Making The Hours of Your Life Worth More ™
Issue # 17
Making the Business Case for Balanced Hours
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BEYOND THE BILLABLE HOUR ™ - Making the Hours of Your
Life Worth More ™
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Issue # 17 - Making the Business Case for Balanced Hours
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To subscribe to "Beyond the Billable Hour" ™ go to
http://LawyersLifeCoach.com
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INDEX: 1. Making the Business Case for Balanced Hours
2. Update on Women Partners Group
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ARTICLE SUMMARY: The shrinking economy does not attenuate
our need for work/life balance. Replace
a focus on insecurity with a plan to make
the business case for balance to your
firm or organization. A strategy for
demonstrating the equity and
profitability of balanced hours policies
is presented.
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Ellen Ostrow, Ph.D., Editor
Ellen is the founder of LawyersLifeCoach.com (TM)
Personal and Career Coaching for Lawyers Determined
to Achieve Professional Success AND
a Fulfilling Life
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OUR PERSPECTIVE
Most attorneys -- especially women -- live impossibly busy lives.
Finding a balance between work and life without sacrificing
professional success, deciding on the best practice area or
work setting, and making career transitions can be a daunting
task, even for the most gifted and accomplished lawyer.
Just as every person deserves the best possible legal
counsel, every attorney deserves professional, dedicated
support in accomplishing her most important goals.
You know how hard you've worked to get where you are --
you serve others, both personally and professionally.
You've earned the right to both career success and
a fulfilling life.
This newsletter is intended to help you create a
satisfying life -- within, or outside of -- legal practice.
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1. MAKING THE BUSINESS CASE FOR BALANCED HOURS
"Work-family balance is a fact of life, not an
'accommodation' for people with peculiar needs."
"An Implementation Plan for Addressing
Work-Life Issues in the Legal Profession."
Boston Bar Association, 2001, p.7
(available at http://www.bostonbar.org/wfcplan.htm)
The need for businesses to enable employees to
balance their work and personal lives has not
changed simply because the economy has slowed.
If anything, the events of September 11 have
been a reminder of the preciousness of our time
with loved ones and the costs of squandering it.
Despite changes in the economy, certain realities
remain:
- Women now constitute almost 30% of the American
Bar and about 50% of law school entering classes.
- Most women attorneys will become mothers during
the course of their careers.
- Current billable hours requirements are incompatible
with normal family life and of questionable
validity as measures of commitment or success.
- Research consistently indicates that work/life
balance is associated with employee satisfaction,
productivity and retention - for both women and
men.
- There has been a profound values shift with regard
to work/life balance. Men, especially those in
dual career marriages, want to participate
actively in their families' lives. This cultural
change appears to be quite stable.
- There are insufficient numbers of men in the new
labor pool to meet the demand for new lawyers -
and many of these men will choose employers
based on the same criterion driving women:
the availability of flexible schedules to
achieve work/life balance. This is NOT just
a "women's issue."
- It generally costs a law firm 150% of a lawyer's
annual salary to recruit and train a replacement.
- The corporate world has successfully developed
effective work/life balance initiatives in order
to retain a diverse workforce. These same
corporations will seek comparable diversity in
choosing legal representation.
- If legal employers want to retain their most talented
attorneys they will have to adopt effective
balanced hour policies. Even in the current economic
slowdown, a gifted woman attorney will find
employment options that allow her the flexibility
to be both lawyer and mother.
THE STRATEGY
The following is a strategy for establishing your
value as an attorney to your firm or organization.
It includes tactics for demonstrating the profitability of
a balanced hours program which offers equal opportunities
for advancement to women with family responsibilities as
well as attorneys free of these commitments.
1. Clarify Your Priorities and Values
You're going to need to develop a valued expertise
and to campaign on your own behalf. To do this
effectively, you need to have a clear sense of
the kind of work you love to do and the kind of
life you want to be living. Look for a work setting
with values compatible to your own.
Without a vision, it's easy for external demands
to define your focus and control your time.
2. Develop Expertise
Choose a practice area to which you can be
committed. Doing work you love enables you
to sustain interest and focus - the essential
ingredients for success. Select a specialty
that is manageable within the context of your
other priorities as well as marketable.
