The broadening of competencies covers four main categories that have a different weight for each team and each position The competency profile for teams and positions spans a growing number of sections, spread over four main categories: 1. Professional content: which areas of expertise are required in terms of knowledge and level of experience within the team and specific positions / employees? 2. People management: what are the lines of position and hierarchy that determine mutual cooperation between lawyers? This is partly the position in the “hard” structure, but especially in the “soft” skills of managing up, down and laterally. Each direction requires a different set-up, in which for example, lateral management is often made complex through the lack of a formal relationship. The writings of David Maister, for example, on the subject of “leadership” address this subject. 3. Business impact: who are the internal and external clients / stakeholders and what do they require from the Legal Department and staff for them to be the “trusted advisor” to provide the right considerations in the right form and context for, for example, the Executive Board / Supervisory Board (managing “up”), other business units (“lateral”) or regulatory bodies (“external”). 4. Strategy, Organisation & Operation: this involves all activities concerning needs analysis, defining targets, determining metrics, setting up processes, deploying tools and providers such as firms,
annual planning and project management, team development, and allocation of work. Popular themes such as “legal operations”, “lean” and “LegalTech” fall into this category. For effective team development and individual development, it is important to be clear about how the Legal strategy translates into the required competencies, and then considering which competencies you already have and which need to be developed internally or brought in from outside. Competence profile versus status (ficticious) People Management 5 4 3 2 1 Legal Expertise
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Organization & Operation
Business Impact
Need current Coverage
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