Team size: Eight

What has been the number one challenge that has impacted you over the past year?

Unplanned tasks due to supply chain constraints and imposed sanctions which required in changes and adaptation of business models were a large challenge within the previous year. This challenge taught us, as the legal team, to think differently and more “out of the box”.

In your opinion, what areas should in-house lawyers focus on over the next few years to prove value to their organisations in Türkiye?

It is crucial that in-house lawyers develop themselves to be the lawyer of future and being client advocates. This requires a different mindset, new soft skills, new ways of working and understanding new business models. We should all learn not to limit ourselves with mechanics. This is not just only for Türkiye. However, for Türkiye specific, we should refresh our knowledge on the latest status of regulations which have been changing frequently, identify opportunities within the new environment with the right level of external focus.

Could you share an example of a time when you came up with an innovation that improved how your legal team works and did not come at a large expense?

Since there are budget constraints, coming together in person as a new formed team was not possible as much as it would have been helpful. My team is scattered across the operating unit covering 25 countries, sitting in different locations. Being as one, feeling as one, and working as one was the priority. We held a series of virtual meetings and was able to use different tools like as Mural and shared sites to work simultaneously, as if we were in one room, to build our vision and determine our shared goal. We learned to work in a networked organisation which increased the level of collaboration and empowerment. Even within these circumstances, we were able to increase our engagement score significantly which then helped in contributing the growth of the business and individuals.