3. Promote Your Expertise
Share your knowledge with lawyers in your
organization. Have work successes published
in your newsletter. Send clippings to
colleagues to demonstrate you're on top of
things. Demonstrate your value to the organization
with a record of effective performance and
be sure others know what you've accomplished.
4. Take Initiative
Go after the work you want; make a plan to
develop and strengthen skills; offer to
contribute to challenging projects; seek
opportunities to meet people both within
and outside your firm with whom you might
be able to develop a mutually beneficial relationship.
5. Develop Excellent Communication Skills
Work on your written and verbal communication.
Notice how the people you admire speak in meetings,
to clients, superiors and subordinates. Request
feedback from people you trust about how
effectively you come across. You want to become
your own best advocate.
6. Show that You Can be a Good Team Player
Free agents can also be good team players.
Volunteer for leadership roles on projects
and in carefully selected committees. Be
a good listener. Attend to group dynamics.
Facilitate cooperation.
7. Develop Marketing Skills
Remember that every time you talk to people
about what they do and about your own work,
you have an opportunity to market your legal
expertise. Share you knowledge by writing articles
or speaking to your target market. If your firm
doesn't teach marketing skills, acquire them
through other forms of training and coaching.
8. Make Alliances; Find Mentors
Even without a formal mentoring program, you can
take the initiative to develop your own personal
advisory board. Cultivate relationships with
people you admire, from whom you can learn and
who want to play a role in facilitating your career
development. Develop an alliance with a senior
attorney in a position of influence who can be
your advocate when you make your balanced hours
proposal.
9. Seek Models and Best Practices for Balanced Hours
Examine model balanced hours policies and
agreements in drafting your own. The Project
for Attorney Retention (http://www.pardc.org);
The Boston Bar Association
(http://www.bostonbar.org/wfcplan.htm);
and the ABA Commission on Women in the Profession
(http://www.abanet.org/women) offer excellent
models and suggestions.
Contact other attorneys, within and outside of
your organization, who have negotiated balanced
hours schedules. If your firm or organization
has a written policy, be sure to follow the
parameters while tailoring it to your specific
needs.
10. Be Flexible
It's important to find a schedule that fits with
your own needs as well as those of your organization.
Make sure your priorities are explicit so your
firm knows what it can realistically expect of you.
11. Don't Settle
The Project for Attorney Retention has specified
the criteria for effective balanced hours policies.
(http://www.pardc.org). Proportional hours for
proportional pay with proportional advancement
should be built into the plan. There is no
reason for you to be removed from partnership
track - you'll be developing your skills and
paying your dues - even if you're doing it at
a bit slower pace.
12. Make the Business Case
Remember that it will cost your firm at least
150% of your salary to recruit someone to
replace you. A new recruit will need time
to get up to speed on your projects. All the
relationships you've cultivated with clients
will be lost. Be subtle in your delivery of
this message - but be sure to keep it in mind.
Decide if you want fewer clients or fewer projects.
More importantly, decide which work you want to
continue to do. Clearly communicate your commitment
to continuing on these projects and clarify how
you plan to sustain your involvement.
You'll need to stay connected, so be sure to
include your technology needs in your proposal.
This also communicates what you'll continue
to contribute if you're retained.
The best business case is in the product.
Set realistic goals and work efficiently.
Employees who change to balanced hours schedules
often become more productive. It's imperative
that your productivity be visible. Gender
stereotypes lead people to underestimate the
competence and commitment of women. You'll
need to provide the evidence to dispel the
assumptions.
13. Backlash
Be prepared to deal with backlash from
attorneys who have not reduced their hours.
In a perfect world, backlash would be decreased
by a policy that is available to everyone and
by proactive management decisions to staff cases
appropriately to avoid overburdening attorneys
on standard hours schedules with work you used
to do.
If you do encounter backlash, candid discussions
may ease tensions. Remind colleagues that you
are getting paid less than they are and, if
applicable, will advance more slowly toward
partnership. Severe backlash needs the intervention
of management, however.
14. Include Non-Billable Time in Your Proposal
If you're going to advance in your firm,
you'll need opportunities to stay in the loop,
to participate on committees, for client
development and pro bono work. Schedule
these activities into your balanced hours proposal.
15. Periodically Re-evaluate
Your needs and the those of your organization
change over time. Update your agreement
as needed, including planning your transition
back to standard hours, if you decide to do
that.
