Making the Band: Building Exceptional Design Teams at Spotify

Two years in the past, I uprooted my complete life to maneuver to Sweden to work at Spotify. After having spent over a decade working in UX design all around the world—from New York to London to Singapore—I used to be excited to get again to Europe and be part of an organization I admired as a lot as Spotify. After all, it isn’t typically you get the possibility to work at an organization that makes a product you’re keen on and use day by day.

Now right here I’m, main up the design staff chargeable for the patron expertise at Spotify, a job that is my dream job, however one which’s additionally stretched me in ways in which I by no means anticipated. Those of you presently main Design groups in your group, and people of you aspiring to be a staff lead, can most likely relate to what I’ve gone by way of and what I’m about to share inside this text, so hold studying…these phrases may provide help to too.

This article was impressed by a chat I gave final fall at Leading Design London, through which I shared one thing I’ve been enthusiastic about quite a bit during the last couple of months: the problem of constructing a fantastic design staff is much like the problem of constructing a fantastic band.

From solo performer to band member

In her e-book The Making of a Manager, Julie Zhuo is so on level about what it appears like when a staff comes collectively in excellent sync: when it is now not about you or me, a shared objective motivates folks to carry out their finest.

As leaders, we spend an enormous period of time every single day doing issues to make sure our groups are working in unison, however how will we successfully get to this dream state the place the collective turns into higher than the person? Just like in a band, all of it begins with getting folks into the best roles.

Playing the best instrument

In just below two years, I’ve watched our platform add tens of millions of recent customers, and our client design staff double in measurement. I’ve witnessed them begin to embody that quote from Julie, however as you’d anticipate, a lot progress has introduced plenty of adjustments in how we come collectively as a bunch to do our greatest work. We’ve needed to change how our band performs.

When placing collectively a fantastic band, we’d like to verify everyone seems to be in the best place, enjoying the best instrument. Design leaders can consider this as serving to their designers work out which profession path they need to take, and training their managers by way of this course of to allow them to assist their designers do the identical—which is not any straightforward activity. 

“Y” is that so laborious?  

As designers transfer up the profession ladder and have to resolve between the knowledgeable or supervisor path, their position within the band can grow to be just a little fuzzier—I do know it did for me, personally. Deciding to grow to be a supervisor is a frightening alternative for many, and, for a lot of, it could really feel like stepping away from a lead position and in the direction of changing into a backup participant, which is half true! We’ll get to that later. 

On the plus facet, this Y-shaped profession framework at Spotify creates progress alternatives for every type of designers:

Although we provide two avenues for progress, I received’t give attention to the knowledgeable journey on this publish. Instead, I need to talk about the tough alternative that’s to go away the knowledgeable path for administration. Among my senior particular person contributors and most of the designers I interview, I’ve began to see the identical sample once I ask them what path they need to go down: they’re unsure. 

And who can blame them? One facet results in operating groups and tasks, to managing folks and creating influence by way of others. The different continues alongside the knowledgeable journey to the mastery of the craft, management with out the necessity to handle, and—above all else—transport nice work. Any well-informed designer who’s hung out enthusiastic about this received’t take the choice flippantly, which may very well be a very good signal they’re prepared for managing others; they most definitely understand how massive of a change this shall be and the way vital it’s to enter the position with their eyes open.

Get them able to signal the deal 

Once leaders and designers have an concept of who’s up for pursuing administration, it is time to audition. To achieve this, keep in mind that:

• “What bought you right here received’t get you there”: Many leaders have gone by way of this evolution themselves, so that they know this previous adage is true. What made you profitable as a designer normally has little bearing in your success as a supervisor. 

• Great designer ≠ nice supervisor: Everybody has seen nice designers grow to be dangerous managers. A variety of us have had horrible managers, and we all know what it appears like when it’s important to determine all of it out on our personal. I’ve discovered firsthand that it’s not essentially the designer’s fault, however truly, their supervisor’s. As leaders, it’s our duty to assist designers resolve if administration’s proper for them, after which put them on a route to success.

Here are three vital questions that would-be managers ought to contemplate when enthusiastic about their future. If you are teaching somebody, or struggling your self by way of the choice course of about which path to take, it may be useful to make use of these as a place to begin. 

1. Are you keen to surrender management of the day-to-day particulars of the work?

This is like asking somebody to put aside every part they’ve been educated to do for many of their profession. It’s not possible to have management over all the small print when you’re managing a staff, and this could create some concern for designers as they transfer away from laser give attention to craft they usually’re now not chargeable for the day-to-day design output.

But remind your designers {that a} supervisor’s life is filled with issues to be solved with design: you simply design various things. Managers are designing and redesigning processes, designing a staff, and designing how people can work successfully collectively to create the absolute best output—these are all nice methods to make use of your instruments and creativity to unravel issues.

