What is it like to work in a fintech? The Chronicler went into the offices of Wenance to live the experience and work side by side with the protagonists. The first thing that draws attention in Wenance is that there is no “until tomorrow”, many of the greetings are: “Then we follow it!”, To the point that the same CEO or VPs are the first to arrive and last to leave.
Wenance has an active portfolio of personal loans in excess of $ 1.2 billion and more than 80,000 active clients. Since its inception, it has financed more than 200,000 loans for $ 1,900 million. In 2017, the company founded by Alejandro Muszak became the first fintech in Argentina to launch a public trust portfolio of personal loans, of which it has issued two series in the capital market and started its operations in Uruguay.
Self-management
Here there is no formal departure time, responsibility and self-management to achieve the objectives prevail. Many returns to their homes or make a break to clear minds and continue remote in WhatsApp chats or Hangouts. It should be noted that the implementation of G Suite was disruptive for the company in the process of expansion.
The restless spirit and movement continue: the adrenaline of fintech DNA is breathed in each person. If even the lights remain on.
On the large collaborative work, tables are notebooks, monitors, few papers, some color post it, fibers and sideboards where you can see graphics and highlighted phrases.
A couple of glazed rooms let you see the meetings of the work teams, a recreation area with a Flipper, colorful tables, a coffee sector and several mini livings facilitate the dynamism of agile encounters.
It is 8:30 and they begin to arrive who after going through the coffee go to their “squad”, which is a multifunctional team of specialists who work together every day.
“We generate these changes to give more autonomy to work for teams and live fully one of our most visible values, we move quickly and lightly.” Upon entering the offices, with some exceptions, there are no typical sectors of a company, We all work collaboratively, it is very easy to find people from Marketing, IT, HR and Commercial working at the same table, “said Javier Brignone, Head of HR.
At 9 o’clock, each squad has its daily, daily team synchronization meeting or Daily Scrum, where the leader guides the prioritization of the topics, facilitates communication and collaboration of all.
As a result of the daily meetings between the members that are programmed, through a shared calendar, where the incidents are raised and the resolution plan is worked on. These can be established in daily or weekly sessions, and the attendance of members can be in person or remotely. Being the agility the concept that must prevail, the necessary tools and modalities are made available so that the ideas become facts. You think about what and how to make things happen.
“The objective of each of these meetings is to review the KPIs defined in order to quickly detect deviations, correct and retest In the case of Sales, the Daily takes place at three times of the day: morning, noon and at the closing of the day “, commented Martín Invernizzi, CCO of Wenance.
Within the learning of using agile methodologies, they emphasize the agility in the communication and resolution of problems that the teams have, given the autonomy and empowerment that is granted to them. This significantly optimizes the time of the deliverables.
It is 11 o’clock and the agenda of the day invites a town hall, meeting mode where a quarterly report is presented, general objectives are communicated and the participation of the members of the company is encouraged. In this case, in addition to a review of 2018, the 2019 plan was presented where managers and leaders shared the objectives to be achieved. In the coffee, a contracture environment invites reflection and exchange of ideas.
Then, each member continues with his activities stipulating a prioritization within his backlog, an ordered list of all pending work, managing with total autonomy, in order to streamline processes and deliverables.
As an Academy, each one proposes themes to nurture the knowledge of others, regardless of the tribe that belongs. At closing, and for constructive feedback, a brief anonymous survey is conducted.
“We breathe an informal and unstructured environment, although no less demanding and full of the adrenaline of knowing that we have very demanding objectives, we feel comfortable with the changes of course and know how to adapt quickly. responsibility, trust and autonomy, “added Javier Brignone, Head of HR
The place occupied by Wenance’s modern offices was designed with a dynamic vision that favors the performance of each professional and their relationship with the environment. Space is open and very bright. The architecture allows enjoying art just by looking at the intervention of the walls with works by Banksy, the pseudonym of the British urban artist.