Always Be Teaching

Lee Rosen, in his insightful blog Divorce Discourse, had a couple of great posts a while back (here and here) about the importance of cultivating a culture in a law office in which everyone teaches others how to do what they do, and everyone learns what others are doing. Every employee, from partner down to receptionist, should be both teacher and student. This appeals to me on many levels:

First, because it means that everyone understands the value of another’s job, which fosters mutual respect.

Second, because we hone and finetune our own knowledge and expertise as we think about how to share it with others.

Third, because this culture of teaching helps instill shared values about excellent service to clients, teamwork and courtesy.

And finally, it appeals to me because it means that no one is indispensable or irreplaceable, and that is a good thing. When some young staff member goes off to law school, someone else knows the status of her projects and can keep them moving. Perhaps anyone in the office is equipped to help a new client with an info packet, and filling out paperwork. And everyone knows how to make a photocopy in a pinch.

When I worked in BigLaw, I loved to mentor junior staff. I wanted to teach them what I knew about procedure; I wanted to impart knowledge about how to manage a case. I wanted to share best practices on how to approach projects. And I frequently found myself learning from them how to do something more efficiently! This happened in particular when younger, tech savvy staff quickly grasped and then taught me how to streamline a database search, or had new ideas about organization.

And I appreciated the time many lawyers took to mentor me about their philosophy of a case or a motion or a discovery task, and showed me exactly how they wanted something done.

Now as a virtual and freelance paralegal, I am constantly learning from clients their preferred procedures, and their understanding of and goals for their cases. And I sometimes find myself in a position of teaching them about a new technology too.

And while opportunities to share my knowledge with fellow legal support staff don't crop up every day as they did when I worked in a law office, I still relish the chance to teach and to learn from others. Active participation in my local paralegal association is one way to do this. Networking with fellow virtual paralegals and California LDAs is another. Also, I think this is one of the reasons I enjoy preparing my newsletter so much. (Sign up at the right!) I love being the curator of a resource which I hope provides useful tips and resources to colleagues. And getting emails from readers sharing their own tips and resources is an even greater kick.

Wherever we work and whatever our roll, this is an inspiring message: always be learning, but also, always be teaching.