TLOMA Today

Happy Anniversary TLOMA and Welcome June!

I am so honored to serve as your President during our 50th Anniversary celebration! TLOMA was established in 1968, and has maintained its mission to provide Professional Development and best practice  opportunities to enhance the competence and professionalism of legal management professionals through learning, sharing and networking over the last 50 years. This mission will continue on. The Board, SIG Leaders, appointed Committee Chairs, and Committee volunteers are hard at work preparing to meet the goals outlined during the November Strategic Planning meeting and February Handover transition meeting. These groups have been charged with increasing membership and participation within the Association, developing improved communication, and the promotion of professional growth and training through Professional Development sessions, networking events and our Annual Conference. I am very enthusiastic about what this year offers.

TLOMA is a dynamic Association comprised of management professionals from all areas. This Association has a great deal to offer its members and in return, each of its members have a great deal to offer in return. Whether you do so through volunteerism, networking, or sharing your industry knowledge, TLOMA is there to help. As Vince Lombardi said, “The achievements of an Association are the combined efforts of each individual.” The key to TLOMA’s success is member participation! I am excited to be working with such a dedicated and passionate group of management professionals, celebrating 50 years of TLOMA’s success, and charting our course for the future. It’s hard to believe June is upon us and I am half-way through my term as President. Hopefully, time will appear to have slowed a bit so we can enjoy summer.

Last month, I was writing to y’all from New Orleans. This time around, Tofino is my home. Of the many beautiful places in Canada I have had the privilege to visit, Tofino is at or near the top of my list. Think spectacular scenery mixed with a cool Wild West coast hippy vibe. With amazing yoga, super friendly people, surfing and Tacofino (you absolutely need to eat here). Tofino offers breathtaking vistas, true west coast beaches, hiking, hot springs, wildlife viewing, storm watching and so much more!  Anyway, before I get back to daydreaming with my toes in the sand, let’s get down to some business.  

I hope each of you are each planning some well-deserved summer holidays and preparing for what is predicted to be a “hot summer” which many of us are eagerly anticipating. The sun is shining, the nights are long, and everyone is happier right? Well not everyone, especially those battling long commutes on overcrowded or stuffy Go trains, streetcars, or subways (i.e., a streetcar named perspire!). Then you arrive at work and sit in warm offices from 9-5 dreaming of the weekend and it’s still only Monday. So how can you keep your peeps motivated and cool during the summer heat without giving them the summer off? As I’m hanging here on the beach, this is what’s come to mind…

1) Be flexible – If you are downtown and your staff need to navigate public transport during busy periods, consider operating a flexible work arrangement to allow staff to start early (or late) to avoid congested commutes. It’s a lot easier to enjoy being at work and be effective at what you are doing if you don’t feel like you’ve just run a marathon before you start! We have summer hours at our office and summer business casual which appears to be a hit.

2) Keep hydrated – It sounds obvious, but staying hydrated keeps the mind focused. Water is the best hydrator so ensure water bottles are filled and remind staff to drink. Skip the ‘tea/coffee run’ and replace with the water run!

3) Summer Business Casual – Businesses are operating a more casual dress code for work, but if your office is slightly more business traditional – consider relaxing the dress code for the summer. Do employees really need to wear ties, nylons, or jackets?

4) Ice cream (a personal fave) – While slightly trickier to implement and not a daily thing, from time to time, we have brought in the Dickie D man and Baskin Robbins. Consider stocking the freezer with popsicles and ice creams for Friday lunch hours. It’s always hard for me to feel motivated after lunch on Fridays, even harder when the office temperature is rising and we are all watching the clock and dreaming about the weekend at the cottage, running around town, or spending time with family and friends.

Evidence shows that as heat rises so does absenteeism. Summer sickies on Mondays and Fridays, in particular rise with employees feeling less motivated to face the commute and a long day in the office. Therefore, it’s very important to keep the office cool, consider flexible working arrangements and opt for more casual dress. You’d rather a staff member come in early and work their hours and more importantly deliver their objectives over calling in sick (which can cause further demotivation in the office if other staff members have to pick up the slack!). If you have some other ideas or have done something different at your Firm, let me know.

Now onto TLOMA Happenings:

An email was circulated to the Membership from the Board of Directors looking for members to become part of the Nominating Committee. We encourage all members to sign up! It’s only a 6 to 8 week commitment. We’d love to have you join the Nominating Committee or sign up to become a member of the Board or other volunteer position and make a contribution.

If there is anyone still wishing to participate in the TLOMA 2018 Business Services, Associate Compensation and Total Rewards Survey please contact Bridget Bohan at 1 (519) 831-1424 or email Bridget.  Below are a few dates to remember…

• Friday, June 15th, 2018: Survey data is due!
• Tuesday, September 11th, 2018: 12 noon to 2pm - Results Meeting – This session will teach you about how to use the survey results and how to age the data when you need to use the survey.

