Don’t dismiss the chance to learn from your mistakes

This article first appeared in The Scotsman on 28 December 2020

Feedback can be a powerful tool for learning. Hearing from others what we’ve done well and where we didn’t hit the mark helps us to improve what we do next time.

We all know objectively that constructive feedback is the most useful thing we can receive. That doesn’t mean we don’t crave the warm glow of positive reinforcement or dread the stomach lurch of more challenging comments. We’re only human after all.

When those negative comments come unexpectedly, or wrapped up in charged emotions from someone who feels let down, they are even harder to hear.

Many of the complaints we see from legal service users express exactly that crushing disappointment of feeling let down by someone you wanted to trust when you found yourself in difficult circumstances.

The reactions from lawyers are often no less heartfelt. Receiving a complaint from someone you feel you’d tried your best to help can be crushing. Worrying about the potential consequences of the complaint makes it even harder to look objectively at the issue raised.

Every day we hear from lawyers and clients in these situations. Resolving these complaints takes emotional energy from both parties – to recognise each other’s positions, to find common ground and agree a solution. So once that’s achieved it’s understandable to want to just put the situation behind you and move on.

This doesn’t create the ideal conditions for learning. And yet, they are exactly the circumstances that can help us to see what we could improve, or do differently next time. Not least because it might help to avoid a similar situation in future.

Taking the time to reflect on what might have led to a complaint can help to identify the processes or ways of working that could put your business at risk of future complaints. It can help you to offer better customer service to existing and new clients. It can help prevent the avoidable mistakes, miscommunication and misunderstandings that underpin so many complaints.

This week the SLCC launched a new complaints analysis tool. It’s designed to help law firms who have received a complaint to consider what went wrong and to analyse the underlying causes of the complaint. It prompts firms to discuss what could be put in place to prevent or reduce the risk of similar issues occurring in future.

We hope that the tool will help firms to step back from the emotion of the complaint, to understand the circumstances that led to a dissatisfied client, and to think about what could have been done to avoid them. It’s an opportunity to reflect on what could be improved, and to make a plan to put those changes in place.

Risk management is a core part of any business, and the risk of avoidable complaints that could prove costly, difficult and emotionally draining is a significant one. So time spent reflecting on how to learn from those that do arise is time well spent. It’s not easy, but tackling those issues will benefit the firm, as well as its current and future clients.

Feedback helps us to improve. That doesn’t mean it isn’t sometimes hard to hear, especially when it comes as a complaint. But the opportunity to use it to identify positive improvements shouldn’t be wasted.