Everyone at Stinson can understand what everyone is working on and how the overall business strategy is affected
Stinson is an Am Law 200 firm with nearly 500 attorneys and 13 offices in the US. Their attorneys combine industry knowledge and business acumen to deliver practical legal guidance to clients ranging from individuals to privately-held enterprises to international corporations.
The Challenge
The team at Stinson had been using the same methodology for measuring individuals’ and the firm’s objectives for years, and it involved a lot of Word Documents. Hundreds of attorneys’ plans were managed by manually cutting and pasting data from partner plans, and entered into spreadsheets which were then organized by practice, company and attorney – a hugely time-intensive process.
The process created a lack of incentive for the firm’s members to execute or update plans and goals. It fostered a one-and-done approach where data quickly went out of date, leading to a disconnect between objectives and firm strategy.
The method also made it difficult to spot new business opportunities, as consolidating plans and creating transparency among them was a real challenge. When the firm launched its new partner engagement plan, they recognized a new solution was needed to make the process streamlined, actionable, accountable, and transparent.
The Solution
Stinson chose Objective Manager to provide a platform that could take the administrative exertion out of annual planning while offering transparency and ease-of-use to all.
A continuous approach to strategic planning and measurement is now much easier to achieve at the firm. Fee earners can effortlessly access and update their plans as and when needed, and personalized partner dashboards allow partners to engage in business development processes more easily.
Making the firm’s business plans transparent was another key asset for Stinson. Business development activities across the firm are now visible to all. Everyone can now understand what others are working on and how the overall business strategy is affected – while fostering collaboration across teams.
Objective Manager also allows the firm to streamline reports at practice level and offers opportunities to augment the partner remuneration process by feeding information and metrics into the mix.
Business Benefits
Objective Manager has helped Stinson remove a significant administrative burden for the business development team. It’s also made a real difference to the execution and tracking of plans by having a centralized, standard platform for attorneys to actively engage with. The solution has been just what the partners had been hoping for, as it enables them to focus on their business development plan and track it effectively. It’s also improved accountability: dashboard reminders have been successful in prompting partners to execute and follow through on their plans.
Collaborative Value-Add
The firm has enjoyed the benefits of enhanced collaboration due to the platform’s transparency. The search functionality allows anyone to find crossover between partners, clients, and prospects. This allows the firm to coordinate its client servicing and business development efforts more effectively, including the rise in sector-specific cross-sell opportunities being surfaced with more regularity and success.
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