How can you get the most out of yourself and your legal team?
“Throughout this spring, you can submit nominations for the 2021 Golden Hourglasses! During the nomination period, the jury members will share what’s close to their hearts and how they view the various awards. This week, Harm Cammel (Voxius) discusses the Innovative Legal Education Award and the Team Spirit Award.”
Cammel has been working for legal departments and law firms for over 17 years, focusing primarily on strategy, organization, and operations. He is a partner at Voxius and also teaches Strategy, Operations & Innovation in the Master’s in Legal Management program at the Amsterdam University of Applied Sciences (HvA) and at the Legal Operations Academy.
Harm Cammel
It’s only natural, then, that the development of legal services across the board—from services, working methods, teams, and employees—is close to his heart. “With the Golden Hourglasses, we shine a spotlight on initiatives that contribute to this. It’s therefore a great pleasure to serve as a jury member,” says Cammel. “Legal services are becoming increasingly dynamic, and the pandemic has further accelerated this trend. Skepticism is beginning to fade: change is proving to be possible and is delivering visibly impressive results. There’s now so much attention on legal tech and innovation that you could fill your week with white papers and seminars. All that attention is good, but fortunately, it’s also become clear that it’s not about what vendors offer—it’s about what organizations and clients really need. And about how lawyers and their teams can fulfill their roles even better, more efficiently, and more enjoyably.”
Greater emphasis on other competencies
User-centered development requires additional skills, according to Cammel. “Some people need to initiate changes, others need to be comfortable working with them, but everyone must be open to them. This includes understanding customer needs, improving work processes, adopting a data-driven approach, integrating new tools, and collaborating more effectively with suppliers and customers.”
Cammel felt that traditional legal education did not sufficiently address the competencies required for this. “That’s why, in addition to my work in strategy and operations, I’ve been involved in broader education for years. It’s wonderful to see how more and more initiatives and educational institutions are focusing on those broader competencies. The past two years have truly marked a breakthrough, full of examples of collaboration with other disciplines, working with users, tackling concrete projects, and starting out while learning and refining along the way—just like in the ‘real’ world. I hope that this year, too, we can once again highlight some great new initiatives. That not only gives them recognition but also provides a strong push toward even better and more accessible services.”
Development requires good team spirit
The rapid shift to remote work also confirmed that development requires more than just a focus on processes and tools. Individual development, effective collaboration, and engaged leadership are just as important, Cammel explains. “How do you ensure that everyone feels involved and knows what’s going on? That everyone continues to grow individually? That all team members remain inspired and connected to one another? That requires strong leadership and a healthy team culture. The importance of a people-first approach has been further underscored over the past year. That’s why we’re presenting a one-time Team Spirit Award this year: we want to highlight how teams have navigated this crisis and what that means for the future. The legal sector has proven itself to be resilient and flexible; we’re very much looking forward to all the submissions!”