Long Term Benefits of Giving Frequent Feedback to Your Legal Support Team

Feedback is a great management practice, and its effect can be altered by how frequently it is given and for how long.

Many legal support professionals receive only infrequent feedback on their work. Some receive no direct guidance except during their annual performance review, while others receive only the occasional comment.

Providing frequent feedback, however, can have a strong positive effect on your legal support team. Here’s how:

  1. Frequent feedback reduces stress.

If you’ve ever struggled with a task until you learned an easy, efficient way to do it, you understand the value of feedback that improves your work processes. Providing frequent feedback to legal support staff offers your staff the same benefits.

When feedback and direction happen frequently, staff members don’t need to struggle with tasks in order to work out the best way to do them. They gain a sense of mastery and ownership sooner, allowing them to focus their energy on the truly challenging and complex work in their path and to handle smaller tasks with ease.

  1. Frequent feedback boosts accountability.

Legal support team members are more likely to take ownership of their work – and to ensure it’s done well – when they know they’ll hear about what they did well and what needs to be improved. When they know they’ll be called on to address any mistakes they made, they’re more likely to focus on eliminating mistakes in the first attempt.

By providing regular feedback, leaders boost the entire team’s accountability for both the process and the results.

  1. Frequent feedback reduces errors.

When feedback is a regular and expected practice, legal support staff learn to think of communication with leadership as an ordinary part of their work. As a result, they’re more likely to ask questions early in the process, helping everyone on the team avoid potentially costly mistakes. They’re also more likely to mention potential snags before they become conflicts and to share ideas that could lead to better results.

Legal Recruiters in the Greater Toronto Area

At Kent Legal, our recruiters focus on helping law firms and legal departments in the greater Toronto area improve their leadership and find the legal support staff they need to thrive. Contact us today to learn more.

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