Design leadership is no easy feat, in my 6+ years of leading teams, my experiences have taught me that design being an amalgamation of creative and analytical skills, attracts individuals of varied backgrounds, strengths and temperaments.

From designers who have a very specific and rigid personal design process to those that require an organizational process to operate, it is almost a spectrum. From constant collaborative differences between stakeholders and designers which have different perspectives, agendas and needs, it’s my job as a design leader to always be ready to step and smooth out these differences if needed. It’s been a delicate balancing act that I have had to carry out over the years and while I enjoy many aspects of this, I also have over time created a broad approach whenever I have to build or manage new teams.

As a design leader, previously at Haptik and now at Microsoft, my key responsibility is to head and oversee dynamic teams. I have led both product and conversation designers and hence cultivating a healthy team culture is not just a goal - It’s a mission. Nurturing a positive and collaborative work environment is key to unlocking the full potential of any design team.

My job involves focusing not only on product strategy, execution,operations but also establishing a solid team culture especially with creative folks. Establishing something as intangible as a team culture which also ties into the broader organizational culture is no easy job and my approach to the same is as follows,

Foster Innovation and Growth

I have an unwavering commitment to foster a culture of continuous exploration and creative thinking. Designers are encouraged to push boundaries and think beyond conventional solutions especially in the AI, Enterprise space. Designers are more inclined to step out of comfort zones and experiment with new ideas if there is a supportive environment and mindset.

Set Clear Expectations

As a leader, it is my job to ensure that the team understands the larger company goals and strategy and also the strategy I have set for how design teams operate. This is not only done as a team exercise but also one on one and also involves helping them understand how their day-to-day ties into the overall quarterly strategy and further broader company strategy for the year.

Facilitating Effective Time Organization

This is especially paramount where designers are working on multiple projects. Time management and estimation are critical skills for any designer to have. Helping designers effectively juggle multiple projects from context switching to ensuring that they are constantly meeting their deadlines and avoiding over allocation. Setting timely project inventories and ensuring that there are enough designers on the team helps. If hiring is not an option, designers are encouraged to prioritize and on occasion give a hard No when their plate is full.

Execution

As their manager, I always emphasize to both my teams, the need to set clear priorities and achieve alignment with various stakeholders. Every designer is encouraged to adopt a rapid decision making process to identify and address challenges or roadblocks. An open communication policy that encourages designers to huddle together, brainstorm and seek each other’s viewpoints if necessary allows us to capitalize on opportunities and varied solutions. This has resulted in better design quality and impactful results while staying agile.

Adaptive Decision Making

As a manager, I always encourage designers to make their own decisions, however once they have taken design decisions, they should have a solid reasoning to back it up. A key thing to remember is opinions are different from decisions, while working with stakeholders, a lot of opinions are provided to designers.Designers should not only develop a keen sense of decision making based on context and opinions that make sense but also hone their sales skills of selling a design and convincing stakeholders. It is alright if a decision is mutually reached after discussions with stakeholders but everyone needs to commit to it. As a leader, my teams are always encouraged to make decisions, but I also make it clear that I will step in when needed.

Open Communication

As a leader, the policy of design teams I lead is open communication. I encourage my teams to disagree with me provided they can back it up with proper reasoning, data and evidence. I like to challenge designers and ideas in a healthy manner. This helps designers hone their skills when it comes to selling their design decisions, ideas to other stakeholders. There are a few key rules to this, Feedback is always open and transparent and criticism is always focused on designs/ decisions themselves rather than the designer. In short, as a manager, I am utmost cognizant of ensuring that any feedback or criticism is never a personal attack on the designer and this is followed without exceptions at every level.

Designers are also encouraged to give feedback on me, to my manager and I strive to create a safe space where they know that they can speak freely without worrying if this will affect their appraisals

As a manager my strategic approach for career development for the team involves actively guiding the progress of each member of my team. I have 1-1 conversations at regular intervals which involves recognizing and aligning with the designers’ interests and growth areas, tailoring career paths that resonate with their aspirations and strengths. This also involves fostering a deep understanding of customer needs and business processes, instilling a holistic perspective in design endeavors.

Effective career growth management hinges on the delivery of prompt and constructive feedback, creating an environment for continuous improvement. This is done by establishing customized training programs which then further amplifies individual development, addresses specific skill gaps. I also believe in one on one mentoring sessions which foster a supportive and personalized connection that nurtures not just professional growth but also an overall career success for each designer.

I hope with this, this gives a better picture of my workflow and processes as a design leader.