Introducing a successful quality assurance system usually requires profound changes in how people think about their work, how they interact with each other and clients, and how they prioritize and deliver legal services. It can be challenging, but it is absolutely necessary for sustainable success in a competitve environment that has very little tolerance for poor service quality.
a culture of quality
A culture of quality challenges traditional assumptions about how lawyers and staff contribute to the profitability of the firm and how they add value in their respective roles. Organizations will want to make a realistic assessment of the unique characteristics of their organization in numerous areas to identify cultural gaps between how they operate today and what is both expected and needed in a Quality assurance culture.
There are three key cultural indicators that must be honestly assessed and attentively managed:
- leadership
- communication and feedback
- data collection
new ideas about leadership
A major premise of quality assurance systems is that the people who do the work every day are in the best position to improve it. They are usually the ones who can best diagnose the causes of problems in work processes. That is why a major component of our firm's approach to quality assurance is to provide knowledge, tools, and methods to people working in the departments, practice groups, and teams. This soon empowers the entire organization to manage an effective quality assurance program with little or no continuing dependence on outside consultants.
Teams and individual members – at all levels in the organization, lawyers and non-lawyers, depending on the initiative - will be asked to assume greater responsibility and accountability for their own work. They may be asked to work together in teams -- sometimes for the first time in the history of the organization -- to spot and fix problems.
Working in this manner involves a leadership shift, in the words of Margaret Wheatley, “from an organization with leaders to an organization of leaders.”
What leadership messages do you and your organization communicate through your actions today? What do you need to do more of? Stop doing? Do differently?
Here are some examples of questions that can help you begin to make that honest self-assessment and to identify cultural gaps. The more significant the gap between what you are doing now and where you need to be to support Quality assurance initiatives – the more urgent and complex is the leadership challenge.
To what extent do we currently….
- Train, develop, and reward leadership behaviors in others?
- Ask our lawyers and staff for input and feedback about our leadership effectiveness?
- Monitor and correct others’ work versus provide feedback and ask them to improve their own work quality?
- Involve others in making decisions and solving problems in teams?
- Encourage people to get involved in leadership roles, internally and externally?
communication and feedback
Developing and maintaining effective working relationships requires a great deal of effort.
In a quality culture, people need to have the willingness and the abilities to share in their successes and to honestly confront when things aren’t going well. Quality methods involve offering positive feedback for a job well done and having candid, constructive discussions about possible areas for improved performance.
At a basic level, relationships in a quality work environment depend on knowing where you stand. When trust is low, it is natural that people may feel that they will be unfairly judged or misunderstood if they speak candidly.
For example, if career paths and promotions are perceived to be subjective and based on whether people like you, this will discourage others from speaking their mind. If the organization rewards compliance over asking questions and initiating change, why would someone do anything other than keep their head down and their mouth shut?
To what extent do we currently:
- Talk at versus talk with each other, especially during disagreements?
- Demonstrate to others that their views and needs really matter to our success?
- Talk down other’s objections versus listening patiently and actively before we respond?
- Ask others “how can we manage this change working together?
- Hide behind “false collegiality” to avoid our real concerns or sensitive discussions?
- Promote firm-wide commitment and actions to support strategic priorities?
data collection for well-informed decisions
Quality results are the product of a well-informed process. In a quality culture, mistakes not viewed as a source of blame or something to be covered up, but instead as data upon which to base permanent solutions to ongoing problems.
The accurate diagnosis of quality assurance problems and their causes requires accurate and timely data about the functioning of the processes in the firm that produce and deliver services to clients and internal clients. Using quality methods, organizations can use this data to help them assess their competitive risks and to take advantage of opportunities before competitors even know they exist.
Integrating reliable data into quality problem solving, decision-making, and planning assures a necessary intellectual rigor. It discourages complacency, and instead promotes factual corroboration and the testing of assumptions. It provides reliable measurements to analyze problems and identify possible courses of action.
How much of a gap is there between how thoroughly and systematically your organization collects and disseminates relevant data today and what you think will be important to promote a work culture centered on high levels of service quality and client satisfaction? Ask these questions:
To what extent do we currently:
- Promote quick-fix responses to problems?
- Fail to carry out our plans and decisions?
- Anticipate changes that need to be made and respond to them before they are a crisis?
- Make reasonable estimates of costs and benefits to document a business case for change?
- Collect forecasts about relevant external trends?
- Consider significant internal trends and their probable future?
- Seek input from members of the firm on relevant issues related to their perceptions and day to day experiences?
- Collect client input and information about industry sectors the firm serves?
- Disseminate quantitative and qualitative progress measurements internally to the “right” people?
Start by addressing your cultural dynamics honestly.
As a first step, identify important differences between your current culture -- what people actually do, not what they say -- and the culture that is needed to support the your planned quality initiatives.
This is a real test for senior leaders. It is a test to their commitment to the success of the plans because it involves doing something that is usually uncomfortable –- that is looking at their own leadership behaviors and the traditional leadership practices in the firm -- in new ways and from different points of view.
It involves accepting that:
- “My way” is not necessarily the “only way” or even the “best” way.
- The “way that I see it” may not actually be “the way it IS” as seen through the eyes of some of my colleagues.
- Change is for me too. My colleagues will doubt that change is possible if as a senior leader I simply demand Quality practices without altering my own behaviors.
Some organizations find they have significant gaps in key cultural areas. These gaps are not “black marks.” They represent meaningful opportunities for positive change as people ask: Where are we now? Where are we going? and What do we need from our current culture to get there?”
It is also important to know where the gaps are, because they can be dangerous. The gaps usually represent potential liabilities, and not just as obstacles to achieving success. Gaps can cause quality initiatives to backfire, eroding trust and destabilizing an already vulnerable work environment and relationships.
So, the bottom line is that even with knowledge, skills, and the best-laid plans, legal services organizations will fail in implementing quality assurance systems if the culture of the organization does not support expected behaviors and quality practices.
Quality must be more than a slogan.
Lisa M. Walker Johnson and Norman Clark
W. Edwards Deming's Fourteen Points provide a framework for sustained growth, improved quality, and better client service. Their successful implementation will require commitment, leadership, and an ongoing dedication to improvement. The law firms that integrate these principles into their daily operations will be well-positioned for future success in the ever-evolving legal landscape.
To learn more about the Fourteen Points, consult W. Edwards Deming, Out of the Crisis, (Massachussets Institute of Technology, 1982). Future posts in the Walker Clark World View blog, will examine the strategic relevance and practical application of each of the Fourteen Points to law firm operations and management.
The members of Walker Clark have been guiding law firms, corporate law departments, and other legal services organizations to introduce quality management since the 1990s. For more information about how we can help you integrate the Fourteen Points into a strategy for sustainable success in quality management in your organization, contact us at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
