NextGen Event: Organizational Behaviour for Canada’s Legal Team: Thinking things through for career management (LEG00056)

Overview

Delivery method

Virtual classroom

Classroom

Duration

1.5 hours

Audience

Employees

Description

Organizational Behavior (OB) is not a well-known field of studies for legal professionals. However, it is a field that is well known to business professionals who have studied management at university. For example, it is a mandatory course in most Master of Business Administration (MBA) programs in North America. Theories of work motivation, leadership, team dynamics, change management and other organizational theories are part of the introductory curriculum in all OB courses. Organizational behaviourists and organizational psychologists' study four (4) main areas of behavioural science: 1) individual behaviour, 2) group behaviour, 3) organizational structure, and 4) organizational processes, with the goal of maximizing organizational performance and the work performance of professionals working in organizations. They study many facets of these areas, such as personality and perception, attitudes and job satisfaction, group dynamics, office politics and the role of leadership in the organization, work design, the impact of stress on work, decision-making processes, the communication chain, and organizational cultures and climates. Such organizational practice management skills are essential for legal professionals, both to work effectively with their peers and to better service their clients. Soft skills such as communication, teamwork, motivation, understanding office politics and the ability to think and function effectively in a legal organization (law firm) are essential for a successful career. Overall, OB offers the best practices for career and profile management for legal professionals to work more effectively in their organization. Legal professionals are not expected to become "organizational psychologists," but gain essential knowledge for thinking things through in complex organizational bureaucracy structures. These are often lacking in traditional legal education in law school or in continuing professional development (CPD) programs but can be found in OB.

Topics covered:

• Better analyze your individual behaviour such as your personality and adaptive performance to analyze your setbacks and seeks feedback to learn from mistakes.
• Better understand your work environment, organizational strategies and structures to plan and adjust your work based on a thorough understanding of your unit's business priorities and your own work objectives, seeking clarification and direction when uncertain or confused.
• Better understand the practical meaning of communication, power, office politics and ethics in the workplace to consider relevant information from various sources before formulating a view or opinion.
• Better understand the practical meaning of decision-making theories to exercise sound judgment and obtains relevant facts before making decisions.
• Enhance your understanding of values, attitudes and work behaviour.
• Enhance your understanding of work motivation and performance.
• Enhance your understanding of Groups and Teamwork.
• Better understand the practical meaning of organizational change, development and innovation.

In-Person location (NCR): Nathalie Drouin Library, Level A, East Memorial Building, 284 Wellington Street, Ottawa, Ontario, K1A 0H8

For information about the continuing professional development (CPD) hours for this course, please consult the Accreditation Summary.