March 2009
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| Learn the purpose behind the chart and the Blackberry. |
Ah-Ha! Moment – On March 26, 2009, we held a Firm Meeting where I went over results for the prior year, set forth goals for the upcoming year, and announced a "theme" to help keep everyone focused on the key items we need to accomplish this year. For 2009, our internal theme is "It Takes 10 Hands to Score a Basket" – a quote from legendary basketball coach John Wooden. The point? While we have always been a firm of talented individuals, we have not always had to play together as a coherent team.
So, as the team's coach, I described areas we needed to improve – and then we set about improving them through two presentations:
- "Roles and Responsibilities on Engagements" – We formally defined roles applicable to every engagement, and the responsibilities these roles have to each other – and then made these concepts "real" by illustrating them with 3 actual client engagements.
- "Communication" – We continued a training session we began last November, concentrating on how to adjust your communication style to that of the client you're serving, how to actively listen, and how to give and receive feedback.
With these fundamentals now in place, I have begun running my players through drills during practice to make these concepts a part of their natural client service game.
