Guide: How to build a well-coordinated team?

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Note Transl .: The history and approaches of the design studio that prepared the original text will be useful in the work of start-ups and working groups. The nuances noted in the post, really have a great impact on teamwork, without them the life of a substantial part of projects does not cost them.

[About how and what people to pick up in the start-up team, you can read in our latest translation of a lecture by Stanford startup school.]

A myth has taken root in design society that creating great projects requires a single vision. Rave. Great teams create great projects; Moreover, based on my own experience, I can say that the best teams primarily take and develop a healthy, positive internal culture, because they are aware of its importance for the design process itself.
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Over the 20 years spent in leading design studios and teams, ranging from small specialized consulting companies to several corporations, I became obsessed with the differences between just an effective studio and truly successful. Of course, what creates or destroys a studio depends on its ability to develop skills and competence, while remaining exclusively creative. However, simple adaptability is not enough. In my opinion, in a constantly changing supercompetitive environment, nothing more than a sense of humor, empathy, collective responsibility and a complete lack of selfishness are of the greatest importance.

My criterion of success is the creation of such studios and studio culture, in which the desire of the collective to create is felt; in which designers love their work, and customers and partners feel this positive and creative attitude.

Below I will try to tell you how the culture of behavior positively affects the studio, in particular, it expands and strengthens the capabilities of the team. I believe that there is a direct relationship between the atmosphere in the studio, the attitude of us, as designers, to each other, and the innovative potential of the team. I want to believe that the formation of the characteristics of an effective studio will make every member of the team more conscientiously contribute to the work.

Of course, these characteristics will vary in each specific situation and should not be construed as specific rules. Rather, these rules of conduct will serve as a guide for creating a steadily positive, and, as a result, a steadily more creative working atmosphere.


Photo of Julian Blicker

Greeting

I know this may seem nonsense, but politeness dictates that when entering the room, you need to say hello, and leaving it, say goodbye. It is not so difficult. But this ordinary politeness plays an important functional role in the studio.

The designer’s work is collective in nature, and therefore it requires some kind of announcement saying: “I am here. I'm going to join the work. ” As a person who leads / listens to a team, I often recognize a person's mood by the phrase “Good morning”. So I understand how he feels, without asking questions.

It is equally important to say: “Goodbye, I'm leaving” at the end of the day. In fact, it is useful to know that someone is leaving, because you do not know ... he will return the next morning. Seriously, then, “Good night,” we usually speak to our children, spouses, parents. When you say “Good night”, leaving the studio, you subconsciously create a similar family atmosphere in it.

I also think that you need to shake hands before traveling. I understand that this sounds strange, but the handshake is both a strong and deeply personal gesture. People who go on such business trips often do work that represents the entire team. This is an opportunity to look a person in the eye and say: "Good luck, I hope everything goes well."

And when they return, there comes a moment of celebration. We are a team, so when team members leave, we miss them. When they return, the team reunites. It's great. Let's celebrate it.

While this may seem trivial, observing (and even encouraging) these subtle cultural rituals increases the studio's functionality, making it something more personal.


Photo of Nicole Ryan

Optimistic attitude

Designers know that great design requires constant iteration. Iteration means failure and again failure. The question arises: "How to cope with repeated failures during the design process?"

From the point of view of humanism, design implies the possibility of choice, and creativity bears optimism. Thus, constant optimism is a key element of each iteration. It feeds the perseverance and perseverance necessary to sustain the creative process, especially in difficult times.

For example, the complexity of introducing innovations in large corporations is conditioned by the working environment, where people often say “No” or “I don’t understand”, because changing a corporate culture, as a rule, is difficult and slow. Therefore, it is necessary to counteract the negative - not only in the process of "brainstorming" or during the commercial presentation of the product - but also on a daily, ongoing basis.

Do not underestimate the role of humor for an effective studio. Humor can be different, and the way its role is determined determines the studio itself. If we cannot laugh at something and laugh with someone, we cannot function properly.