Questions can be directed to the 2018 Compensation Survey Committee Chair, Katherine Mather or any member of the Compensation Committee, or Liz Barrington.

Please save the dates for the following upcoming events:

• June 8^th 2018 – 50th Anniversary – TLOMA Member Networking Event at La Maquette
• June 14 2018 – Trial by iPad

Remember, any questions you may have can be directed to Liz Barrington, Karen Gerhardt or me at any time. 

Signing off on another 'Pres Mes' as the Pacific tide rises. Peace, love, and wishing you all a warm, groovy, safe summer.

Michelle xo

Here is why you should register for
TLOMA 2018 Conference today!

Register now.

A Unique Once-A-Year Opportunity     

The only conference in Eastern Canada developed by and exclusively for legal management professionals.

Up-to-date trends, strategies and tactics: There is something for everyone. Conference sessions cover leadership, marketing, tax updates, performance management, mental health in the workplace and more.
			Share and Learn: With a variety of Conference session formats, attendees can participate in case studies, round table, and panel discussions. You decide the topics and collaborate with experts and peers on solutions to help with issues you are facing today in your workplace.
Connect and Network: Meet like-minded colleagues and Business Partners to exchange ideas and learn about products and services available to improve operations in your Firm.
	Celebrate our 30th Anniversary: This year’s Conference will be a celebration of a significant milestone. And it will be special! Come celebrate with us.
Check out more on the Conference program		Register today		Book your accommodations now

TLOMA thanks our 2018 Platinum Sponsors for their generous support.

Cloud computing has been a major development in the small business world, but it isn’t without its fair share of challenges. The cloud has been a godsend in terms of taking work on the go, streamlining productivity, and improving workflow. However, there is one tiny problem.

Cloud sprawl.

What Is Cloud Sprawl?

The mere mention of “cloud sprawl” is enough to send most IT managers screaming for the hills. That’s because it refers to the proliferation of an unmanageable number of cloud applications and accounts in a single office. One of the biggest advantages of cloud technology is that it doesn't rely on hardware and can be deployed relatively easily, but that also means you need to be careful not to overindulge.

Often, cloud sprawl is caused by individual employees who provision cloud services without the approval of their IT support department. For instance, you might have an employee who signs up for Google Calendar despite your office investing in Office 365. Or maybe there’s a productivity app that one employee prefers over the ones his or her co-workers typically use.

These may seem like insignificant examples, but when employees are provisioning cloud services left and right, problems can arise. Especially if they aren’t the only ones going cloud happy.

It Isn’t Just The Employees

Managers and IT decision makers may fall victim to cloud sprawl by their own doing as well. It’s easy to be wooed by the trendiest app of the day, and many businesses rush to jump on board before considering whether a tool they already have can do the trick.

At the end of the day, your firm might be using upwards of 10 or more cloud services. When you combine them with the ones your employees are using on their own, productivity suffers.

Why Cloud Sprawl is A Problem

IT support departments discourage cloud sprawl because it can slow down the network and create problems with maintaining efficiency and compliance. Each new app or service requires its own set of login credentials and has its own unique user experience.

If an employee downloads an email attachment, opens it in another app for editing and files it in a document management program, that's at least three different cloud-based programs.

If the employee does anything else related to that same task, that number may increase. IT departments struggle to maintain a handle on the integrity of the network by monitoring and maintaining everything it is being asked to do.

For smaller law firms or those without an in-house IT support team, the problems can be amplified. Without a dedicated IT support provider, no one is monitoring and maintaining your cloud services and ensuring that everything is running efficiently and without risk.

Risk? Yes, there is a certain amount of risk that cloud sprawl brings with it. In our example of cloud email > cloud editing > cloud document management, each program that opens the document will store a copy. This means your IT technician isn’t just securing one file, he or she is running around monitoring 3+ copies of the same document stored in different platforms.

This is especially true of employee-caused cloud sprawl where an employee may provision a cloud service, use it briefly, and then move on to the next big thing, leaving your firm's data behind.

What Can Be Done?

The fight against cloud sprawl begins with a detailed outline of your cloud strategy, which should be communicated to your employees. This strategy should be continuously reviewed by management and IT with internal policies and procedures to support it. 

For small to mid-sized law firms, managed IT services may be the best way to combat cloud sprawl. With the massive amounts of data being transmitted and worked on within the cloud, managed IT services can implement best-practices to safeguard your data, and improve the efficiency of your network.

