Treasury Contrarian View: Should Treasury Operate Like a Startup?
Most treasury teams operate like well-oiled machines—structured, risk-averse, and highly controlled. But here’s a bold thought: What if treasury operated more like a startup—agile, experimental, and focused on rapid innovation? Could adopting a startup mindset make treasury more impactful, or would it undermine the stability companies rely on? The Case for a Startup Mindset in Treasury The Case Against a Startup Mindset A Balanced Model: Entrepreneurial but Controlled Treasury doesn’t need to throw out governance to benefit from startup thinking. Instead, it can: Let’s Discuss We’ll share perspectives from treasurers and innovators who’ve experimented with “startup-style” treasury—add your view to the conversation! COMMENTS Nena Koronidi, Treasury Masterminds Board Member, comments: Absolutely. I see every treasury role as an opportunity to re-engineer processes, eliminate inefficiencies, and bring in fresh, innovative solutions. Protecting liquidity and managing risk will always come first, but that doesn’t mean we can’t experiment in smart, controlled ways. By working closely with IT, fintechs, and banking partners, we can pilot automation, APIs, and AI tools that not only speed up decision-making but also strengthen governance. Done right, innovation doesn’t weaken resilience; it makes it stronger.For me, it’s about being entrepreneurial, but with the discipline treasury is known for. Benjamin Defays, Treasury Masterminds Board Member, comments: Yes, for Startup mentality, not for a startup methodology. It is a question of professional survival and sustainability of the function to have this entrepreneurial and transformational mindset, and it is what we are all looking for when hiring talent. However, in terms of methodology, it’d be a killer: we need to steer priorities, channel energy in the right direction, and ensure we keep a proper focus to achieve results in this manner. Lee-Ann Perkins, Treasury Masterminds Board Member, comments: A startup style for Treasury is essential in a rapidly changing world. We need to be flexible, proactive problem solvers with the goal of enhancing efficiency and driving growth. Our mandate is to control the risks and remain compliant at all times, and we can still achieve this by embracing innovation and leveraging cutting-edge tools for success. Treasurers should remain poised to redefine their roles through transformation. Adeyinka Ogunnubi, Treasury Masterminds Board Member, comments: Interesting topic. I often joke with my treasury team that the best treasurer is the “predictably boring treasurer. 😂 I say that with context. Back here in Nigeria, we suffered significant distortions in the FX market over the period of 4 years, ranging from severe FX liquidity issues to restrictions in trade finance. In the process, many corporate treasurers defined “Agility” as the ability to think outside the box (Start-up Mentality), which led them to explore and develop creative alternative measures of sourcing FX and doing trades (Start-up Methodology). Some of these measures created serious compliance issues and elevated risk for the organisation. Bottom line, the “old” predictable process of bidding, two quotes, and order books was jettisoned for abnormal ways which, while agile, exciting, and adventurous, were fraught with risks. Predictability of process gave way to uncertainty, complexity, and volatility. A return to “normality” (which is what is the case now) has seen treasurers now scramble to get used to a structured, predictable model. I absolutely agree with Benjamin Defays, yes for start-up mentality, but no for start-up methodology. Also Read Join our Treasury Community Treasury Mastermind is a community of professionals working in treasury management or those interested in learning more about various topics related to treasury management, including cash management, foreign exchange management, and payments. To register and connect with Treasury professionals, click [HERE] or fill out the form below to get more information.
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How To Ready Your Team For Change
This article is written by Palm The disparity between technology advancements in the home and in the treasury world are incomprehensible. The innovation is so seamless in our personal lives we don’t even consider what is powering the tools behind Siri, ChatGPT and our Spotify algorithms. At work however, the mention of AI or machine learning gets us excited, without really a consideration of how these tools can be embedded into our operations. The blog this week is about how we can re-frame this technology, and ready our teams to move away from their manual daily processes and into a world where they come to expect the same level of automation of checking out with Apple Pay on their phone, as they do entering manual payments into online bank portals, which have been accessed with a bank key fob. Which is actually their 5th key fob in 2 years as it is constantly being lost or locked with incorrect pin attempts. The focus this week is on change management and how we can support our teams through these periods of change and start adopting technologies in the workplace to make their daily lives easier. Change Management Managing change is hard. There is a certain cathartic quality to working through tried and tested processes, taking time and making sure all the I’s are dotted and the T’s are crossed. The brain can relax by going through the motions of preparing the daily positions and executing the cash management strategy. Moving from this, to an unknown automated process seems like an unnecessary stress. If it isn’t broken then don’t fix it, right? Although remember that feeling when you first tapped our contactless card. Did it work? What happens if someone steals my card, they could empty my account? There was a lot of doubt and skepticism. A few years down the line, it’s rare to enter a card pin at all. How can we overcome this initial resistance to get to the nirvana ending? Here are 10 tried and tested steps to work through for a successful change management strategy. Fail to plan, plan to fail. The first step to managing a successful change is to plan for it and the eventual outcomes. This is not limited to only planning the project but also and the teams response to it, and the possible pitfalls. A simple project management template is a good start, but consider the wider impact of the change. Make sure you have enough time to work through each of the stages thoroughly to avoid a half-baked solution which doesn’t deliver on the benefits touted at the start of the project. Successful change requires you to have a certain level of influence in the business. You need to be someone the team trusts to deliver the solution to gain their support and buy in. There will always be those individuals who do not want the change. Convincing them this change will help them in the long run, may not be possible. We have all worked with such people. However, making sure their negativity does not overshadow the project is crucial. This involves proactively sharing successes in a wide forum, and having support from internal leaders who also share your vision and speak positively about the change. Sweeping conflict under the carpet never ends well. If you find there are those who are actively creating tension, either within the project team or in the wider business it is best to address this head on and find a mutual solution. Produce a clear plan to resolve the issue, and see it through. Those impacted by the change need to have a clear understanding of the project, why it is happening and how it will impact them personally. Being as transparent as possible will allow employee to envisage their world after the change is live. How their role and processes could be affected and what they need to do to prepare for these changes. In times of uncertainty people look up to their leaders for guidance, and you need to be ready to provide this and share your vision to bring them along for the ride. This may sound obvious, but often insufficient time is left for deep training on new solutions to make sure everyone is comfortable with the tools and how they work. Each person will have a different learning style, therefore delivering training sessions using different techniques can be hugely beneficial. Setting time for follow up sessions to gather questions and feedback once users are active in the system can also help fine tune the resources for future onboarding. Identify early adopters in the team and create a network of champions who are willing to share their excitement and enthusiasm for the project. In return, they become experts in the new system and are involved in the project management process. Spending time setting up critical KPIs which help measure the success of the project will help to keep stakeholders engaged as they can track the progress and adoption of the new solution. In addition, you may want to collect more informal, qualitative feedback from team members as a way to understand how the team are feeling about the changes. If the team feels progress is being made and they are being recognised for their involvement, they are more likely to remain engaged in the project and see it through to the end. Even in the most expertly executed project, there are opportunities to learn and improve. Run a retro session shortly after the conclusion of the project to both celebrate what went well but also find opportunity areas for improvement for the next project. Wrap Up Change management is as much about managing people through the change as it is about the solution itself. Hence why there are so many models and research papers written on the topic. However if we want to move our treasury teams into the new world of technology, we can’t shy away from big…