Survey Says Part 2: Law Department Internal Client Survey
Last week we talked about the law department's love of all things survey, and suggested that the law department should survey itself to gauge employee satisfaction and productivity. Today, we'll discuss surveying your internal corporate clients to get an outsider's opinion on the legal department's effectiveness. As we did last week, we'll give you the who, what, when, why, and how of conducting a law department internal client survey.
What
A law department internal client survey polls clients within the corporation to gauge their opinion of working with the law department. The purpose of the survey would be to see if internal clients are satisfied with the level of service, and response time, of the law department.
Why
In a time when internal metrics are becoming a more popular way of measuring performance, an internal client survey is just one of many metrics that drive, and measure, the services the law department is performing. Ultimately, the law is a service profession and in order to do the best job, you need to know what your clients think of the service you are providing.
Who
All of the corporate law department's internal clients -- whether they be sales, finance or IT -- should be polled to determine law department performance. A team of attorneys pulled by the GC can come up with the survey questions, and the procedure for conducting the survey.
How
As with the internal law department surveys, in order to get the most honest answers, we suggest anonymous surveys. We also think that making the survey mandatory is the only way to really get an accurate view of performance. Just be sure to give people enough notice, time to complete the survey and a deadline.
When
Again, once a year is great length of time to measure client satisfaction.
Sometimes once you make the transition to in-house work, it's easy to forget that you still have clients -- many of them in fact. They all just happen to work under one roof. To keep the law department on its toes, and providing the best service it can, make sure that you measure the law department's performance so you know what areas need more attention.
Does your legal department conduct internal client surveys? Let us know on Facebook FindLaw for Legal Professionals.
Related Resources:
- GCs of the Future Part I -- 'The Fearless Leader' (FindLaw's In House Blog)
- GCs of the Future Part II -- The Counselor (FindLaw's In House Blog)
- GCs of the Future Part III -- The Strategist (FindLaw's In House Blog)