Establishing a Global Practice

 
 
“There is an old adage about gladiators, – that they plan their fight in the ring; as they intently watch, something in the adversary’s glance, some movement of his hand, even some slight bending of his body, gives a warning.”
— SENECA, ON THE FUTILITY OF HALF-WAY MEASURES

SITUATION

Intuit’s ability to engage its total addressable market in tier 1 Geos was partially hindered due to the lack of efficient and smart design support in each market. Global offices each ran as a singular growth phase business and footing the bill for a design team wasn't a super high priority (read: not a priority at all) and entered into limited engagements with regional agencies for support. Moving fast was out of the question, as was the full potential of ROI.

HYPOTHESIS

A durable, globally distributed design practice will be successful if:

  • Understand the strengths and weaknesses of each market's delivery process and adopt ways of working that accelerate business results

  • Acquire strategic design leaders in Sydney, London, Paris, Sao Paulo, and Toronto

  • Structure each leaders’ first 90 days to support the development of influence in their market


SOLUTION

I dug deep with in-geo leadership to understand their hopes and concerns; what was and wasn't working when crafting and shipping experiences. What I found was a wide array of understanding of the craft and value of an in-house design team and great concern over a centrally reporting design team:

voc-grid.png

It was immediately clear that each office needed a strong leader who would quickly understand the strengths and weaknesses of the current state and lead the office to brighter days. These leaders could roll up their sleeves and get dirty, then transition into leading up, down, and across to deliver the same quality experiences to our customers, objectives met. In simpler terms, these leaders are strategists, designers, salespeople, choreographers, and shepherds of experience and go-to-market efficacy nirvana.

Each leader was selected and placed to make a difference: to swiftly identify and surface inefficiencies, spot opportunities, and create plans to solve pain points and track toward them. As they began to get acquainted with in market leaders pain points were being solved. We were responsive, delivered quality, and provided solutions that swiftly positioned us as strategic partners.

With inputs, business objectives, and ten roles to fill, I rolled up my sleeves and began generating leads alongside our Talent Acquisition team. We closed the first hire in March, and within six months the entire team was signed and making a difference worldwide.

hanktrefethen_global_squad.png

RESULTS

  • Fully staffed Regional Leadership: APAC, AMERICAS, EMEA in 6 months

  • From overhead to strategic partners within 90 Days, geo over geo

  • 100% employee satisfaction vs. org average of 60%