The benefits of language skills

When you work for a group which has a parent company in a foreign country, it is worth considering learning the language of that country even if the company has designated English as the language of business. There are 3 main advantages:
– it can give you some additional insights into cultural differences
– it provides the stimulation and hopefully satisfaction of learning something which is not strictly work related
– it should give you the ability to have a converse with colleagues from the head office, even if that is confined to social rather than business topics.

The same applies if you are involved in a significant number of business transactions in another country. Naturally there is more incentive to a language if you might use it outside business as well.

Although primarily related to job seekers early in their careers, this article in Personnel Today highlights the need for us not to be too reliant on the good fortune of having English as a mother tongue! http://www.personneltoday.com/articles/2010/02/25/54404/foreign-language-skills-make-jobseekers-more-employable-during-recession.html

'We are where we are'

How many times have I heard this in a corporate context as an attempt to draw a veil over the bizarre episodes which led there or the less than uplifting behaviour displayed on the way. It’s clear that one must not dwell too much on the cause of the predicament, whilst trying to find a solution, but it is important in calmer times to examine those causes and take steps to avoid repetition.

I am a great believer in taking time to exchange feedback with your ‘clients’ – in this context the principal business managers who mobilised your services - after a major transaction is completed or situation resolved. The prospect of this enables you to defer exchanges which could be heated or more accusatory during the pressure of a deal to a calmer moment. I have used the technique of ‘Let’s talk about this when we have got the deal done’ to put a marker in the ground that I was not happy about something, but did not want to make it the focus of attention.

During the course of a transaction, jot down the problems. A couple of weeks, but no more than a month after completion, summarise on a couple of sheets of paper in as constructive tone as possible:

The problems which were encountered - in closing the deal / resolving the situation - as regards interface between functions
- as a result of particular behaviour
The impact which those problems had on you

What you would do differently – it is important to be frank about any shortcomings you may have had

What your organisation might do differently in a similar situation

Discuss the summary with your boss and immediate colleagues as a health check.

Use the summary for a structured discussion with the other key players.

Recipe for success

Having explored the analogy between vegetable growing and project management (one former colleague has pointed out that vegetables benefit from liberal quantities of manure, which whilst quite common is not always so beneficial in project management), I would like to draw some parallels between drafting commercial agreements and recipe writing. I have not done the latter, but am privileged to enjoy the culinary results of someone who does.

In both cases you cannot predict the aptitude of the person reading what you produce to interpret and act as you expect, so you need avoid being patronising to the sophisticated and unhelpful to the novice. A few thoughts:
Commercial agreements and recipes work best when:
· the prerequisites are clearly set out, including any lead time, sequences or intervals
· the effort to be devoted is defined
· the wording is succinct without being too sparing
· any serious pitfalls are identified so that they can be avoided
· frills and complication are kept to a minimum
reliability is tested, so that they are more likely to stand the test of time.

Sadly there are too many of both which are indigestible!

Speaking up

There is no denying that communication is a vital skill for in-house lawyers and often it gets insufficient attention.
Adopting the technique of talking quietly and diffidently if you are not sure about what you are saying or the reaction it will provoke is less effective than speaking clearly and audibly, if need be qualifying what you are saying. We notice this in workshops. Sometimes a participant will be so softly spoken that one has to strain to hear the comment they are making.
Poor delivery of something which should be heeded does not do it justice.

If you are not confident about expressing yourself, do try to get some coaching on how to increase that confidence. Many years ago I remember being very nervous when called upon unexpectedly to brief a board meeting. It made me realise that this was something I needed to be better at. There is a lot of support available – ranging from books and videos to full presentation skills courses and coaching.

On the other side of the coin, being overly assertive can be a problem. It may be preferable not to interject too rapidly or forcefully in meetings. Often it can be more persuasive to have a quiet word with someone before or after a meeting, rather than making a devastating point at the table.

Although it is a world away from the lives of most in-house lawyers, the revelations at the Chilcot Inquiry about the commissioning and fate of legal opinions as to the legality of war demonstrate how difficult it can be to ensure that legal advice is factored in at the right stage and is not upstaged by apparent imperatives.

Facilities?

I had to visit one of the campuses of a major company recently, where I was staggered by the proliferation of signs about how to use the car park and the stairs. ‘Beware – fragile human beings’ said the banner, which seemed more and more plausible if employees and visitors were subjected to the time taken to find a space, the barrage of advice and regulation, coupled with the dismal performance at reception. I am well used to spelling my name, but less used to having to spell ‘Lawyers in Business’. Having to restate my name to the receptionist when she was on the phone to the person I was visiting, with my name in front of her, did nothing to improve my joie de vivre!
A couple of weeks later I visited the company’s grand headquarters in London to run a session for 6 members of the legal team, 4 of whom had travelled from other continents. Imagine my delight that the session was being held in a stuffy windowless room – the best sort of environment for those suffering from jet lag. What a good idea not to have a waste bin in the meeting room, so that there was nowhere to put sandwich wrappers or other lunch debris. Thank goodness that there was a depiction of the correct method of hand washing above the basins in the toilets. As one of the participants pointed out, at least the depiction did not have also bear the disclaimer which they had seen on the equivalent in a US law firm’s London office.

Consciousness about the environment, safety and health are vitally important, but it is sad when the steps to engender it take on a joke dimension.

In-house lawyer dreads

From time to time we ask groups of in-house lawyers at different levels to identify anonymously their greatest dread. We do this because:
a) it can be therapeutic to describe something which concerns you and to realise that maybe it should not preoccupy you and
b) in reviewing dreads (without attribution) with the group, we can point to ways in which the dread factor can be kept within reasonable bounds.

Not surprisingly one of the most commonly held is committing a serious professional error – failing to spot an issue which has serious consequences for the organisation. Not getting it wrong is an important objective throughout one’s career, but the dread factor can be kept in check by:
1. Making sure that business people understand the legal risks involved, including an evaluation of getting it wrong
2. Paying sufficient attention to keeping your legal know how up to date
3. Working with colleagues to share and adopt best practice approaches to the work you do.

Other popular dreads include being misled, side-lined or not appreciated by business people. The antidotes to these are relationship building and collegial support, which are best addressed in our workshops.

Gardening analogies

One of the fulfilling things in my life is growing vegetables on my allotment. As I was tilling the soil the other day, it occurred to me how similar the whole process is to managing a project successfully. At the outset you need to make sure that the seeds are sown in favourable conditions and put effort into nurturing until established. You have to judge whether you will be more successful with something which is more ready made (a bought in plant or an established offering). You then to make sure that unwelcome intruders (weeds or other activities) do not stifle what you have started, by devoting regular attention. You need to be aware of detractors (pests or unconvinced stakeholders) and try to limit the damage they do. External forces (weather or third parties) may retard or accelerate things. Finally the satisfaction of fruition is dependent on good timing and putting what you have produced to good use.
I only wish that some of the projects on which I worked had produced results as tasty as my runner beans.