Law Office Manager

Managing staff

Creating and maintaining a high-performance office

Among the goals of any manager is to create and maintain an HPO—a high-performance organization. That means you have created a lean, mean running machine that operates at top efficiency, and your employees are engaged. Some organizations don't believe this really applies to them. But look at it this way: Research by the Gallagher Organization has suggested that only 25 … [Read more...] about Creating and maintaining a high-performance office

Are you building a community or an organization?

By Dr. Steve M. Cohen Office managers have a major role in creating the culture of their organization. One of the major considerations of that culture revolves around the question: Are you building a community or an organization? Defining our terms A community, by definition, is inclusive. It makes room for individuals and their diverse proclivities, biases, illnesses, … [Read more...] about Are you building a community or an organization?

Do you follow these 7 rules when you fire an employee?

If it's employment at will—and for most employers it is—the office can fire whomever it wants, whenever it wants, and without any reason at all. But it's not quite that easy. With any termination, emotions take over. Besides the crushed ego, there is the cold hard fact that the office is essentially taking away a person's livelihood. And all of a sudden people start … [Read more...] about Do you follow these 7 rules when you fire an employee?

3 steps to hiring staff who can—and will—do the job

Spend too little time hiring = spending a lot of time fixing mistakes. Managers tend to go about hiring quickly and haphazardly. They think hiring is a gamble and they might as well rely on the best guess. It doesn't have to be that way. There can be a reasonable amount of certainty in hiring decisions as long as the manager does three things. The first is to … [Read more...] about 3 steps to hiring staff who can—and will—do the job

Protect yourself and your firm with a strong anti-retaliation policy

Most managers are skilled at preventing discrimination claims. But few pay close enough attention to the financial damage that retaliation, resulting from a discrimination claim, can have on a practice. The reality is that retaliation claims have a higher rate of success than discrimination claims. Retaliation claims not limited to victims Retaliation is any adverse action … [Read more...] about Protect yourself and your firm with a strong anti-retaliation policy

The dangers of the disengaged staffer

By Steve M. Cohen  bio Are some of your employees actually working against you? When it comes to the bigger picture of your job, your office or your business, the important question is simple: are you engaged? Is your staff engaged? Whether you are an owner, manager or beginning worker, the answers matters. A national management firm, the Gallagher Organization, has published … [Read more...] about The dangers of the disengaged staffer

6 easy ways to build staff morale and loyalty

It doesn't take a degree in management to build loyalty, morale and productivity in the office. It's the little things that make the biggest difference. Amazingly simple things that cost nothing, yet pay off in spades. 1 Hello and how are you? First is a tactic that's deceptively simple. It's nothing more than saying hello and making eye contact with staff you come … [Read more...] about 6 easy ways to build staff morale and loyalty

6 tips for successfully managing millennials

By Cheryl Toth, MBA bio The Millennial generation - Americans aged 18 – 37,1 is the largest generation in U.S. history. Yup, bigger than the Baby Boomers, and 86 million strong. Next year, they'll comprise 36% of the U.S. workforce, and by 2020, nearly half.2 I love working with this generation. I find them to be a diverse group of curious, collaborative, and fearless folks. … [Read more...] about 6 tips for successfully managing millennials

Employee conflict: When fighters and flighters face-off

By Steve Cohen  bio It's solid management to address the internal climate of your business. I have no doubt you are aware of this and have put time and effort into team building, empowering and creating a positive climate for your staff. It's important to you, and it's important to your staff. So, why are people fighting on occasion or even more frequently? … [Read more...] about Employee conflict: When fighters and flighters face-off