Facilitator Guide

Taking Ownership of Your Assignments

Facilitator Guide

Taking Ownership of Your Assignments

Topic: Professionalism & Communication

What’s covered

What Taking Ownership Means
Thinking Like a Senior Lawyer
Anticipating and Following Through

Before the session

Prepare the Attendees

Send the attendees an invitation for the session. Include this link, which has the videos and exercise they’ll need to prepare.

https://www.hotshotlegal.com/discussions/taking-ownership-of-your-assignments/attendee

Prepare Yourself

Watch the videos and read the exercise so you’re familiar with the Hotshot material.

Course

Taking Ownership of Your Assignments

Explains the difference between associates who simply complete tasks versus those who take full ownership of their work. Covers the ownership mindset and provides practical tips for putting it into practice.
Exercise
PDF

During the session

Part 1: Knowledge Check

Ask attendees these questions to ensure they understand the topic:

How is “taking ownership” different from following instructions?
What does it mean to think like the person one level senior to you?
What kinds of quality-control checks should you build into every assignment?
Why is it important to anticipate next steps, even if you weren’t asked to?
How does clear communication help demonstrate ownership of your work?

Part 2: Group Exercise

Lead a group discussion based on the exercise. To encourage collaboration, divide the attendees into groups to discuss the exercise, then have a representative from each group summarize their views to the larger group. Call on people to share their thoughts and ask others to respond.

Tip for remote sessions: use your web conferencing system’s breakout room feature to divide people into groups.

Part 3: Firm Specifics

Share your own experiences and guidance, including:

Anecdotes
General practice tips (dos and don’ts)
Firm-specific guidance and practices

After the session

To continue learning, attendees can check out related courses in Hotshot’s Professionalism & Communication topic.

About Hotshot

Hotshot helps lawyers develop their legal, business, and technology skills through short videos, quizzes, and summaries, and we help law firms and law schools plan and deliver engaging training programs. Our customers include Am Law 200 firms, top law schools, and regional and international firms.