Hi Alex! What would you say was the most challenging transaction you have worked on and why?

Hi Deborah,

Thanks for getting in touch! It is really hard to say for sure which was the most challenging as there have been multiple projects which have proved challenging - but in different ways. I've narrowed it down to two transactions, the first of which is unsurprisingly the first project I worked on after joining. This was a sell-side transaction of a large, multinational facilities management business which was made up of multiple different divisions. As a result, this made the process far more complicated, as we needed to present analysis for the divisional accounts as well as reconciling these back to the consolidated accounts. Furthermore, as the business was international, certain entities within the perimeter reported in different currencies, and not all entities within the group were part of the transaction perimeter, meaning these needed to be excluded. There were also a lot of intercompany transactions which needed to be identified and adjusted for. Looking back this was a really tough first project as even with experience this would be difficult, so I think both being new and the complicated nature of the transaction made this quite a challenge. I was fortunate however as the team were great and provided me with a lot of coaching, so I learned a lot very quickly during this project.

The second transaction was a buy-side on a software business. This was challenging as it was highly intense - we did the project in around 2 weeks - and I had not worked on a buy-side deal before. This meant that I needed coaching, however there was little time for the rest of the team to do this due to the quick turnaround required. As a result, I had to figure a lot of things out for myself, and this was even more high pressure as due to the timeline there would be little time to correct any mistakes. I think that the most challenging aspect of this transaction however was environment, as the intensity of the project put everyone under a lot of stress. Whilst this was unpleasant at times, I learned a lot about how to manage relationships with people who are under pressure.

I hope you find this useful! Feel free to reply below if you have any more questions or want me to go into more detail about something specifically :)

This is great detail Alex! Congratulations to you for adjusting so quickly. I do resonate deeply with the final part on managing relationships with colleagues under pressure, given I have encountered that many times in work experience, mainly because of challenging timelines. May I know further on how you learnt to deal with such situations? Thank you.

Hi Deborah,

No problem, happy to help :) With managing stressful situations and the impact this has on your relationships, the first thing I found was that being positive is really helpful. I try to never complain and be upbeat, which has the opposite effect, it reduces stress levels and boosts morale and makes it easier to work with people in high pressure environments. If you are negative on the other hand, and you might have noticed people like this in your own experience, that can really knock team morale, for example if you are heard complaining about the project you're working on. Now there is definitely a balance, as I think being overly positive can be just as bad as being overly negative sometimes! But in general people prefer to work with someone who is positive, and this will therefore improve your relationships with other people, as well as making you feel better yourself. I'd say this has been the most effective thing for me for managing relationships and pressure in projects.

Something else I learned was to set boundaries not only with the team but also with yourself. On the project I mentioned above, I was working in the office every day, so when I went home in the evening I left my laptop in my locker. Even if I hadn't planned on logging back in later on at home, this hard separation of work from home was really helpful as when I went home I truly felt disconnected from work. Sometimes hybrid working really blurs the lines between work and home and this can make it feel like you never get an escape from work, especially on a very busy project. On a tight deadline, pressure and stress builds throughout the day, and by going home physically and then coming in the next morning, this feels like a hard stop and start, rather than a blue of one day into the next. This gives you a full break from your team, which can reset the build up of pressure/stress each day.

I found that taking actual breaks in the day with your team was really helpful. On a high pressure project sometimes you can sit down at 9am to work and get up again in the evening having just worked solely on that project all day, barely even taking time for lunch. 15 or 20 minutes here and there is not going to have a detrimental impact on the project, and gives you some room to breathe. It gives you all a chance to speak to eachother without it all being project related, to just have a chat as colleagues instead of specifically about the project. I feel like this can really help your relationships as sometimes if you're constantly being managed, or asked when you are going to have finished your work, or where a certain document is saved, or if you've sent an email etc etc, you lose the actual human side of your relationship with the project team and it can be quite demoralising. Having these non-project chats or going for a walk or coffee together brings that side back, and when you go back to work, everyone is less stressed and I feel like they're also friendlier with eachother.

I realise I've written a super long answer here! So to summarise I'd say: be positive, maintain a separation between work and home life, and have non-work activities and conversations with your team. I hope this answers your question and again, feel free to reply if you want me to clarify anything further :)

This is very thorough advice that I can apply! Much appreciated Alex, hoping to cross paths one day! Have an amazing week.