Behind Every Great CEO is a Great CEO Office Team: Ours is Led by Arvy (1/2)
CEO Office is one of those functions that could be considered exotic. It sounds fancy, a lot of startups have that role, yet you don’t really understand what they do. We interviewed Arvy Egadipoera to talk more about his role as the SVP of CEO Office & Special Project. This article has two parts: the first one will go deep into what Arvy and his team do.
So, let’s start by asking the most important question: what does the CEO Office do?
We essentially execute projects (non BAU initiatives) to drive the achievements of the company’s OKRs. We also provide strategic support for the CEO.
“In essence, the role of CEO Office is simple. In practice, we initiate, orchestrate, and execute interdependent projects to enable other divisions to achieve their respective OKRs (and thus, the company’s OKRs). It usually requires cooperation with a lot of different functions, the different blockers they carry, and not to mention different stakeholders. For us, having a team with diverse set of skills is non-negotiable.”
Can you give us an example of such projects?
One of our BAU tasks is to make sure our Product, Marketing, and Commercial teams are in sync as we have multiple Growth Projects. Aside from individual project discussions, we make this happen through Monthly Collaboration Meetings where all teams have to participate, present their OKRs, and explain the challenges they face in detail. This lets them understand and care about each other’s problems. When our meetings are ideal, each teams are competing positively by raising each other’s issues and help propose solutions. This way, meetings could be more interactive and productive, it’s a way to align their goals. These monthly meetings also serve as the foundation of leadership meetings.
You mentioned that while it’s simple in essence, the role of CEO Office is a bit more complicated in practice. Can you tell us more about that?
Aside from executing various projects, we also have to support his strategic functions. All of that requires a diverse set of skills, that’s why in Mekari our CEO Office has 4 different teams within it: PMO, Strategic Partnerships, Data, and Special Projects.
Interesting. Let’s say I want to work with Mekari’s CEO Office team, what kind of skillset should I have? What kind of people will I be working with?
If you’re good at stakeholder management (and have a strong secondary skill, i.e., a solid background in Marketing) you might be interested in our resourceful Project Management team. If you’re good at negotiations, establishing relationships, and maintaining them, you’ll fit right in working with Strategic Relations. If you’re excellent with data and interested in supporting a startup’s big picture decision making, our Data team will welcome you. If you’re always eager to prove how entrepreneurial you are, there’s always the Special Projects team.
Wow, didn’t expect your team to be this diverse! Managing a team is hard enough, more so a totally diverse team. Speaking of, how do you keep each and every one of your different team members empowered?
Every team has different tendencies. Some outgoing, some more introverted, so I personalize my approach to each team. I empowered leaders in the team as well as I do believe they are the closest to the ground and have different leadership traits — which shapes different dynamics that suits their work style best.
How about team culture? What kind of culture are you trying to build?
I’d say our team is very relaxed yet motivated. I don’t really care how they work, whether they work 10 hours or only 4 hours a day, it’s no problem as long as they can commit to a goal and are able to deliver.
Your role as the SVP of the CEO Office & Special Projects is a strategic function. Where do you draw the line between being (carefully) calculating and agile?
I feel like being agile and calculating are two different things. To have agility is to choose the most effective and efficient way of doing things. To be calculating is to know how to manage risks. What’s important in the CEO Office function is that we know how to pick the right battles to fight and always base our decisions on data so we know we’re choosing the best decision that’s available for us.
What do you think success looks like in your role?
Since our main function is to support the CEO, I’d say success looks like us achieving all the company’s OKR.
Last question: as the SVP of CEO Office, what’s your relationship with Suwandi, the CEO, like?
Suwandi, while aware that he’s my superior, never treats me like a subordinate. I feel like our relationship is more like dynamic business partners. In order to do my job well in the CEO Office, we have to trust each other. I believe this is reflected in the flexibility in how we communicate (if it’s urgent we can call each other anytime) and in our regular checkpoints where we make sure we’re both heading in the right direction.
