Management by karaoke: An alternative festive agenda

At this time of year, lawyers gleefully write thought pieces warning employers that they can be liable for the wild behaviour of their employees during Christmas revels. However, there can be a more positive side to the holiday period.

The traditional image of law firms at Christmas is of rather starchy partners celebrating the season over a glass of sherry whilst the firm’s staff drink heavily and then do athletic things on the photocopiers.

We have of course moved on and, even in these lean financial times, we can normally find a budget for a firmwide event. The chief sport is then the sweepstake to see which partners will not put on their papers hats.

What festive events so often emphasise are the barriers between partners and others, and also those between lawyers and support staff. The problem can be because people are busy. Partners can be seen as distant and are not all good at creating teams. It could be a simple fact that people do not know each other because of the size of the firm.

For most people, cash is not the motivator for coming to work. For many, it is about being part of the community of an organisation and part of a team within that community. It is vital for the health and profitability of a business to build teams and show leadership and commitment to them. Our staff want us to acknowledge successes and to celebrate the achievements of both individuals and teams.

The holiday period when there are celebrations and parties gives us opportunities to break down the barriers and create positive images of the management and the firm. The starting point is simply for management and partners to attend such events. We have to be seen to be human and not simply obsessed with work. We can all use Christmas as an opportunity to not only to spend time with our clients but also with our people, and we can create events to build our teams’ morale.

We don’t have to live out our particular fantasy of performing as Frankie, Kylie or Robbie on the karaoke machine, but we can use December as an opportunity to build goodwill with our staff and to break down barriers between us and everybody else so that, in 2013, we work with a strong team that sings in harmony.

Do you agree? Can we use the festive season to build teams?

Happy holidays.