16. Beware of Schedule Creep
Unfortunately, until balanced hours policies
receive consistent support from management,
some partners will continue to ignore your
schedule limits. Often, attorneys on balanced
hours schedules find themselves working 100%
hours for 60%-80% pay.
Situations will surely arise that require you
to work more hours than dictated by your
schedule. Compensate for this by reducing
work time in subsequent days or weeks.
If a partner consistently refuses to respect
the limits of your schedule, be bold in
bringing this to the attention of management.
Remember - balanced hours policies are not
accommodations for the work-challenged. They
should be mutually beneficial arrangements
between lawyers and their managers. You gain
flexibility and your firm retains your talent
and increases its bottom line.
17. Stay Visible and Connected
You're a professional, so you know you'll be
available to clients when true emergencies
arise. Make sure colleagues and staff know
under what circumstances you can be contacted
in your "off" hours.
Help the skeptics in your organization see
that it matters little to clients whether
you're speaking to them from your office,
a playground, a nursing home or the courthouse.
Remember - no attorney is really available
24/7. What happens when an attorney is
arguing a motion or taking a deposition?
Have plans for emergency child care if you
need to deal with a client emergency and
arrange back-up coverage for clients so
they'll feel important and well-served.
If work is assigned to the first person seen,
you'll need to make partners aware of you
even when you're not there. As a coach who
communicates with clients primarily via telephone
and email, I know how much you can accomplish
with these forms of connection.
18. Be Assertive In Getting Good Assignments
Actively and repeatedly request good work
and complain if you don't get it. Denying
you the opportunity to succeed by giving
you meaningless assignments or refusing to
work with you is discriminatory. Don't be
afraid to make a fuss if this happens.
If your organization is unresponsive to
your genuine efforts to work out mutually
beneficial arrangements and to continue
to contribute valuable work while developing
professionally, then this is a culture with
values incongruent with your own.
Why stay in an organization that doesn't value
equal opportunity, family care, and having a
life?
Find a better place to work and let the firm
pay the price of replacing you.
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2. UPDATE ON WOMEN PARTNERS GROUP
An extraordinary group of women attorneys have
joined me for this 12-meeting group.
There's still room for one or two more participants,
so take advantage of this opportunity before time
runs out.
Members are working on goals ranging from client
development to balanced hours schedules - making
progress while exchanging mutual support. The group
has a private discussion board so they can share
wins and problem solve any time of the day or
night.
Our group meets via teleconference call on Fridays
at noon Eastern time.
Contact Ellen at 301-578-8686 or via email at
Ellen@lawyerslifecoach.com if you'd like to
participate.
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BEYOND THE BILLABLE HOUR ™ is published monthly by
Ellen Ostrow, Ph.D., founder of LawyersLifeCoach.com.
She brings 20 years of experience assisting women
attorneys to her work in Lawyers Life Coach ™.
LawyersLifeCoach.com is a professional and personal
coaching firm specializing in working virtually (by
phone with email and fax backup) with women attorneys
interested in developing strategies to find greater
satisfaction in their careers within the law or
in exploring career alternatives for lawyers.
Ellen Ostrow, Ph.D. established Lawyerslifecoach.com
to coach busy lawyers who might benefit from the
insights gained from 20 years as a psychologist
combined with her experience and familiarity with
the legal profession.
Ellen holds a Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology
from the University of Rochester and is a managing
member of Metropolitan Behavioral Health Care, LLC.,
a multispecialty, multidisciplinary psychotherapy
practice in Washington, D.C. and suburban Maryland.
She is a member of the International Coach Federation
and a graduate of the Mentor Coach Program ™.
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NOTE: BEYOND THE BILLABLE HOUR ™ is intended
for informational and educational purposes only.
It is not a substitute for a personal consultation
with a mental health professional and should not
be construed as a form of, or substitute for,
counseling, psychotherapy, or other psychological
service.
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CONTACT INFORMATION
Ellen Ostrow, Ph.D.
LawyersLifeCoach.com
Phone: (301) 578-8686
email: Ellen@LawyersLifeCoach.com
Web: http://LawyersLifeCoach.com
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(c)Copyright 2001 Ellen Ostrow. All rights reserved.
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