WE
BY CAROL FOX PHILLIPS TAL K?
EFFECTIVE
COMMUNICATIONS
IN LAW FIRMS.
When employees are asked what could be improved
in their organizations, they most frequently respond,
“Communications.” But how do employees de;ne poor
communication? Usually they cite the failure of leaders to
keep employees informed, a lack of opportunity to talk to
their supervisors or a paucity of recognition and praise—
or all three.
A recent survey by Accountemps interviewed 1,400 chief
;nancial o;cers, with 41 percent of them reporting that
lack of communication between sta; and management
was the most frequent mistake that companies make. So
much so, they labeled it the top mistake of management.
Workers expect leaders to communicate well. A survey
conducted by the Association of Legal Administrators
identi;ed the top skills for law ;rm leaders’ success as
written and oral communication, combined with interpersonal relations abilities. Both managing partners and legal
administrators identi;ed these as the most important skill
sets in the survey.
Right now you may be asking how these surveys—or the
topic of e;ective communication generally—relate if you
are a solo practitioner or a member of a small ;rm. ;e
answer is that e;ective communication skills are needed to
understand one another and to work e;ectively toward a
common goal, no matter the situation. Whether you have
one person sharing your workload or 100, you need to
communicate as e;ectively as possible.
