in the way that was expected, but it
could still happen and we seem to be on
the brink of another possible economic
downturn in the wake of Brexit, but
even if we do escape such issues, it
doesn’t mean to say that change can
be avoided. I have a philosophy that
change is not only inevitable, but needs
to be embraced. It is the lifeblood of a
thriving business, a vibrant economy,
and is essentially what makes us achieve
progress as a species. One of my
favourite quotations, in this context, is
the Marshall Goldsmith phrase (and book
of the same name) “What got you here
won’t get you there”.
melting, and the penguin icon has been
part of the firm’s culture ever since.
The particular melting points on our
iceberg centred around;
That doesn’t mean that we should make
changes in what we do simply for the
sake of making change. There has to be
a purpose to change, and the intention of
the change must be to make something
work better, even if that isn’t (at first) what
actually happens in practice. It also has
to be recognised by anyone seeking to
achieve change, that it often isn’t easy
and it is nearly always painful while you
are going through the process.
• The way we stored data – some of it
was electronic, some of it was held in
one part of our software but not in other
parts, some of it was only held on paper.
That meant there was a real problem
of inconsistency between the records
held, and inefficiency in making sure we
reconciled one set of data with another.
• The way we dealt with documents –
lots of differences in the way people
prepared documents and how they were
stored, which was inefficient when it
came to drafting, and inefficient when it
came to finding them again
• The age of the accounts and database
system we were using, with the
possibility of it falling over at any time
• The way we looked after people when
they initially contacted us – we had
feedback from a mystery shopping
company that suggested improvements
on how we followed up such enquiries
could be made
Here at MWB, we are implementing
some changes which have meant that
everyone in the firm has needed to adapt
some of the ways they work, with the
ultimate aim of making us more efficient
and able to provide a better service to
our clients. We started talking to people
within the firm about this about two years
ago, at our Annual Conference. We used
a quite well known change management
text called “Our iceberg is Melting” to
help us describe some of the things we
needed to put in place. It is based on a
fable about penguins needing to move
to a different iceberg because theirs is
We therefore decided to buy a new
software system called Peppermint and
it is now fully operational, though there
are some parts of it that we haven’t
yet switched on because we need to
make sure that everyone grasps the
basic system first. We have taken two
years or so to get the system developed
and able to run with our complicated
data, and during that time have taken
the opportunity to change other ways
we do things as well. For example, we
now have a specialist telephony team,
who take most calls that come into
the firm. That helps the receptionists
in our offices, because they can deal
with personal callers without constant
phone calls interrupting them, and
keeps the telephone discussion from
being overheard by people waiting to
be seen in the office. We also now have
post scanning, which makes sure that
all incoming letters can now be held in
electronic form, making them equivalent
to e-mails in terms of easy access from
any of our offices, and easy to find
because they are automatically filed
against a particular client matter. No more
unnecessary running around an office
filing bits of paper.
These changes are designed to make us
work more efficiently and deliver an even
better service, but like any significant
change, it takes real effort, thought and
determination to make the change one
for the better because even with the
most careful planning, there will always
be unforeseen issues that need some
further work to resolve. I would like to
congratulate our brilliant team of people
at Mayo Wynne Baxter for the way that
they have dealt with these changes so
far, and would like to encourage you, our
clients and contacts, to let me know if
any part of what we are delivering is not
working for you. One great thing about
change is that it is not a once and for all
process, so if we need to make further
changes to ensure we look after our
clients, and our people that deliver the
best possible service to you, we will.
In the words of a very great orator and
statesman “To improve is to change; to
be perfect is to change often” – Winston
Churchill
By Chris Randall
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