Communication is king
Wesley Jones Law is a small law firm specialising in property law and conveyancing for both residential and commercial properties.The owner Katharine Wesley-Jones also manages the firm. Two of our Business students have worked on research projects to help the firm to improve workflow and capacity to grow.
April Tano investigated issues of task delegation, team communications, and management strategies. She interviewed the owner manager and employees. April recommends that the firm introduce weekly face-to-face meetings with an online attendance option for staff working from home. This has now been implemented. The team has decided they don't want an online group chat forum, but they will communicate directly with each other about their work instead of always going through Katharine Wesley-Jones. Appointing an employee with office/administration management responsibilities will be considered in future.
Mollen Mashuta looked into task performance and productivity of employees. Mollen recommends that Katharine Wesley-Jones delegate more administration tasks which otherwise fall to her to do by default. Employees would find it helpful to have clearer expectations and feedback. Katharine Wesley-Jones has discussed with her team how to implement the changes they would like to see within the family culture of the firm.