Stronger together: The power of collaboration

The following is an excerpt from How to make in-house a powerhouse: A revolutionary way of working for in-house legal teams, the debut publication by globally recognized in-house legal advocate, lawyer and project management specialist Shaun Plant.

Competitive and prone to independent thought and action – it’s not surprising that collaboration doesn’t come naturally to many lawyers. And while we’re on the subject, I’d like to tell you a story.

When I was in private practice, I attended an internal workshop on collaborative negotiation. This is a concept that you may be familiar with – the aim is to emphasize cooperation and creative problem-solving to find win-win solutions for both parties.

After spending the morning learning new skills, we set about a negotiation exercise to put our training into action. It was based on the “Prisoner’s Dilemma”, one of the core concepts of modern game theory. In this exercise, each party was given the option of playing either a red card or a blue card. If both sides played a red card, they would get +3 points each. However, if one played a red card and the other a blue, the red team received -6 points and the blue team would get +6. If both played blue cards, both teams got -3 points.

The instructions were for each team to try to get the highest possible score. Having spent the morning exploring the value of collaboration and win-win scenarios, you would have thought both teams would simply play red each time – but no. The unspoken (but expected) collaborative win-win outcome was overcome on both sides by the dominant drive to achieve the best possible outcome for themselves, which was only possible if the other team lost.

So instead, the exercise went something like this: after the first round kicked off with a red/blue play, every other subsequent round saw both teams playing blue/blue. The reasons for this made sense – the team which had played the red card first (and therefore lost 6 points) didn’t want to get caught out again and make their situation any worse, and the blue team didn’t want to lose the 6 point gain they had made at the beginning. The result at the end of the exercise was a clear lose/lose, with both teams in the minus figures. However, because the team who had played blue throughout hadn’t lost quite as many points in the end, they claimed a moral victory. The lesson – as lawyers, we are more powerful when we work together – not against each other. When we focus simply on “winning” the best outcome for ourselves and our clients, we can miss out on the chance to work collaboratively to achieve a far greater result on both sides.

While collaboration is the key to connecting your team with one another and optimizing your productivity, finding opportunities for effective and efficient collaboration can be challenging, especially within a remote work environment which relies extensively on electronic communication. It can be particularly hard to collaborate when essential information is spread across Slack/Microsoft Teams, email chains, and meetings. But by embracing a few key strategies, it is possible to foster effective collaboration within your legal team and maximize its collective potential.

Firstly, establishing an environment which fosters open communication is crucial. To prevent your meetings from becoming a source of legal waste, make sure that you keep them focused. You should also look to include brainstorming and knowledge-sharing sessions into your standard ways of working. Importantly, encourage team members to voice their opinions, ask questions, and contribute their expertize, and in return, make sure that you provide positive feedback so they know their input is valued and respected. Providing positive feedback also generates trust, which is another key ingredient of effective collaboration.

In-house legal teams can also benefit from fostering a culture of continuous learning and professional development. Encouraging your team members to attend legal seminars, workshops or conferences, and providing opportunities for cross-training within the team as part of your building legal capital initiatives can broaden your collective knowledge base and expand the skill sets of everyone involved. This shared commitment to growth creates a foundation for collaboration built on a mutual desire to excel.

Creating cross-functional teams or assigning diverse project groups can also promote collaboration and encourage fresh perspectives. By bringing together individuals with different expertize and backgrounds, your team can tap into a wealth of diverse insights, stimulating creativity and innovation. These interdisciplinary collaborations can lead to well-rounded solutions which include consideration of multiple angles and enhance the overall quality of your work.

The collaborative functionality of technology should also be embraced as part of your strategy. Legal technology solutions (such as a legal workspace) often include many features that can enable your team to collaborate on the same matter, such as sharing documents, in-app conversations, notifications when tasks are due or completed, and status update features to make sure everyone knows where any given matter is at any time. If you are using communication tools like email, Slack, or Microsoft Teams, you can also make sure that they are integrated into your workspace so that all of your communications can be accessed in a single place.

Lastly, celebrating and recognizing collaborative efforts is vital to sustaining a culture of collaboration. Publicly acknowledging and appreciating team members’ contributions and successes fosters a positive atmosphere, boosts morale, and motivates further collaborative effort. Recognizing the achievements of the team as a whole reinforces the importance of collective effort and reinforces the value of collaboration.

By implementing these strategies, your team can harness its collective intelligence and skills and work more productively as a unit.

How to make in-house a powerhouse: A revolutionary way of working for in-house legal teams is available in print, digital and audio formats. To get your copy, click here.