AS A MANAGER OF TEAMS…
If you are considering me for the skills I bring to the job, you must be curious about what kind of a person I am, and how I approach leading the Product Design function in an organization. This is, in my view, even more important than the prototypes and mockups I can present. As the saying goes, the best design is invisible – and in that regard, the soft skills I bring to my role are as intangible as they are invaluable.
…I Adapt to circumstances.
Rather than panic, freeze, or fight about shifting priorities, I roll with them as a normal occurrence in business, and help my team to embrace the whirlwind.
My calm response to chaos reassures others and helps me respond to what people need. I don’t shy away from making changes, but am aware of the impact changes will have on the whole.
I model an end-to-end skillset – meaning each designer can be a team of one, if necessary, including myself. This is the most resilient team design, in my experience, as it can expand or contract in head count without compromising any functions.
I do continuous assessment of project progress, checking in with designers and stakeholders in a free-roaming style to see if there are improvements or needs to be met. However, I don’t micromanage. I trust my people.
At InMarket, I built a team of two product designers and one frontend developer. What worked best for InMarket’s wide suite of products was a team of individual designers who could handle full projects end-to-end, and be dedicated to one or more product teams for the duration of an initiative. Meanwhile, I took on the responsibility of building the design system infrastructure.
…I BUILD RELATIONSHIPS.
Each designer has strengths and weaknesses. When assigning projects, I take these into account – notably how they mesh with the professional relationships that are needed for the project to be a success.
Having spent many years in lean environments, I have seen how every person is creative – you don’t have to have that word in your title. Give me stakeholders and we will design solutions together.
Very rarely does a meeting go by without me encouraging and actively welcoming strong opinions from participants. When voiced, these opinions – no matter how unenlightened – drive the product to be better. If I don’t get strong opinions, I begin to worry.
I treat my direct reports as human beings, with lives, feelings, and real-life situations. My personal, relational style consistently results in people on my team not wanting to work anywhere else. We have a great time taking our jobs seriously.
At Equilar, I built a design team to handle both Marketing and Product needs of the company. I managed and oversaw incoming projects of my team while fully contributing on major projects myself. Even though my team was small, we were high-performing and had tons of fun amidst all the demands.
…I ARRANGE THE PIECES.
Whether inheriting or hiring a team, I’m balancing strengths and setting each person up for success. Moreover, I believe skills are infectious. I see strengths as a source of team inspiration, not exploitation, nor competition.
I coordinate people and resources for maximum effectiveness. I’m naturally looking for the best social dynamics for a smooth operation, but also have an eye on strategy and efficiency.
I’m modeling the same arranging principles when solving product issues, and encourage my team to design from the big picture. My holistic eye across business, engineering, sales, customer service, and design encourages each team member to be a puzzle master – connecting apparently disparate dots whose paths interweave.
At NinthDecimal, When a key product needed backfill, I stepped in to manage an engineering pod for 2 years while continuing to serve product design functions for the entire company. Even though this team was spread out over 3 continents, we felt close and had great velocity.