28 February 2024

How to future-proof your career

If you’ve been working for the last five years or more, you’ve seen rapid changes in the workplace. And that pace isn’t about to slow down. In-house legal teams need to adapt. Quickly. Here are five areas to keep top of mind.

1 You’ll need to become digitally dextrous
Nothing is evolving faster than technology. You need to prepare for the challenges of this unabated change. Legal implications impact everything from data breaches to automation and managing adoption on a human level. A proactive approach will safeguard your role and business in an ever-changing landscape.

2 More members of your in-house legal team won’t be lawyers
Your team will change shape as you integrate new specialists. Roles such as legal operations managers and data experts will become more widespread as more businesses collect and act on data when making important decisions.

3 More Legal functions will merge with other business areas
It will become more common for Legal teams to fuse with other teams within the business, such as compliance, governance, risk, cosec and ESG. Teams will share knowledge, and staff will upskill in areas beyond core legal areas.

4 You’ll need to shift mindsets
For your legal team to flourish, you’ll need to foster a strong culture within your team through open dialogue, a ‘no blame’ culture and a commitment to continuous learning. You’ll also need to nurture your relationships with leadership — to be perceived as true partners with the business. Easier said than done, we know.

5 You’ll lead the change
Legal teams need to become comfortable leading change instead of just supporting change led by others. This means upskilling in effective change management, strategy and project management. It means investing time in creating bullet-proof strategies and a leadership mentality within your team.

Interested in learning how to create strategies, plan for resources and more? Browse our Front Foot Academy modules.