Biggest Challenges Faced by a Sr. M&A and Partnership Integration Manager at Zillow Group
Greyson's biggest challenges as a Sr. M&A and Partnership Integration Manager at Zillow Group include "bandwidth," managing a large number of reports with a small team, and navigating the complexities of a matrixed organization to gain alignment from senior leadership on strategic decisions. This requires skillful management of competing priorities and personalities, a process Greyson describes as "playing...a good cop bad cop," to ensure efficient decision-making and avoid project delays.
Project Management, Communication, Leadership, Strategic Decision-Making, Teamwork
Advizer Information
Name
Job Title
Company
Undergrad
Grad Programs
Majors
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Traits
Greyson Gardlik
Sr. M&A and Partnership Integration Manager
Zillow Group
University of Arizona
N/A
Business Management & Admin, Entrepreneurship
Real Estate, Advertising, Communications & Marketing
Business Strategy
None Applicable
Video Highlights
1. Managing competing priorities and limited bandwidth
2. Gaining alignment among senior leadership on strategic decisions
3. Navigating a matrixed organization and managing stakeholder expectations
Transcript
What is your biggest challenge in your current role?
I would say a couple of things. Bandwidth is one of the biggest challenges right now.
I have a lot of people on different teams reporting to me, but my team is relatively small. I am in the process of expanding it a little bit. Bandwidth is a challenge because there's a lot on my plate, and it's difficult at times.
Another challenging piece is gaining alignment from senior leadership on broader strategic questions about the deals I work on. There are unique challenges in how Zillow, or companies in prior roles, run their businesses. Being part of a matrixed organization means decision-makers are at different points.
During a deal or an M&A integration, a million decisions need to be made. Gaining alignment on who needs a seat at the table for each decision is key. It's important to ensure the right people are making the right decisions and to understand how those decisions impact subsequent ones.
This is one of the biggest challenges I deal with. Everyone wants to be involved, but not everyone needs to be. I often have to drive decisions and sometimes put my foot down when people don't need to be involved. Opening up to too many people can draw things out and cause them to spiral.
Managing senior leaders is definitely an interesting problem. It's a challenge, but also something interesting to work on because it's driven by corporate strategy and people. You have to work with different types of people and personalities, which is fun. You have to figure out how best to communicate with each person you're dealing with.
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