Did the pandemic lead to a lasting increase in the interaction your legal team has with the strategic plans of the company?

The pandemic was an important moment that demonstrated how strong our bonds of trust were. At first, there was enormous uncertainty that directly impacted people, their family and their work. But our conviction that we have a team of highly committed people allowed us at the beginning of the pandemic to make the way we work as flexible as possible, and in less than 24 hours we made the decision to have everyone work from home. It was more important to preserve the serenity of the people. The consequence is that our group, working from their homes, has honoured us with even more accurate and faster deliveries.

At that time, there was an important concern to preserve the flow of information between people so that the entire team had visibility of the company’s strategy, particularly the main issues and challenges faced. Information was key. And information created the bond, the sense of belonging and the alignment with the common goals of B3, which were paramount at that time. To allow the adequate flow of information, we initially established daily update calls, which over time became less frequent. In my view, this strategy not only allowed our group to work very well during the pandemic, but also allowed us to enrich our relationships and our alignment with B3.

As we live in a fast-paced world today, what skills will a corporate legal team need to succeed in the modern in-house industry?

The first and most important skill in my view is that the members of the legal team need great technical security on the legal and regulatory aspects of the industry in which they want to work. Highly qualified lawyers make an equally special team. For this, it is important to be very rigorous in the selection of candidates. Also, we need to give opportunities to the people who work with us, as they need to visualise their growth path and to what extent the impact of their work aligns with their goals.

Also, it is important to have diversity. Diversity in all dimensions, such as knowledge, gender, race, social status, sexual orientation and geographic. Teams that aggregate heterogeneous profiles with a common goal are destined to be winners. Finally, I would add that it is necessary to invest in communication and in strengthening ties of trust. Working with people we trust is much more pleasurable and this translates into better deliveries for the company we work for.