ-
■ Engage in your organization’s strategic voluntary and involuntary attrition. ent and often more sophisticated than
and operational planning processes, as ■ Using past and present data, develop your own. Direct the frms as to what
this demonstrates business credibil- time estimates and process maps for you want (for example, aggregated
ity and ensures contribution for later more routine internal matters. data among groups of clients).
flter-down to legal. ■ Understand where you provide the best ■ Only engage in data analysis if you prom-
■ Be attuned to resulting corporate ob- value in-house versus what is more ef- ise to follow through on the conclusions
jectives over both short- and long- fciently externalized. and directions it provides to you.

36 CCCa MaGazIne | FaLL 2015 auTOMne