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Any professional who leads a team will have wondered if they could improve their qualities as a leader to improve the productivity of their workers, increase motivation, inspire or make the best decisions

While every department head will have their own techniques to improve their leadership qualities, we would like to outline a few that we consider essential, especially in law firms:

- Clear and honest communication

Many lawyers who lead departments hide behind their office and tend to interact minimally with their employees. This is a mistake. A good leader has to know how to manage his or her team from a professional, human and even motivational point of view.

Good communication will help improve your leadership.

- Encourage your employees

We all know the difference between a leader who does not care about his workers and a leader who does. A good leader has to know the concerns of his or her employees and has to try to keep them happy and in a positive frame of mind.

This can be done by having more private and group conversations with employees. It is helpful for the leader to celebrate the achievements of his or her own employees, to make them feel part of the team and to listen to their opinions on certain decisions.

- Teach employees rather than order them around.

A good leader knows how to address employees when he or she has to give them orders. It is not just a matter of giving them a list of orders, but of informing them about all the aspects involved in every action and every project.

Employees need to know why they are doing their tasks and what is the intended purpose of each action. The fact that all employees are fully informed will create a team community.

- Evaluate employees

Employee evaluation is crucial for a leader. When we refer to periodically evaluating an employee, we do not mean measuring their morale and all the elements that make them feel comfortable in their work environment, or uncomfortable.

The ideal is to evaluate employees together with a human resources manager and to take an interest in the employee in his or her personal and professional sphere. This will help the employee to feel more understood and listened to.

- Specify the tasks and objectives of the department

A leader has to know at all times what tasks are performed by each of the employees. He/she must also organise periodic group meetings to evaluate the tasks set and review the strategies adopted.

Among the many strategies that a leader can take, a very original one is for the leader to ask for feedback from his employees. In this way, the leader can find out how well he or she is doing his or her job as a manager and team leader and learn how to improve other qualities.