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Increasing focus has been a common theme throughout ��˾����ҹ����’ value creation report and is something in-house lawyers and General Counsel are always trying to improve. We understand it can be difficult for General Counsel and in-house lawyers to find the time and expertise to focus  on strategy and digital transformation.

However, Mark Smith, Director of Strategic Markets at ��˾����ҹ���� has detailed a few tried and tested techniques that can you and your legal teams can adopt to get you moving in the right direction.

Focus

Workload is something that in-house lawyers and General Counsel will always get bogged down by and people requesting your time won’t stop, but learning to say no can be an important skill to have so you don’t drown.

Smith say's “every time you say yes to something you take responsibility for spending less time on the things that you are committed to” (Mark Smith, ��˾����ҹ����). So, when you say yes to something you need to ensure that you have the capacity to take it. This could mean you will need to have difficult conversations with different stakeholders down the line, but they will ultimately benefit you in the future.

Being able to discuss prioritisation will enable you to have a clearer frame of mind and allow you to focus on what matters most to you, your team and your stakeholders.

Delegation

Good delegation can massively grow the output of your team in the long run. Just like saying no to things, it can be difficult at first but once you get the hang of it, you’ll be able to reap the rewards. 

Improving your skills at delegation will not only help you manage your workload, but you will also be able to find more capabilities of your team. This will enable your team to increase their skillset as well as reducing the number of tasks that do not deliver value.  

Take a break

You might be thinking how does taking time away from work make you more focussed, surely that’s counterproductive? Mark Smith sums this up perfectly by using the phrase “protect the asset”. This is an underrated technique that we encourage you to adopt as burning out is a real thing, no matter how many coffees you have!

We encourage you to take the time out after work to enjoy whatever makes you happy. Whether it’s taking the dog for a walk or going to see friends or family, taking that time away from work to think about something else can have huge benefits.