Team building Toolkit
As designers grow, so does their influence in the org. A small team with the right composition can have a mighty impact. Below are some of the tools from my ever evolving and growing management toolkit that I’ve used with teams.
User Manuals
User Manuals are a low stakes way for honest introductions. They’re also amazing tools for self reflection and goal setting. I often hear team-members say: “I’m not sure what I’m good at or what my preferences for X are” So its a powerful tool for career development. I have my team re-visit this document 2x/year and assess what has changed or no longer feels relevant and what they may I like to add. Take a look at mine
Career Growth
Career ladders are often communicated as a silver bullet for understanding career growth, but they’re just a (powerful) starting point.
To ensure my team had a clear understanding of were they are currently and how to get to where they want to be, I developed a personalized growth plan for each member that included macro (quarterly focus areas) and micro (monthly development themes) actionable goals. Each week at least one 1:1 agenda item was dedicated to discussing micro goals and every other month and entire session would be dedicated to discussing larger focus areas and progress. Every other week, I’d solicit feedback for myself to ensure I was supporting in the best possible way.
The user manuals were great starting points for these conversations. The team and I revisited these documents bi-annually to see how any information may have changed or evolved.
I keep a running dossier of my team so I could stay on top of and remember what we’d discussed for weekly calls and for review cycles. Its more robust that a 1:1 agenda.
To learn more about general growth themes I share with my team check out my musings on growth conversations.
Team Culture
One signal of a highly engaged team is comfort talking when there’s nothing to discuss. In addition to typical design team rituals like crit’s and huddles, I’m intentional about creating time and space for “watercooler conversations”
Team Retros
Another signal of an effective team is that designers feel empowered to share critical feedback and provide input on where/how they’d like to see the team evolve. Asynchronous team retros proved to be a powerful non-intrusive way to gather insights. Results would provide a framework for team dialogue and may inform team and individual objectives. Some outcomes of async retros I’ve hosted include visual standup and pair design session.