Leadership
Ways of working: Providing a growing team with more structure
Capable people, no shared ways of working. Designers rotated on availability, not fit, and only understood the product in fragments.
Context
The design team had capable people but no shared ways of working. Designers rotated across areas of the product on availability rather than fit, so nobody built deep knowledge anywhere. The intention was broad exposure, but in practice people only understood the product in fragments. The structural gaps became clearest during a dual manager absence when I was covering day-to-day leadership.
Challenge
Without consistent ownership, designers couldn't see how their decisions affected the wider product. Handoffs varied and quality depended on who was available rather than who understood the problem.
Approach
I spent time with the team understanding how they wanted to work and where ownership felt unclear. From those conversations I put together a proposal for senior leadership: designers paired with specific product areas, lighter-weight shared practices, and documentation standards. My manager picked up the proposal on their return and we implemented the changes together.
Outcome
The team now works in a modular structure where designers own specific areas of the product. My manager and I have positioned them as champions of those areas, building deeper expertise and confidence. This is a continual work in progress, but people are starting to understand their area in a way they did not before. The model is not rigid — ad-hoc work is picked up by anyone. I have also taken on reorganising Jira and setting ticket standards to reflect the new structure.
Reflection
The team needed hooks — areas of developing expertise they could hang new knowledge on. Without that, every project started from fragmented understanding rather than building on what came before.