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By Kathleen Post, Partner
When firms approach us about coaching, we are often asked to explain how the coaching process works. How does coaching create a more efficient project manager, communicator, leader, business developer, or time manager? What does coaching do to help coachees reach the next level of effectiveness? How can a coach help to produce results that a person may not be able to attain on his or her own?
One way to think about coaching is a “flea circus” in reverse. Remember the flea circus? Once a popular form of entertainment in the 19th-century (arguably no more strange than our modern day entertainment options!), fleas were trained to jump only as high as the lid of a cigar box, though in reality they could jump to more than 200 times their own height. The "circus" was lifting the lid to watch them bounce around as if there were a piece of glass over the box. Habituated to jump within a limited range of their actual potential, the fleas forgot just how much higher they could jump.
After years of conditioning and developing habits in the ways we think, act, and approach life and work, we are not much different from these fleas! Coaching helps us to investigate the factors that may be limiting us from reaching our potential and unravel unproductive beliefs and habits, replacing them with new, more productive ones. To achieve optimal effectiveness in any domain, whether project management or good health, we often need an outside perspective to help us see things differently, create a new vision, develop greater awareness of what may be holding us back, and implement more effective tools and strategies. Even if we are aware of how much higher we could be jumping, the unproductive habits that are getting in our way, and the strategies we “should” be using, it takes dedicated focus over time to integrate new practices and sustain them. Coaching creates the space that we often don’t or can’t create on our own to make that kind of change happen. The process is especially effective for high performers like lawyers who have a strong track record of success. Why? Because the more success we experience, the more we are conditioned to believe our old approach works, even if it is the very thing limiting us now. As Marshall Goldsmith preaches, what got us here may not necessarily get us there1. The "paradox of success" is that getting to the next level of effectiveness sometimes requires that we scrap the old way of doing things even if it was once our ticket to success.
The project management coaching process works the same as in other coaching domains. Though lawyers have been managing projects since the beginning of lawyering, that doesn’t mean they are managing them as effectively and efficiently as they could be. Gone are the days of the bottom-less budget when lawyers could take their time solving client’s problems. Clients expect that their lawyers are operating in optimal gear at all times. Lawyers must be flea-like when it comes to clients, always asking how high when a client says jump.
When I coach clients on building effective project management skills I consider three core component parts—planning, people management, and time management—with communication as the thread that binds it together.
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Figure 1: Elements of Effective Project Management |
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Together with the lawyer, I work on assessing strengths and potential weaknesses in the current project management approach, investigating beliefs about how project management should work, experimenting with new strategies, and determining the best ways to integrate and sustain changes in day-to-day practice. Following are some of the elements we may investigate in the course of the process:
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Planning– What is the client’s desired result? What are the project goals and objectives? Timeline, deadlines and tasks? Potential risks? Fee estimates?
People Management – Who are the team members and responsibilities? Have their capabilities and experience been assessed, giving thought to who might be challenged by certain assignments? Has workload been considered? Were they adequately briefed on the project elements? How is progress being monitored/managed? Are interim deadlines regularly set during the work process? How is work reviewed? Is there a feedback loops? Are there teaching and mentoring opportunities?
Time Management: Is time adequately estimated in terms of how long it will take assignees to complete each task? Are tasks planned and prioritized based on deadlines? How are file and email management systems maintained? Are there strategies for handling interruptions and overcoming procrastination and perfectionism? How is time tracked in routine tasks over time? Are efficient protocols memorialized?
Communication: Is there clear communication with the client before, during, and after the project? And likewise with the assignee(s)? Are team members kept informed with updates and/or changes as matters progress? Are they given clear instructions and direction, with clear expectations for the final product? Is there a practice of active listening and openness to other’s ideas? |
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Effective project management involves the integration of many if not all of these elements. One-on-one coaching aids lawyers in identifying, practicing, and adopting new and more effective project management behaviors in ways that formal training alone can never accomplish. The obstacles and “invisible glass” each individual lawyer faces in his or her pursuit of optimal performance is always unique, which requires tailored attention, goals, and processes. As motivator, sounding board, taskmaster, and trusted partner, a coach can help identify those unique factors and create new behaviors in a way that even the very best supervisors and mentors cannot. By providing the space for reflection, goal setting and action steps, and offering the accountability needed for overcoming resistance and creating sustainable change, coaching helps cement new habits more quickly—and makes that high jump achievable.
Kathleen Post is a Partner in the consulting firm of Shannon & Manch LLP and Director of the firm’s executive coaching practice. She can be reached at 202.293.8900 or at post@shannonandmanch.com.
Article References
- Goldsmith, M., What Got You Here Won’t Get You There, Hyperion Press, New York, 2007. In his book, Goldsmith discusses the "paradox of success," or the fact that the behaviors that once helped us to succeed can limit us from reaching the next level of effectiveness.
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