Law Office Manager

Managing staff

Model Tool: Sample dress code

Why you need this dress code: It would be nice if everyone understood what it means to be professional, but they don't. The reality is that staff often have to be taught how to behave. And part of being an administrator is teaching staff. How this dress code helps you: A written dress code is important, especially as business dress becomes more casual. If your firm doesn't have … [Read more...] about Model Tool: Sample dress code

How to help stressed-out employees

By Steve M. Cohen  bio Stress is actually a good thing—until it overloads people. This overloaded situation is actually called "dis-stress." The ability to accommodate stress is inherent in all of us, but how much stress we can manage is a personal matter. Anxiety, resulting from stress overload is not a good thing in anyone's life. What every office manager must … [Read more...] about How to help stressed-out employees

How to get new staffers off to a strong start

Don’t lose the investment of a new hire to a lackadaisical orientation. Set the stage for success. Lay out what the firm expects in the job. The more clearly that’s communicated, the better the relationship and the more likely that person is to be successful. A good orientation assimilates the newcomer into the firm. What’s more, it makes people feel welcome so they stick … [Read more...] about How to get new staffers off to a strong start

One employee complaint can change your reality

By Steve M. Cohen  bio Sometimes it's difficult to communicate to employers just how much federal and state law impact businesses and organizations when an employee makes a complaint. By this, I mean virtually any allegation, whether it's an accusation of sexual harassment, bullying or an alleged workplace safety hazard. It doesn't matter if you doubt the complaint or have … [Read more...] about One employee complaint can change your reality

Three ways to end three staff problems every manager hates

When you manage people, at some point you’re going to face an uncomfortable situation, such as co-worker with unacceptable body odor, a gossiper who’s poisoning the workplace, or a staff member who simply won’t acknowledge your authority. Here are some suggestions on how to deal with these people problems. The people problems need to be managed “before they occur and as they … [Read more...] about Three ways to end three staff problems every manager hates

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