‘I want value from my legal services provider.’ ‘I get terrific value from our lawyers’. ‘Where is the value in this relationship?’ ‘Look at this invoice – what value did I get?’ And of course the firm says, ‘We value your business.’ Plus on the website it says, ‘Our Mission is to provide value...’

Expressly or implied, clients demand value and every lawyer and every firm promises it.

In order to attract, retain and profit from your client relationships, they have to see usefulness in what you provide and for which you invoice them each month. There is no secret alphabet-soup formula for creating, delivering and communicating compelling value. It takes thought and it takes ongoing effort. Creating value cannot be left to advertising or your website alone. Remember, value is in the eye of the beholder. 

So What Do We Mean When We Talk About Value?

It starts with - The adequate or satisfactory return on, or recompense for something… (something = buyer’s money and time). Perhaps we recognize value when we simply feel good about the transaction, when something performs to expectation, when we are able to benefit in some economic or other way as a result and when we willingly (gladly) repeat the purchase. Let’s have a closer look at these contributing elements.

We Feel Good

No matter how senior you are, how much power you wield and how huge your ego, when you buy any service or product that satisfies your expectations, you feel good about it. No buyer’s remorse. A positive connection is made and trust is created with the vendor. Value has been delivered. The chances are really good that you will repeat such a purchase and, equally as good that you will recommend the supplier to people you know. Clients will always remember how you and/or the transaction that you were involved in made them feel.

Performing To Expectation

As a service provider, you deliver value when you sell services that actually work for clients and deliver the anticipated tangible and emotional results. These services have a practical application and serve a useful purpose to your client base. The way in which your services are made available and the way in which you provide the information, substantiation and clarity in order that clients can make an intelligent choice to effectively use the various services you offer, contributes to their value. In delivering these services, you should be available and accessible when your clients need you. In other words, you make the business traction easy, pleasant and efficient. Clients are able to make good decisions based on your input.

Economic Benefit – Does Not Mean Discounting

You do not need to offer discounted rates to provide value. On the contrary, if you have delivered successfully on the above, you might well premium bill and still be perceived as having delivered value. Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz says proudly that their focus is on solving their clients' most important problems. When a ‘most important problem’ is solved, value has been delivered.  Here, the client’s business benefit can have a dollar value exceeding a huge multiple of the associated legal bill.

The equation is very simple – when clients believe that you performed at or beyond their expectation and they feel good about that which was performed for them, they will automatically assume that they received economic value from their interaction with your firm. And I might add, recommend you and your firm without reservation to others.

Examine Your Value Chain – Link By Link

Have a look at the value chain at your firm, not from the inside, but from the client side.  Are they getting their money’s worth?

Interviewing isn’t an everyday task for most so it’s always worth refreshing your interview know-how if it’s been a while. There are a few areas where I see hiring managers miss opportunities to get better information or put the interviewee at ease. Ahead of your next interview, consider these five ways that you can improve your results.

1. Build rapport

It’s nerve-wracking to go to an interview, even for the most experienced candidate, and if you can put them at ease by building rapport then you’ll get to see the candidates’ best side, which will help you make a better decision. The way in which you open the interview will set the tone for the entire meeting, so make sure you capture the candidate’s attention from the outset by delivering a welcoming and engaging introduction which brings the company and role to life.

Begin the interview as you usually would any other meeting, by introducing yourself and your role. Give a bit of background about how you got to where you are, how long you have been with the company for, how your role relates to the vacancy in question, and what you personally like about your job. By opening yourself up to the candidate and sharing your story, you will make the candidate feel at ease and they will know you better as a person.

2. Streamline your process

It can be quite the process from phone interview to multiple in-person meetings, sometimes with panels of four or more people. The best candidates have lots of options, so try to streamline your process so they have a good experience, and for better efficiency on your end. If fit is the most important part, considering skipping the phone interview. You can send automated screening questions to applicants to confirm the information you need to qualify them for an in-person interview, which saves everyone time, especially since phone interviews rarely factor in a hiring decision.

Know who has to be involved in the hiring decision and try to reduce how many decision makers are involved. I suggest a maximum of two people in the interview. Panel-style interviews can turn off and intimidate some candidates and you won’t necessarily get an authentic representation of that person and vice versa.

3. Be consistent

If you’re interviewing five people for a role over two days, how can you make sure you’re getting the information you need from each so that you can make an informed decision? You need to have a set of questions that are specific to the job requirements that you will ask every candidate, and you need to make note of anything you should ask to fill in gaps in a candidate’s resume.

For example, if the role will require a lot of balancing priorities then you should ask all the candidates for examples of times they have managed multiple projects or deadlines and how they approach that. But if one candidate has experience from a different industry, then you might ask them what transferable skills they would bring to the role.

