TLOMA Today

TLOMA hosted the leadership executive teams of both ALA (Association of Legal Administrators) and BCLMA (British Columbia Legal Management Association) in June in Toronto.  Attendees included current Presidents, Past Presidents, Vice Presidents, lead administrators of each association, and TLOMA's Treasurer.  The tri-meeting of our associations was last held in Vancouver in 2013.

The purpose of the meeting? This initiative has been undertaken to improve connectivity between our associations in an effort to share information pertaining to association governance and leadership structures and assist one another in discussing best practices, membership engagement and growth strategies.  The leadership of our respective associations are always seeking to learn about the operations of other industry specific organizations in order to bring greater value to our members.  The takeaways from this discussion will be considered by the leadership and their Boards in their strategic planning.

Topics on the agenda and learning included discussion of the following:

• association governance in terms of Executive, Board and Committee structures and responsibilities of leadership roles
• by-law reform and voting procedures
• ·nomination committee structure and the nominating and voting process
• surveys generated and methods of conducting effective and informative member, business partner and salary and benefit surveys
• membership trends, growth strategies, eligibility criteria
• challenges facing members and their firms and the role of our associations in supporting our members in terms of education and peer support
• cost containment and strategies to manage escalating association costs
• business partner relationships and engagement
• volunteer program challenges and ideas for improved engagement
• affirmation of our association reciprocity in terms of complimentary attendance of two members of each association to each other's annual conferences to enhance the learning of those in leadership roles.

We concluded with a commitment to meet annually on the basis of in person one year, and in the alternate year by conference call or video conference.  ALA will host in Chicago in 2017.

On behalf of 2015 ALA Past President Paula Barnes, BCLMA President Leslie Morgan, and TLOMA President Paul Page, it was our honour to represent our respective memberships in this executive leadership meeting.

The conference is already a week ago and despite a pile of work waiting for my return to the office I am still charged up! I am exhausted, but I cannot stop thinking about all that I learned and all the new delegates and Business Partners I met and who I want to follow up with in the coming weeks.

The conference was Simply Exceptional! And much kudos is owed to Nancy Lio and the Conference Committee and all the volunteers. Blue Mountain is always a wonderful location to host the TLOMA conference, and the lineup of speakers and events and the packed schedule left little time to digest it all. But now with hindsight, and copious notes, and post conversations, there all kinds of ideas churning in my mind and how to bring it all together: at the office, within TLOMA and personally.

I even heard talk of putting together a continuation of the IT panel discussion, and others talking about collaborative SIG sessions. There is energy in the air and a flow of ideas that always comes from our annual conferences, and it is refreshing to hear the excitement in people’s voices. 

And the timing could not be better! The 2015 Board and the incoming 2016 Board candidates along with various committee chairs are getting together for the annual day long Strategic Planning meeting November 14, 2015.

This means it is time to review our successes and setbacks in 2015 and discuss what we need to do in 2016. The marketplace and demographics are constantly changing, and TLOMA needs to adapt to this change. Thus the strategic meeting is about reflecting on how TLOMA is structured and how we govern, communicate, partner with our vendors, and provide quality educational sessions and networking opportunities to continue to bring value to our members. It also means looking at partnerships or reciprocal opportunities with other organizations like the OBA, LMA and ILTA and much more and find what synergies may exist to enhance our services.

I have said it before, but this kind of discussion should never be confined to a boardroom, and I am looking to all of our members to provide feedback. That can be as simple as completing the evaluation forms for all of the Conference sessions you attended, or taking on a volunteer role (big or small) or reaching out as a mentor for a new member. Or if you have lots on your mind pick up the phone or send me an email, or any Board or Committee member, to meet for lunch and discuss your ideas.

Many TLOMA members are members of other organizations, and if you are one of them, think about what you have enjoyed about the other organization and how we might be able to bring a similar experience to TLOMA. Share your ideas and voice your thoughts: good or bad. I only ask that it be constructive. And of course that means the Board and committees need to listen objectively to any criticism and respond thoughtfully in return. I know every volunteer on the Board and on the committees are committed to the challenge. 

TLOMA is evolving, and I do not say this lightly, there are many challenges that we are currently tackling to expand and improve TLOMA. But there are many more challenges that we need to take on and we can only face these challenges with the help of our volunteers and feedback from our entire membership. These are exciting times, both for TLOMA and the legal community.

We are all expected to do more with less, and this is where TLOMA can help, and how we want to be perceived, both locally and outside the GTA. We are slowly making inroads to this goal and I encourage you to join us on this journey and get involved.

An effective meeting is led by a savvy chairperson and attended by engaged participants. Below we have compiled of list of the duties for the chairperson and the participants. 

