In-house and legal ops professionals know they need to do a better job communicating their value to the business.
But when your function trades in the currency of mitigated risk, how do you translate that value to the rest of the rest of the organization?
In working with enterprise legal teams embarking on their outside counsel management journey — or improving their existing program — I’ve observed that the problem isn’t that legal doesn’t have a desire to better communicate their value to the rest of the business.
They just don’t know where to start or how to do it.
They lack a framework, the right tools, and the time it takes to build the muscle around showing their value in a language that’s understood by the rest of the business.
I’ve also been privileged to work with a number of teams who have learned how to do this exceptionally well.
Here are the common traits they all share.
1. They align legal and business objectives
Exceptional legal teams aim to understand the goals and challenges of the business and then tailor their efforts to directly support these objectives.
This transforms the perspective of legal as an obstacle to that of a trusted partner and advocate to to other functions in the business.
2. They focus on service delivery
One of the best examples I’ve seen of this model in action is Moderna’s legal department under the leadership of Shannon Thyme Klinger.
By leading their organization in using Language Learning Models (LLMs), Shannon’s team has exponentially increased the value delivered by legal to the rest of the business and scaled their impact across the organization.
This has enabled her team to devote more time and resources to enhancing service quality and strengthening partnerships with their internal clients, setting a new standard in service delivery, and teaching the business to trust and rely on them more.
3. They have a targeted vision for their technology and process improvements
Legal teams that have a clear and persuasive vision for their technology stack are better positioned to get the support and budget they need from the business.
Rather than focus solely on efficiency, they also evaluate their resource investments for results and outcomes that will provide tangible benefits to the company.
4. They can confidently and enthusiastically communicate their value
Great legal teams exude confidence and enthusiasm. Because they’re aligned with the rest of the business, they know their work will resonate. But they also know that they need a good way to show it.
They do this by building data-driven programs that have measurable, quantifiable, and tangible results. Then they use the right tools to show those results.
These are only a few aspects of exceptional legal departments that I’ve seen in my experience.
What are other qualities in standout departments and operations teams that you've seen or experienced?
Hit reply and tell us!
Continue Reading: How to Communicate the Value of Legal to Your Business
.png?upscale=true&width=320&upscale=true&name=Untitled%20design%20(7).png)
.png?upscale=true&width=1120&upscale=true&name=Webinar_33%20(2).png)
-1.png?upscale=true&width=1120&upscale=true&name=image%20(17)-1.png)