4. Sell the role

This candidate may be going on a number of interviews, so yours needs to stand out. You aren’t limited to a standard question and answer session across a desk. Make time at the end of the interview to show the candidate where they will be working to help them feel what life will be like at your organization. Introduce them to the team and show them around the office. Alternatively, get other people to come in, ask some of the questions or show videos of key team members.

In short, remember to keep the interview engaging, interesting and conversational. In doing this, you sell the opportunity to the candidate as much as you would expect the candidate to sell themselves to you. More so, you will stay in their mind as an employer of choice, ensuring that they walk away saying only good things about you, your organization and the opportunity in hand.

5. Be transparent

You want to find the right fit for the role, so while it can be tempting to sell the firm and work environment as perfect for anyone, you’ll get better results with honesty and transparency. Don’t just talk about facts and figures, for instance, how many employees you have, or when the company was formed. Try to give them an insight into what life is like at your organization, and enable them to imagine working there.

Describe things like the company culture, and what makes it a great place to work, but also mention challenges. Maybe your team socializes often, or rarely spends time together outside work – neither are a bad culture, but different people will have different preferences. Be honest and let your candidates determine if it’s the right fit for them.

Interviews are one of the most important tools for making great hiring decisions, so make the most of the opportunity by using the tips above.

We live in a culture where few subjects are off the table. We talk about everything and we are not shy about it. Sex and our preferences? No problem. Our mommy and daddy issues? Well, everyone has them, right? Then how come we have not yet developed a comfort level when it comes to talking about money? The truth is, if there is one subject matter we could do with talking about more often, its money. Why? Because the more we discuss money, the less intimidating it is to deal with and the more we feel in control of it. So, I am encouraging you to embrace the money conversation.

Who do I need to have the money conversation with? Me, Myself and I…

Many people would prefer to stick pins in their eyes than take a long hard look at the relationship they have with their money. For many women, taking control of money causes a lot of anxiety, especially because they feel they lack financial literacy to make informed decisions. The truth is, many of us have not learned basic financial literacy in school, and so unless you had astute financial people in your life (i.e., parents, mentors) it is basically something you have to figure out on your own - or find a professional you trust that can help you with this.

A good place to start when you are having the money conversation with yourself is to think about where you feel the most vulnerable when it comes to dealing with your finances. Ask yourself, ‘What is my greatest worry about my finances at this time and what do I need to improve?’ Is it taking control of debt? Learning to invest instead of saving? Or is it getting a better handle on where my money is going?

The key to this exercise is to start it.

Take small steps toward overcoming your fears around your finances. Be honest about your circumstances. What are the dangers of your current circumstances? Are you in debt? Do you have an emergency fund? Do you have a plan to replace your income if you become sick or injured? If you are a caregiver, is the breadwinner insured in case of death or disability? Are there opportunities in your circumstances? Do you feel you could be saving more of your income but not sure where to start? Do you feel you pay too much tax? Write down your thoughts about your finances.

Pat Yourself on the Back

Chances are, you are doing something well when it comes to your finances. The secret to becoming more financially confident is identifying what you are doing well and do more of it. Give yourself credit for starting this important conversation with yourself and make a commitment to become a lifelong learner in this area of your life. It’s important to find a trusted advisor to help you with the money conversation, and how to approach the money conversation with loved ones such as your spouse, parents and children.

At TLOMA, we provide education, professional development, mentorship, and support to our Membership. Through these initiatives, TLOMA members are offered both a professional and social network of professionals working in law firms of all sizes. To encourage members to grow their network at TLOMA, we would like to profile TLOMA members in each issue of TLOMA Today to give readers a snapshot of who we are within the legal industry.

Name: Joanne Burtnik

How long have you been a member of TLOMA? Off and on since mid 90's.

Where do you work? I have been employed with Robins Appleby LLP since May, 2017.

What do you enjoy most about working in the legal industry? I love working in Toronto despite the commute; law firm people are smart and engaging. The work especially in HR is challenging and rewarding.

Where was the last place you vacationed? Edgar Lake; about 60 km south of James Bay in northern Ontario. Fishing with my new husband and our dog.

What is your favorite lunch spot during the workweek? Anywhere a big salad is available.

What is your favorite artist/band you got to see live in concert? The Tragically Hip – about 20 times!

What are your favorite hobbies? Sleeping, eating, drinking good wine.

Name one thing you can't live without? COFFEE.

If you could have a 60-minute conversation with anyone (fictional, famous, not famous, etc.) – who would you choose? Very tough question – Fictional would be Gandalf from Lord of the Rings. Famous would be Stephen King. Not famous would be my mom's father; he was a very smart and funny man who died long before I was born.

If you are interested in participating in the Member Spotlight feature of TLOMA Today to share some of your experiences at TLOMA, please email editor@tloma.com for more information.