THE CHAIRPERSON

Before the meeting

• Identifies the main reason for the meeting and decides the best way to advise participants. Today, email is the most common practice.
• Decides what type of meeting it will be
• Sets the agenda—is realistic and ensures it’s not too full. The meeting begins with routine items such as minutes from previous meetings and straightforward actions immediately followed by the most contentious items, the “meat” of the matter and concludes with easy items in case time runs out
• Invites all presenters and specific participants who should be there, such as:
  • The person who will take minutes
  • Those who have information to share
  • Those who require the information
  • Those with special expertise
  • Not only those people favorable to an idea but also those expected to oppose an action, a given solution, etc.
• Sends out the agenda in advance along with all required materials
• Advises attendees who will be asked to answer some questions or provide reports or updates
• Preempts sticky points by considering the audience in advance:
  • What are their concerns or interests?
  • Who has the authority to make things happen?
  • What are their assumptions about the meeting?
• Sends a gentle reminder about the meeting one day before
• Appoints someone to record the minutes
• Prepares welcome message and participant’s introductions. 

During the meeting

• Works the room, introduces participants to each other before the meeting when time allows
• Welcomes all participants and reminds everyone to turn off cell phones, or to please inform everyone now, if they are expecting an important call and may need to excuse themselves during the meeting
• Invites all participants to introduce themselves at the beginning of the meeting and outline their experience, plus:

• What they can offer
• What their needs are
• What result they are looking for
• Begins and ends the meeting on time
• Gets a buy-in for the agenda by all participants
• Encourages the maximum possible contribution from all those present
• Summarizes before moving on to the next item on the agenda
• Respects time allocated for each point
• Keeps discussion on the issue at hand
• Is consistently aware of body language; his own and participants
• Creates a climate of support and openness within the group
• Makes participants feel accepted: Lets every member of the group know that the Chair’s role is to understand what each participant has to say
• “Yes and,” on ideas: avoids turning down ideas only because they didn’t work for someone else. The success of any idea always depends on the skills, commitment, and enthusiasm of those who have responsibility for implementing it.
• Asks productive questions to open or guide a discussion
• Asks questions that are brief and specific: “What do you think the advantages and disadvantages are of this plan?” Most people will give a long and disorganized reply. Instead, break the questions into two parts: “What are the advantages?” and the “What are the disadvantages?”
• Helps participants clarify their thinking when ideas are not presented logically.
• Works towards obtaining consensus
• Plans future actions and builds an evaluation process
• Thanks all participants who played a special role, such as giving a presentation
• Shakes hands with participants as they leave the boardroom. 

After the meeting

• Reaches out to those who had unanswered questions
• Provides participants with a copy of the minutes within a few days
• Informs those not present of results that may effect them. 

THE PARTICIPANT

Before the meeting

• Reviews the agenda beforehand and prepares appropriately
• Arranges to attend for the entire meeting time. Going in and out during meetings is disruptive and can throw off the flow. If leaving early or going to arrive late, inform the Chair and request permission to do so, before the meeting begins. This way, the agenda can be rearranged if necessary. 

During the meeting

• Arrives several minutes ahead of time
• Provides a self-introduction on arrival
• Sits straight, stays alert and does not distract others by organizing papers or other material
• Turns off cell phone or if expecting an important call, puts phone on vibrate mode and informs Chair
• Does not turn on laptop or tablet unless it is to be used it for a short time to review or present information to the group, or take notes
• Never interrupts anyone, regardless of a contrary point of view. Lets the person finish making the point, notes what was said and later returns to it with the Chair’s permission.
• When speaking, is brief and ensures the content is relevant
• Always addresses the Chair unless it is clear that others are not doing so
• Asks questions to clarify the issue when it’s not clear
• Refrains from making self-aggrandizing comments or speaks only to repeat something already said and agreed upon
• Respects other participants’ space
• Thanks the Chair on leaving
• Says good-bye to other participants—if not members of the organization, always shakes their hands before leaving
• Avoids divulging information to others about a meeting; what was discussed should be considered confidential. 

After the meeting

• Writes a note of thanks or email to the person who extended the invitation, plus the Chair and other participants it makes sense to follow-up with based on the meeting  
• Follows up on action plan. 

A word about personal devices 

We recommend cell phones be banned from meetings. If someone needs to make a call, they should excuse themselves from the boardroom. When laptops or tablets are use to take notes, ask participants to turn off the email function unless they are expecting an urgent request, or time sensitive message. 

A word about body language 

The Chairperson should always sit at the head of the table to make sure he can observe everyone’s body language. As we know, body language does not lie. When a participant does not agree, appears frustrated or has a hand raised to speak, it is essential the Chairperson is aware. If the Chairperson is seated at the center of the boardroom table, he could miss an important opportunity to call on someone to share what appears to be a point of disagreement or frustration, or if a participant has something to add to what was in the process of being discussed. 

Control your body language, maintain good posture and do nod, smile and keep your eyes on the speaker or presenter. 

