The term “new normal” has become common parlance, but I’ve yet to hear anyone explain what it means. Most of us have an idea: a world where face masks are fashion accessories, airports are more tedious than ever, and offices are forever changed. But specifics are sorely lacking, and that is cause for frustration when you’re a business trying to adapt. How do you pivot in the face of an ever-mutating crisis?
Well, you become agile.
Instituting Agility
The companies that come out of this on top will be those with high degrees of adaptability. This does not necessarily mean the ability to quickly offer a new product—though it can—it means integrating agility into company operations. From now onward, your strategies need to be continually adjustable, employees need to be empowered to make key decisions, ambiguity needs to be met with speed and flexibility, and change needs to mean a transformational opportunity. Simple, right? About as simple as walking a slack line while punching a bouncy ball attached to an elastic fixed to your head.
If there were anything easy about instituting agility, it wouldn’t be that only 27% of executives characterize their company as agile. The good thing here is that the competition’s probably no better off that you, the bad news is that chances are your company belongs to the clumsy majority.
Three Steps to More Agile Operations
Mindset Reform
Preparing for the “new normal” means empowering team members to take ownership of small projects. Old forms of hierarchal leadership can’t keep up with a decentralized workforce; modern leaders must learn to entrust nimble projects to capable employees. Your new job is to make sure they have to support and tools needed to succeed.
Overhaul Procedures
Before you can empower employees to work autonomously, company procedure needs to be adapted to this new model. This means reorienting lines of communication and chains of command. Think small, iterative teams accountable to the success (or failure) of sized-down projects. Tackle major contracts in chunks and level the authoritative playing field.
Upskill Top Talent
If yours is a firm of 50+ lawyers, expect major changes. It may not be that you need to slim your staff—though don’t discount the possibility—but at a minimum, you’ll need to equip the most capable with a more versatile skillset. This means designing a retraining program that both reinforces the business value of agility and introduces strategies for its implementation.
Don’t go reinventing the wheel, though. You’re not the first to tackle this project and far from the only one stressing about how to do so. Our 66-Day Law Firm Turnaround program was designed to help firms just like yours become more agile, more streamlined, more profitable and more successful…in 10 weeks or less. Schedule a free Qualifier Call and let’s start the conversation today!