• Laughter defuses the atmosphere when the situation is heating up.
• Laughter invites participation and rallies the team.
• Laughter acts as a slogan (“Laugh in the face of adversity!”).
• Laughter breeds creativity.
• Laughter is a serious matter.

Photo of Nicole Ryan

Food

What applies to a family often applies to a team. I was raised in a family where they believe "The family is together, the soul is in place." There is something natural and primitive in getting together at the table. People (even very serious, so-called managers) lose their vigilance while eating - which is good. History is proof of that. Great musical groups, movements, and many large enterprises began at the kitchen table — invariably with wine — but we will reserve the topic “The Importance of Alcohol” for another article.

Lunch break marks a natural pause during the day and represents an excellent opportunity for communication and, ultimately, for creativity. Lunch at a desk or in my office seems terrible and too isolated from the point of view of culture, which is so closely associated with cooperation. Instead, find a table at which all team members can eat together - this will unite the team. Thus, joint meals in the studio are very important. You will learn something new about your colleagues or about yourself.

But it is worth moving on, so let me tell you a little story ...

Corporate parties at large enterprises, designed to facilitate these informal conversations, often lead to the opposite result: you go to a good restaurant, all order expensive dishes and a lot of wine, they drink until you get drunk, and you return to your room. But once we were overtaken by financial difficulties, and we thought: “What if we do the opposite? Get out into nature, buy food and cook for each other. ”

What happened next was incredible! Someone inevitably became responsible for cooking, the other - for table setting. Without further discussion, the whole team was buzzing in the kitchen, like a beehive, working for a common purpose. There is something certainly touching in cooking together and for each other. After all, there is nothing wrong with helping others and receiving help from them.


Photo of Julian Blicker

Good studios have nice walls.

When you enter any studio, it is very important to feel and see what has been done in it - the studio should be filled with creative energy. In particular, I believe that the state of any design studio can be determined by looking at its walls.

The advantage of demonstrating the works on the studio walls is as follows:

Visibility: Walls “move” work from the virtual world to the real world, which makes it more visual, interactive, material and tangible.

Communication: Walls facilitate communication, because people usually gather in front of them and discuss work.

Shared ownership: Walls create a culture of collective ownership, as they encourage people to literally lean on each other's ideas.

Iterations: Decorated walls show healthy designs, because they show that several iterations have passed in the process.

Ideas: When the project on the walls becomes too complicated, you can remove everything and start over. What is glued is glued.

Connections: Walls also allow people to establish connections in non-linear ways, as they visually show hot spots, interactions, and overlays, all that you could not see otherwise. They allow you to understand the whole picture through individual elements.

Thinking: In some cases, the wall allows you to put together a seemingly complex set of images.

Morale: When people try to come up with something new, they draw inspiration from their experience. Often the idea comes from our immediate environment, such as walls or knick-knacks on the table.

Studio walls - living walls. Their viability depends on care and care in order to develop creativity and productivity. An analogy can be drawn between their creation and destruction on the one hand, and the cultivation and harvesting of the harvest on the other.


Image from Guardian News & Media / Text @motionandrew

Read fiction

Books complement the overall atmosphere in the studio. A studio crammed with books creates the impression that the designers in it are thoughtful, intelligent and resourceful - so, at least, the studio has an intellectual appearance.

It seems that all design studios consider it necessary to rise to a level where they would become more creative, so-called design heroes, like those who are more successful than us. And that's fine. But, nevertheless, I suggest a different approach.

As designers, we often ask people to dare to believe and imagine a world that does not exist. We, in fact, do nothing but compose fiction and tell good stories - this is an integral part of human communication. Perhaps then it makes sense to at least bring fiction to the studio or encourage it to prosperity?

Storytelling is an art. It is part of the design process. Therefore, we must read and study fiction.


Photo of Julian Blicker

Design Design

There is one very simple rule of innovation: plan the process to fit the project.

