This month marked the end of an era for the UK's favourite antipodean export. For the past 37 years Neighbours has graced our screens, and like so many people, it formed a staple part of my childhood. There was something remarkably comforting in the consistent routine that every school day I would be able to turn on the TV at 5.35pm and enjoy 30 minutes of uninterrupted pure escapism watching Neighbours. It was fascinating to watch life on the other side of the world where the sun always shone and people had swimming pools in their gardens! So whilst the show may be coming to an end, and admittedly I haven’t watched it in 30 years, the news of it leaving our screens for good has made me reflect. Maybe the key to all relationship building is just "a little understanding".

When we embarked on our Dentons Helix journey, we wanted to redefine the relationship between law firms and their institutional clients and how they work together. We wanted to build a service offering that not only delivered the high-quality legal services (aka the tables stakes), but also supplied these legal services with a little more understanding in a way that our clients wanted.

If law firms can work differently for these large institutional clients, if they really dedicate their time to understanding the clients' stresses and strains and internal stakeholders, and do so by working in the way the client actually wants...well, that is the start of a different type of relationship.

This is where we started with Dentons Helix, although this has proven to be very much the beginning of a long journey. Each client is unique in how they operate and, although the challenges may be similar, they are always nuanced. One of our most important learnings to date has been how to listen to our clients. Although we set out with the very best intentions, often our listening was constrained by what we perceived issues to be. In some ways, we heard what we wanted to hear so that it could fit our solution. It was also clear in many instances that it was hard for the client to really identify the cause of their internal issues and to uncover their true priorities rather than the drain on time and resource.

The difference came when we moved away from conventional listening and towards a conversation based on data. The beauty of data is that it guides the conversation to the priority items, and acts as a focus on where something unexpected is happening, or where something is not happening but should be. The data led to a much more collaborative discussion that drew out a plan for continuous improvement, which importantly can be monitored for effectiveness once the data trends are reviewed in future months.

Although data proved to be a game changer, it came with a number of learnings for us. At one point, we found ourselves producing so much data for our clients that we were all drowning in numbers, charts and graphs. We couldn’t focus and, if anything, we were causing confusion to our clients. We found ourselves constantly needing to answer questions on what the data was showing and why, even though it was somewhat irrelevant to the main challenges. This is when we paused. We ran workshops with the client to really understand what data was needed, and for whom and what reason. From that point we provided less data, but far more useful and relevant data.

Our final data-related challenge comes in the way of value justification. It doesn’t matter how happy the client, someone in that business will at some point question why so much money is being spent with a supplier, and if that spend is justified. Rather than being reactive, it is the job of the law firm to prove the value it is bringing, and justify why that spend is required. By doing this proactively, we are able to better assist our clients and remove what can be a massive internal frustration.

The reality is that this is a journey. It takes time and a huge effort from both sides. Over time, the focus changes from looking to find fault to a mutually beneficial conversation and a new level of trust.

So whilst it might be the end of an era for Neighbours fans, their mantra lives on…"just a little understanding, you can find the perfect blend". Maybe that's when good data becomes a good friend.

Oh, and for those of you who are interested to know what data types we have found most useful, I will cover that in the next post.