Lessons learned on leading teams effectively accross borders

Lessons learned on leading teamseffectively accross bordersGlobal Summit of WomenMay 2011

Ana García Fau - CEO Yell Publicidad

Yell Publicidad

• Revenues: 517 MM€• EBITDA: 158 MM€• Margin: 30.5%• Customers: 438 M• Professionals: 2,300

FY 2010 figures

Latinamerica:• 30% of revenues• 1,325 professionals

• Part of Yell Group• Leading directory company:

print, online, mobile, telephone• Presence in Spain, Italy, Chile,

Argentina and Peru

Step 1: Consider the business and strategic challenges first

• Business transformation: from print towards digital

• Faster growth in emerging markets

• Avoid the country-wide strategy mistake!

• Room to operate as a group?

Get the right people to do the job

• Recruiting is key!– Difficult to identify local

talent

– Proper job descriptions

– Will they fit with the culture?

• Analyse the “skill gap”

Build a team you can trust… and give it visibility

• Bring on board people you can trust that share the vision

– Expatriates vs reverse expatriates

– Change members of the team, if necessary

• Balance local vs non-local at Board and Executive Committee levels

• Equal opportunities: promote cross-border talent

A shared vision

• Engage local top management in the process

• Continuous contact and communication

• Group objectives vs country objectives

• Ensure building from what is “common”: focus on “what we agree”

• Create a sense of identity withthe “mother company”

• Make top local management visible

Acknowledge their “uniqueness”

• Take time to understand and address local challenges • Encourage them to “speak up”• Leave room for local specificities• Address diversity and cultural differences:

– Promote cultural awareness and tolerance (code of ethics)– Practice empathy: respect different working schedules, bank holidays…

Building an effective cross-border team

• Local enough? Global enough? • Preference for management styles

and ways of working accepted everywhere

• Sharing best practices (both ways)• Leverage on local team strengths

(centers of excellence)• Coordination of core activities,

functional reportings: finance, operations, legal, purchasing…

• Common IT platforms and processes if appropriate

• Define right degrees of autonomy

An effective team brings results!

Day to day…

• Common standard operating procedures and reportings

• Monthly business reviews • Avoid information overload• Focus on what´s important

Have a structured contact plan: address the distance issue

• New technologies make it easier and cheaper!• Balance F2F meetings, conference calls, video

conferencing– Local visits; ensure visits to headquarters as well– Conference calls are proper meetings– Document sharing facilities, e-mails

• Choose the correct channel• Organise team building and strategic events• Encourage functional meetings rotating the “host”

Some issues to think about

• Is this not working due to distance issues?

• Would it work if they work in the same office as me?

• Am I practicing good management and leadership style?

• Knowing how difficult it is to manage teams effectively across borders… do I make my “remote” boss´ life easier?