In the world of consulting it is easy to satisfy the interests of the consumer, since each project is individual. However, in large corporations, all projects are in one way or another similar to each other - you are actually creating a new product that is very similar to the old one. Consequently, the design in the walls of large corporations should be carried out with an eye to consulting.

Regardless of where you work, the key question remains: how to change the design process? This process begins with the creation of something like a window, frame, or filter that helps people see the world through your eyes: the development of projects requires it.

If people can perceive your vision through this lens, give them the opportunity to master this technique perfectly, then they can apply this vision to other parts of the project. If you succeed, the project will have great potential.


Photo by Reese Newman

Go beyond

I believe that creative people want to "create." In large corporations or when creating complex projects, we need a lot of time to get the final product. In this regard, I believe that the majority of designers (including myself) are working on additional projects outside the studio.

Interestingly, many of these projects are completely the opposite of what we do in the studio. They constitute unfinished material, which, as a rule, is made quickly and by hand and is very personal in nature. People often take on third-party projects to restore lost and forgotten skills or simply learn something new. Examples of such third-party projects in our studio were the construction of birdhouses, brewing and the manufacture of bicycle frames to order.

Immediately I will clarify that this is not a “Friday project”, on which you spend 20% of your working time, which then develops into a full-fledged studio project. I am convinced that 100% of the time should be paid to product creation and planned work.

But instead of hindering the implementation of these projects, we will publish them by publishing them in our quarterly magazine or simply telling about them. As well as the above-mentioned walls in the studio, additional projects became part of it and taught us something. And I think that their dissimilarity from studio projects has added color and richness, brightness to our work, and thereby has given importance and improved work in the studio.


Photo of Luke Johnson

Watch your speech

Language plays a key role in project creation. Therefore, it is important to constantly ensure that team members have a common understanding of words, phrases and titles. Ideally, at the initial design stage, the language should be defined, up to issuing to each person a list of concepts and their definitions. In particular, this pedantic approach is very important in multinational studios, where differences in language understanding can lead to diverse and sometimes opposite interpretations.

Also, the language occurs in the process. Sometimes you have to come up with new words to discuss the project. In other cases, you should clearly understand how words and their meanings evolve during the design process. In our studio, we documented the terminology used in two ways: the weekly “Conversations in the Studio” distribution, which includes all the expressions heard in the studio, and the publication of a list of words related to the project and their meanings in the lexical section of our quarterly magazine.

In general, I believe that speech is no less indicative than body language. Repeatedly used words and phrases are as important as straightened shoulders or arched eyebrows. I pay great attention to what people say and why they say it, since it can reveal their motives and way of thinking.


Photo of Julian Blicker

Make the information available.

In an effective studio, most things are not a great secret, so why discuss them in a room behind a closed door? Instead, make the information public. This will give the best results.

When all team members have access to information, they can directly participate in discussing it, listen to conversations, or simply go about their business. Sometimes people who initially did not take part in the discussion, suddenly inserting their word, can direct the conversation to a new, more interesting direction.

In addition, if there are complex things that the team members want to say about, maybe they will pick up their words a little more carefully, knowing that the information will receive wide publicity. It is much easier to hurt and offend behind closed doors than to all honest people.


Photo of Luke Johnson

Everyone is a leader in some way.

I don’t think it’s worthwhile to link linear management and creative creativity. Otherwise, in a short time the team will become pleasing and will only create what they were told to do.

This management style contradicts the very essence of creative projects, which by their nature are messy, material and changeable. They are real (I always show this funny gesture with my hands, resembling a bowl, talking about a project). You can shape them, change them and push them in the right direction. They need to "feed, water and cherish." Sometimes they are weak, sometimes strong, but they always need love.

At any time, each team member should feel their responsibility and the opportunity to become a leader. Collective responsibility is extremely important. These dynamic projects in the studio will never be able to effectively coordinate one person, because they are not superficial.

