GC Roundtable wrap-up: Managing high-performing legal teams.

Taylor Root Singapore, with hosts Theresa Pang, and Cassandra Lim, recently held a General Counsel roundtable, where speakers Andrew Ong, Vice President Legal at Kone, and Kay Pang, Senior Director & Associate General Counsel at VMWare, spoke about managing high-performing legal teams.

Thank you Andrew and Kay, you’ve been so generous with your time and knowledge. We took away valuable lessons from the insights and perspectives that you shared.

We had an interactive session where everyone shared tips on strategies they’ve adopted when building out their high-performing legal teams. Through the discussion, we connected with friends, both old and new over shared experiences.

We discussed a broad array of topics and some key learnings include:

💡 Inheriting a team: In your first 100 days, take time to connect, listen, and learn, tapping on the expertise of the existing team and key stakeholders. Trust and respect can be established by having an approach of “Can you help me?” and “I’m here to help you.”

💡 Personal branding: Establishing a personal brand can help a leader to connect with their team and stakeholders. Andrew’s personal branding as the “Kone Friendly Lawyer” encouraged stakeholders to proactively approach and connect with him and his team.

💡 Managing team dynamics: Set clear expectations on how the team should work and behave, and define what high performance means. Having clear expectations helps leaders manage team dynamics when rehabilitating underperformers and rewarding top performers. Clearly define roles and responsibilities so there is no ambiguity.

💡 Measuring and assessing team performance: A holistic performance metric should include “Whats” and “Hows”. “What you do” in your role is achievable and measurable. “How you do it” suggests whether team members have a growth mindset and are willing to adapt and to learn.

💡 Building a cohesive team: Building a cohesive team involves having the right culture, common goals, and priorities. Research has shown that high-performing teams work and play hard together. Appointing culture champions to initiate team activities encourages a sense of ownership and belonging.

If you are keen to join us for future General Counsel events or are interested in being a speaker, please reach out to Cassandra Lim at cassandralim@taylorroot.com or a member of the Singapore in-house team.