Nearly two-thirds of senior lawyers feel they were ill-prepared for their time in management positions, a report into management strategies and training at law firms has revealed.

Sixty-four percent of lawyers in senior management across 95 firms surveyed by accountancy and investment management company Smith & Williamson reported having "little or no help" in preparing for their role in a management position.

It found that 36% of respondents felt the help from their firm was effective, while 44% were left to prepare for their new role themselves. The remaining 20% reported their firm's assistance was of limited effectiveness.

The suvery also found that 64% of management teams said they had little or no support from non-executive directors.

Giles Murphy, head of professional practices group at Smith & Williamson, said the lack of support for leadership figures at law firms was a concern. "Good management is absolutely crucial to a firm's success. Without effective leadership and a clear strategy to drive the business forward in a rapidly changing environment, firms may fail to prosper," he said.

Without effective leadership and a clear strategy to drive the business forward in a rapidly changing environment, firms may fail to prosper

Maurice Allen, senior partner of Ropes & Gray's London office, said that firms are gradually improving their training options but need to make more effort.

He said: "Often firms don't offer enough training to partners, who are their most valuable assets. Some lawyers don't react well to, in their eyes, being told what to do but it's very beneficial for all in the long run. It pays to be open to learning more."

Susan Bright, regional managing partner for the UK and Africa at Anglo-US firm Hogan Lovells, said her experience of entering management had been positive and firms should invest as much as possible in preparing partners for leadership positions.

She said: "I went through a period of bespoke training in preparation for the role, which centred on different aspects. There was lots of financial training as well as simply understanding what the role would entail. I had some one-on-one training with two external coaches, and my predecessor Andrew Gamble was really fantastic. I felt fully supported by him during the handover phase."

Bright added: "Taking on any global management role is clearly a big step up from a practice role – it's bigger in terms of revenue and how many people you're responsible for. It's very different from primarily being a legal advisor when you are a partner and deal mainly with clients."

Many of the large firms have some form of training for partners moving into management. For example, Allen & Overy provides its newly appointed managing partners with a two day training programme and Ashurst sends its managing partners on week long law firm leadership programmes at Harvard Law school.

The survey also found that 25% of firms had not reviewed or updated their strategic plan – which often sets out the basics of how to manage the firm – in the last year while just 7% had only updated it in the last three years.

In addition, 26% of partners in management said their plans are "of limited help" or are rarely referred to.

Murphy said: "I generally advise that a plan should take a one, three and five year view, but 65% of respondents do not look beyond a three year horizon."