A Simple Yet Effective Guide to Managing a Team

Rachel Cunningham-Day, General Counsel, Markit, United Kingdom

There is a wealth of books on management techniques in every bookshop as well as a plethora of academic research into this area. Even if one had the time to trawl through these materials, it can be difficult for an in-house practitioner to see the wood for the trees! Based on my 11 years’ experience as a solicitor in the City of London (which has involved working for and alongside many managers covering a broad spectrum from very good to very bad!), academic thinking in this area gleaned from my recent MBA and my own experience as a manager, I have put together a list of pointers to advise people how to manage effectively and build and retain a motivated team. These pointers cover communication, motivation, retention of staff, building trust, effective recruitment and positive utilisation of the appraisal system. They are equally applicable to legal and non-legal teams and are not limited by size of team. They are designed to be quickly read, easily digested and referred back to on a regular basis. I hope you will find them useful and easy to administer in practice.

Rachel Cunningham-Day trained at Lovells in the City of London before qualifying into the derivatives and regulatory group in Clifford Chance. After a period in Morgan Stanley, Rachel joined SwapsWire Limited as General Counsel. SwapsWire was acquired by the Markit Group in 2008.

SwapsWire was set up by a financial consortium of the international banking community in 2001, to reduce the need for derivative confirmation paperwork. SwapsWire’s global electronic trade confirmation platform reduces trade risk and increases the efficiency of back office operations. Markit is a financial information services company with more than 1,100 employees in Europe, North America and Asia Pacific. Over 1,500 financial institutions use its independent services to manage risk, improve operational efficiency and meet regulatory requirements.