Working virtually is not new to legal marketers. We find ourselves working outside of "normal" business hours in the evenings and the weekends. When we are on business travel, our colleagues who work in our home office interact with us virtually. Not all of our teammates and reports are in the same office or even the same time zone. While working virtually is not new, it is different to regularly work at a distance during "normal" business hours. Thanks to modern technology it is possible for this to happen without our in-person presence being missed.
When employing a virtual workforce, a law firm's legal marketing department can extend its service hours and capitalize on hiring outside of its local market to hire the best talent, sometimes at a lower cost. Additionally, it is cheaper to hire employees who do not work onsite because there is less overhead for your firm.
While it is possible to have a successful virtual marketing/business development department, a virtual workforce requires a unique set of best practices.
- Trust your employees – The key to any relationship is trust. Hire people who can work independently and are self-motivated. Do not automatically assume the worst if someone does not immediately answer your call or email; just like stopping by someone's office, they might be on another call, out to lunch or taking a health break. Set ground rules for working hours so everyone is working from the same expectations. Do not micromanage. It is hard to see what your employees are doing, but you need to have the confidence to trust that they are doing what they are supposed to do.
- Create a vision for your team and measurements for success – Set objectives for your department, team and team members, as well as ways to measure the goals and objectives.
- Develop methods to foster personal communications – Use social networking tools such as internal forms of Twitter and instant messaging. Schedule calls to touch base and ensure that projects are on track. Face time is important too, so use video chats when possible. At least once a year get the team together in person to help further develop personal relationships. During your retreats, split into teams that do not normally work together to build relationships and make personal connections. Remember to take the time to praise high-quality work.
- Develop processes to track and improve productivity – Create methods for employees to record their work and planned projects. Hold periodic meetings including video chats.
- Set boundaries – Know when being virtual is not working and face-to-face collaboration is essential.
- Invest in technology – Invest in the technology needed to support virtual employees. As appropriate, provide laptops, tablets, smart phones and video capabilities. Have the IT team ready to assist people when they have technology problems.
- Reward people – Express your appreciation to your staff for a job well done and give rewards as appropriate.
By Helena Lawrence, Business Development Manager at Proskauer, for the March/April 2015 issue of the Capital Ideas Newsletter.