Everyone knows when Horace Nelson, the firm’s founding partner, is in the office. His voice has an unapologetically gritty timbre, and it penetrates every corner, punctuated by creative epithets that only the son of a forklift operator could conjure. It seems like he is always talking, until he stops and stares at you, standing 6 feet, 4 inches with a steely, blue-eyed gaze. In the courtroom, countless witnesses have wilted before this visage, and it is no different in the office. The staff react to him as if he were a hungry lion escaped from the zoo.
Angela knows the road to change goes through Horace. His son Atticus may be the managing partner now, but Horace’s force of personality makes him the real power. And Horace hates change. He is rightly proud of what he has built and shows no interest in modernizing the firm.
After meeting with her confidant Marcia, whom she met through the Association of Legal Administrators, Angela develops an idea to begin moving key computer applications in the firm to the cloud, starting with transitioning from an old server-based version of Microsoft Office to MS 365.
Angela’s steps echo in the hallway as she screws up her courage and approaches Horace’s office. “Horace, can we discuss something that could significantly benefit the firm?” Angela begins, standing at Horace’s door, surrounded by the symbols of the firm and his personal achievements. Horace bellows, “I know! How about somebody, besides me, bills some hours?”
Horace listens to Angela’s proposal with a blend of skepticism and impatience. “Angela, this firm has thrived on the foundation I established from the beginning. We just have to be great at winning cases and everything flows from that. These technologies you're pushing — they’re not for us. We’ve been successful without them.” He dismisses the idea with an icy glance that leaves no doubt the conversation is over.
Feeling disheartened but not ready to give up, Angela again seeks Marcia’s counsel. After hearing the story, Marcia says, “Friend, I feel for you. I have raised my head many times to propose new initiatives, only to have it nearly bitten off. There is nothing more difficult in my job than change management. Over the years, however, I’ve learned some techniques that help a lot.”
Marcia continues, “At the end of the day, it’s all about building trust. The lawyers want to practice law. If you can gain their trust on the business side, they will defer to you one day. I’m going to email you a document with some helpful techniques I have learned over the years.” A moment later, she clicks send and Angela receives this summary:
Change Management Techniques
- Involve leadership: Secure early support and involvement from firm leadership to drive the change.
- Articulate a clear vision: Clearly define the vision and measurable objectives for the change.
- Engage stakeholders: Include stakeholders at every level in planning and implementation to build support and reduce resistance.
- Maintain open communication: Keep communication channels open to address concerns and share progress.
- Provide training and support: Offer necessary training and support to help employees adjust to the new culture and technologies.
- Implement performance incentives: Use performance-based incentives to encourage productivity and innovation.
- Collect feedback and adapt: Establish feedback mechanisms to continually refine and enhance the change process.
- Celebrate successes: Acknowledge and celebrate milestones to sustain momentum and morale.