A word about seating protocol—Don’t stand for this! 

• In meetings, seating order is from left to right. The seat of highest privilege is to the left of the Chair. The person to the right of the Chair usually takes the minutes
• If you wish to avoid potential confrontation with someone, sit on the same side of the table but not next to the person.

LinkedIn, blogs and lawyers’ online bios are among the tools most frequently used by in-house counsel in their professional lives, according to a new report released this summer, the 2015 Canadian Legal Digital Survey. 

Recent years have seen various reports and analyses that seek to understand the needs of in-house legal counsel. However, the majority of these surveys are initiated by, and focused on, the US market. This implies, perhaps incorrectly, that Canadians both find and consume legal services and information in the same manner as their American counterparts.

It was time to gather accurate data on the Canadian legal market so that law firms can better tailor their digital interaction and content strategies to their Canadian clients.

The survey was distributed to in-house counsel at the top corporations across Canada, in addition to a comparable one that was sent to Managing Partners of leading law firms across the provinces.

The focus of our research was web and social media engagement, and related areas such as content marketing, client feedback programs, electronic billing, client portals, and directories, in the Canadian Legal industry.

So how much influence does the world of digital have on the legal market today?  Do those of us who encourage law firms to have a robust digital strategy in place have a point?  Do those firms who have already committed resources to providing content to their clients have a reward for their efforts? Thankfully it does appear so.

Our survey found that not only do Canadian In-House Counsel consume legal related information from the internet, and the various new media that can be found there, but that information has enough credibility to influence the decision to hire one lawyer over another.

Since the advent of website analytics, we have known that lawyer bios make up the majority of the site visits to any given law firm website.  However, what our survey confirmed was that these bios are a key factor in the decision making process with almost 80% of respondents noting it as such.

However, what was overwhelming confirmed by the research is that referrals from trusted sources are the absolute number one factor considered by In-House Counsel when looking to hire a lawyer, with every respondent agreeing that this was an important decision making criteria.

Our research confirmed that there were distinct differences between the jurisdictions. For example, smartphone usage in Canada was significantly higher and e-mail alerts twice as high as in the US. We also found that, although significant, there was less usage of social media in Canada with all but LinkedIn deemed to be less credible, compared with how colleagues south of the border assess the credibility of social media.

The survey, represented visually by this infographic, suggests that many law firms are not yet making full use of the channels and media that their in-house clients are using to research and consume information.

Some highlights from the report include:

• Web is now mainstream
• Use of mobile is on the rise
• Content marketing influences hiring
• Trusted referrals still trump all
• Lawyer bios command attention
• Most in-house counsel remain “Invisible”
• LinkedIn is king
• If you write a blog, they will read it. 

To download the full report go to CanadianLegalDigitalSurvey.com.

The Second Annual survey will be conducted in the Fall of 2015, for release in early spring of 2016.

Time management in the workplace is a real struggle for many people.  Distractions, emails, meetings, and deadlines - it is very easy to become overwhelmed from juggling all these activities.  Business owners, managers and employees face challenges daily that divert their energy and time away from their top priorities.  Learning how to effectively manage your time will not only help you reduce stress but also increase your level of productivity and efficiency.  Improving your time management at work isn't nearly as hard as you might think, all it takes is awareness, planning and prioritizing.

Many people falsely assume they are powerless and do not have any control over their time and work environment.  However, rapid and constant change is a reality of today’s work environment, managing your time and your workload is your responsibility.   Have you ever asked yourself “How do I spend my days?” “Do I spend too much time doing unimportant tasks?”  Time wasters are activities that “use up your time” or “things that just happen” which distracts you daily (i.e. internet surfing and irrelevant meetings).  In order to improve your time management, identify time wasters and consciously avoid these activities which are unproductive and unnecessary.

Your attitude also drives your time management habits. It changes by task daily, hourly, weekly and monthly. The four levels of attitudes consist of denying your responsibility, blaming others, accepting responsibility and taking action. When you deny your responsibility and blame others, you are empowering the problem.  When you start to accept responsibility and take action, you are empowering yourself.  Having the right behavior is one of the steps to developing better time management. When you have the right attitude you become more effective (doing the right things) and more efficient (doing things right).  To take control of your time, try to write down the top three priorities in your job and write down your top three personal priorities (i.e. exercise, taking lunch). 

To become better at managing your time, it’s also essential to determine which tasks are important and urgent, versus tasks that are insignificant and not urgent. The concept of Time Management Matrix from Stephen Covey’s classic book, The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, can be used to help you prioritize your time.  This system utilizes four quadrants to help you determine the tasks you “need” to do and which tasks should take precedence.  