It also forms a collective responsibility and helps people feel that each of them has contributed a small but important contribution to the project. Thus, at any time, a team member should be able to, pointing to the project, say: “We did it. I did it".


Photo of Julian Blicker

Stand in the place of another

Developing projects for people requires an understanding of their thoughts, feelings, motivation, and values. To do this, a good designer must turn his worldview and look at the world through the eyes of another person, understand it. This ability to penetrate deeply into the feelings of others is probably the most important function of both the studio and the designer.


Photo of Julian Blicker

Place bets

Competition motivates the team, that's a fact. But betting brings the team even more efficiently. Successful offices in the betting set simple rules that quickly causes interest in what is happening to the whole team. The most important thing is that everyone feels involved in the process, while having equal chances of winning, regardless of the bet.

In addition to accepting bets, setting deadlines and collecting money, an experienced bookmaker must effectively communicate information. This means regular mailing of letters, in which the results of competitions and betting are summed up. The most important thing for a bookmaker is to maintain enthusiasm and avoid conflicts between the betting participants.

From personal experience, I can say that the prospect of easy winnings causes excitement. After my only victory in the studio, I went and bought sunglasses, which in another case would not get away with me, but those $ 100 were in cash, and my wife never found out anything! Ha!


Photo by Reese Newman

Family and career

We spend much more time with our colleagues at work than with our family. And, like it or not, we all go through it. We must accept this fact.

Yes, I understand that people protect their privacy, and you need to respect these boundaries. But in modern studios, these boundaries are often blurred. In general, I think it is even good. Children, pets, hobbies - in a word, family ties and hobbies - bring us together.

For example, my work at Nokia required constant business trips to Finland to my boss, Marco. It was important for me that my family met Marco, because because of my work, I left them for his sake. Therefore, when Marco came to us, I invited him to dinner so that his wife and children could meet him.

I am somewhere every day, they are somewhere every day. I ask about their friends - they ask about mine.

It works in the opposite direction. The team in the studio is just as important to know my family: if you know me, then you will meet my family. Many management textbooks write: "You must be the first to come to work and the last to leave work."

I often left before, since my son had a football match. In short, it is necessary for the team to know what is important for me, and I know what is important for the team.

Photo by Reese Newman

Besides jokes

If your studio is led by an egocentric person for whom personal goals and own career are more important than the overall goal of the team, then the atmosphere, productivity, creativity and the result of the work deviate from the common goal. As a result, the product of an activity is simply a means of satisfying its ego, but it should be the other way around.

Moreover, I do not think it is necessary to be such a person to lead people, a studio or a project. Many of those amazing people with whom I had the opportunity to work were open, generous and kind people who could see talent in others and listen to more than talk.

In my opinion, the statement that great projects are created under a single beginning is just a myth. Often, people who consider themselves such leaders are, in fact, selfish. I am deeply convinced that great teams create great projects, and that success is achieved by those who put the result in the first place, and not their ambitions.

Find a good browser

A studio reviewer is a special role and position. In our studio, Luke's job was to archive our work and present it to the team in a special light, how to document the basic principles. Armed with perseverance and journalistic observation, the studio reviewer should notice not only what was done, but how it was done and by whom.

There are many reasons why it is better to make one person responsible for the documentation process. First, you can easily forget the details of the project, especially when projects last for several years. Archiving work is not only productive, but also functional; in such studios it is considered that work can always be done a little better. Finally, a properly documented project helps new team members quickly and efficiently integrate into their work.

But perhaps the biggest advantage of constantly documenting work in a studio is that it is a reliable contribution to the future. The longer I work, the more I appreciate the behavior of people throughout the design process. Thus, the history of the project is not only in its development, but also in how the designers and the team as a whole grew working on this project.

In the modern world with its high requirements, I am pleased that sometime in the future I will be able to browse through our quarterly magazines and analyze what we have done and think: “How great it was to work there! I learned a lot and we created something really wonderful. ”