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number of benefits. "It gives you focus, it injects discipline and accountability, and there's a higher probability that you're going to achieve what you said you're going to." These days, putting out fires isn't enough. A business plan can help improve performance and showcase the value-add a legal team brings to the business. But it's hard to improve performance without a plan, says Stock. "Ask any athlete or high achiever — luck isn't enough." A legal team doesn't want to be seen as a cost or overhead to the company — it wants to be seen as adding value. Good lawyering is table stakes, says Greg Porter, vice president of legal with Telus. But in-house legal departments should also be looking to advance the strategy of the business. At Telus the executive team outlines objectives and priorities for the organization, and team members align around scorecards that succinctly identify "SMART" objectives. SMART generally means being specific, measurable, achievable, results-oriented, and time-bound. This year, its legal team also adopted a scorecard approach. "In the past we had spent a great deal of time creating a cumbersome business plan that identified priorities we would follow in supporting the business," says Porter. "We decided this year we'd create a scorecard on a single piece of paper outlining the key objectives, metrics, and priorities for the legal department." The chief legal officer and each of the company's VPs have a scorecard that cascades objectives through to everyone on the legal team. In-house priorities include Telus' "customer first" commitment, operational efficiency objectives (from annual internal customer surveys), and team member growth and development objectives. The legal team has also adopted specific key objectives from internal customers' scorecards to reinforce the company's collaborative focus. "We exist to help our Telus colleagues advance the strategy of the business," says Porter. "We ensure that we're constantly aligning our objectives with our internal clients' priorities. You have a lot of people running around with their hair on fire with things that need to get done, so prioritizing is key." This involves meeting with internal clients on a regular basis. "We think it's really important to be involved in meetings and not just off in an ivory tower," says Porter. "We encourage team members to closely work with the business and attend overall strategy sessions and gain insight into their priorities." Results are reviewed quarterly against the scorecard, allowing for early course correction; an annual performance bonus is connected to personal performance objectives on scorecard results. The scorecard approach can call out legal where they've not only facilitated the business but also advanced the business. "We don't want to be seen as A Tradition of Business Whether conducting business in Canada or across the globe, Aird & Berlis LLP understands the realities of your work. Our clients benefit from the firm's solid relationships with major institutions, government authorities and renowned national and international law firm affiliates. We combine the depth and strength of Canada's largest firms with the creativity and effectiveness of smaller firms. Count on us for legal counsel from a business perspective.® Eldon Bennett Managing Partner ebennett@airdberlis.com 416.865.7704 Brookfield Place, 181 Bay Street Suite 1800, Box 754 Toronto, ON M5J 2T9 T 416.863.1500 F 416.863.1515 www.airdberlis.com w w w. c a n a d i a n law y er m a g . c o m / i n h o u s E ntitled-2 1 February 2013 • 39 8/25/11 12:01:27 PM

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