• Quadrant 1 (top left) includes tasks that are important and urgent which requires your immediate attention. This includes crisis matters, pressing problems, and deadline driven projects.
• Quadrant 2 (top right) involves activities that are important, but not urgent which you do not need to deal with immediately.  Tasks in this quadrant include preparation, prevention, values clarification, planning and relationship building. 
• Quadrant 3 (bottom left) consists of tasks that are urgent, but not important. These activities include needless interruptions and unimportant actives (meetings, off topic phone calls, etc.).
• Quadrant 4 (bottom right) comprises of matters that are not important and not urgent.   These tasks are time wasters and “escape’ activities like mindless web browsing, junk and low value email, social media, etc.

Your goal is to focus on Quadrant 1 and Quadrant 2 activities. Try to eliminate, delegate, or say “no!” to Quadrant 3 and 4 activities. 

To work more efficiently, it is important to align your time with your top three priorities and also consider criteria such as time sensitivity, preparation requirements, involvement of others, impact to your organization and the degree of difficulty.  As a first step, creating a “To Do” list is one of the best ways to prioritize your time.  However, creating a list will only marginally be useful unless you time-box them in your calendar (i.e. Microsoft Outlook, Google Calendars, etc.) and set parameters for how much time you plan to devote to each task. Your daily/weekly calendar will constantly be changing but it is critical to have a blueprint of your time to work from. 

Procrastination is an obstacle you need to overcome to develop better time management.  This is when you avoid doing an important task and you have feelings of guilt, inadequacy, and self-doubt.  Procrastination creates endless stress and undoubtedly one of the biggest time wasters in the workplace. You can eradicate procrastination by becoming more disciplined with your time and setting priorities.  Other ways to overcome procrastination include working in small blocks, rewarding yourself after you complete a task, setting realistic goals, and focusing on your successes. 

Time management also requires you to be mindful of those around you who may monopolize your time.  If colleagues are asking you to do tasks that don’t align with your job priorities and dominates your time, do not be afraid to suggest other solutions.  Learning how to minimize these types of distractions will allow you to produce high quality work and achieve your goals. It is also important to limit your casual conversations with others and know when “it is not a good time.” Be considerate of what’s on your colleagues’ plate and the distractions that you may be creating.  You might be distracting others without even knowing it (your tone or conversations) so be more mindful of your actions around the office. 

The Pareto Principle states that 80% of your results will come from 20% of your activities.  Make sure that you are spending time on the activities that will give you the highest results. 

Good time management doesn't mean more work, it means focusing on tasks that are important and impactful.  One more hour of “planning” can save hours of “doing.”  Your time management goal should be to work smarter not harder so that you can create more time for yourself.

Computer backups should be an integral part of any data management strategy.  Without regular backups, your computer can fall victim to everyday potential hazards and suffer data loss – not only through ill-intent hacking or malware, hazards also include simple things like spilling coffee on your CPU.  

Data loss on your family computer would be a bad thing, like a fender bender.  Losing data from a business computer is like a full on collision – hopefully nothing severe, maybe just some bumps and bruises.  However, specifically when it comes to a law firm’s computer, the loss of data could equate to a serious car crash for your business, and it may suffer lifelong damages – if it even survives. 

It’s obvious in all instances that backing up is important, however with the level of ethical and professional obligations of a lawyer, the importance for backing up your data is paramount. 

Types of Data Loss 

Data loss can result from several types of unfortunate events, which include: 

Technical Malfunctions

• Software problems
• Hardware problems 
  
  Human Errors
  
  
• Inadvertent/erroneous inputting
• Physical damage 

  Collateral Damage

• Fire, Power interruptions, etc. 

Effective Backup Planning 

Here are some key points to keep in mind to practice effective backup planning: 

• Choose your type: external hard-drive or cloud.  Both options have their advantages and disadvantages; choose one that works best for you. 
• Keep your computer on its own power supply.  This is especially true if you are using the external hard-drive option as your backup type. 
• Schedule your backups.  For obvious reasons, the more frequent the schedule (daily vs weekly, etc.), the better.  
• Use Auto Backup. The best way to establish your backup routine is to set it up without having to think about it.  Many programs have an auto backup feature.  For instance, in PCLaw, the backup feature is found at: 

1. Options > Workstation Settings > Other
2. Select “Automatic”
3. Click “Configure”
4. Enter backup particulars
   

Buckle Up 

According to Gartner Group, a leader in the IT analyst market, “6% of all PC’s will suffer an episode of data loss in any given year...and up to 96% of all business PC’s are not being backed up”.  According to a July 2011 Forbes article, “[a driver] will file a claim for a collision about once every 17.9 years”.  Though the odds for an auto accident are slim, we buckle up every day (hopefully!) as though one were imminent.  Similarly, lawyers, in particular, should “buckle up” their PC’s with a regularly scheduled backup routine to secure themselves should any unforeseen incidents occur that may result in any loss of data.

TLOMA would like to Thank the 2015 Conference sponsors