2. Are you OK not receiving credit score for good work and taking the warmth when issues go improper?

As a supervisor, you’re now not immediately chargeable for many of the product design work, however you’re accountable for it. This means you’ll most likely begin receiving much less direct suggestions on the nice work you’re doing and this may be tough while you’ve spent your profession as a person contributor getting your worth at work from direct influence on the product.

However, I’ll wager you will discover that the reward your designers will obtain is greater than sufficient to maintain you energized and filled with pleasure at work. It’s undoubtedly the case for myself, and I’m certain each supervisor can recall many moments the place they’ve felt this glow of staff accomplishment. 

3. Do you could have a management type that’s targeted extra on folks moderately than duties?

Lastly, managers should ship higher outcomes by enabling folks, moderately than by specializing in duties and doing all of it themselves.

Your purpose as a supervisor is to optimize the folks round you by empowering them to do their finest work. Managers-to-be ought to give attention to that final result, and discover ways to delegate, as an alternative of making an attempt to unravel each single drawback on their very own. 

These questions are simply the beginning of the method for any designer making the psychological shift to supervisor. And that psychological shift is actually laborious. Yet once more, it’s type of like being in a band. It’s not straightforward to go from the entrance to the again of the stage, however your position behind the scenes issues. And it issues quite a bit. 

From storage gigs to stadium excursions

When everybody’s lastly singing the identical tune, the band is able to go from the small letters on the backside of the poster to headlining the present. Now it is time to consider different points of your band. Here are three classes I’ve personally discovered:

1. Building the tradition of your band 

As you information your staff to success, a vital a part of the journey shall be constructing your staff’s tradition. Every supervisor is aware of how vital that is, and but additionally they understand how straightforward it’s to have character clashes tear aside a fantastic staff. The excellent news? Some steps might be taken to guard a staff’s tradition and forestall the band from breaking apart:

Hire the best folks

For a supervisor, getting the best folks for a staff takes priority over every part else they do. That’s crucial a part of the job, and irrespective of how efficient their recruitment companions are, plenty of this work nonetheless falls on their shoulders. Some of us are fortunate sufficient to have nice expertise acquisition companions. But irrespective of your state of affairs, right here’s the recommendation I observe: “When in doubt, don’t hire, keep looking.”

This recommendation from the e-book Good to Great, by Jim Collins, appears fairly fundamental but it’s vital to recollect. When you’re understaffed and the staff is unfold skinny, it may be tremendous tempting to rent somebody who appears “good enough.” But a foul rent is unquestionably not well worth the fallout. Managers should consciously design their groups as a result of they’re not simply hiring a person, they’re hiring somebody who may dramatically shift the tradition of the whole group.

Additionally, managers want to rent various thinkers if they need their staff to make good choices collectively, and this takes time and planning. A staff received’t be balanced if the members are a bunch of lead singers—the correct mix of expertise, abilities, and views is what makes a staff sing in concord. 

Welcome to the band

Once you’ve poured your coronary heart and soul into discovering the absolute best folks in your staff, it’s important to onboard them correctly. Research (Jobvite) exhibits that 29% of turnover occurs through the first 90 days of employment. With a structured onboarding program, you may improve retention by as much as 82% (Glassdoor).

In addition to work-focused onboarding, we will’t neglect the people-focused a part of the method. We arrange new starters with a collection of conferences with their cross-functional companions, invite them to lunches with their direct teammates, and pair them with a buddy who helps with their day-to-day questions.

Another step in welcoming band members is distributing swag! Joining a bunch is one thing to be celebrated, and staff swag helps everybody really feel like they’re a part of one thing greater than themselves. It instantly indicators that they belong.

An enormous a part of the tradition that our managers hope to foster is a way of neighborhood. I’d by no means have anticipated what an enormous deal a seating association may very well be, however we do spend plenty of time speaking about this right here at Spotify, particularly how desk logistics influence our well-known squad mannequin. I made some adjustments and actually stirred issues up with my staff. This is how our seating association used to look: 

When I began at Spotify, the designers in my staff sat individually in squads with a ratio of about seven engineers to each one designer. However, sitting this fashion makes it tough for the designers to bond, and the influence was mirrored within the creativity and high quality of their designs and their happiness ranges at work. I noticed this setup wasn’t working and determined to maneuver them into teams subsequent to their groups, like this:

By transferring to small design hubs subsequent to their squads—in the course of their product areas—and inspiring the closeness of the group, I instantly noticed extra creativity and collaboration coming from the staff. And most significantly, the work bought quite a bit higher. 

Give them a stake early

Once these fantastic new folks have been employed for the staff, they usually’re onboarded and fortunately sitting with their design friends, the subsequent step is to get them doing what they got here to do—some wonderful design work! I like to recommend giving them a stake on a excessive influence piece of labor straight away. Figure out what excites them creatively and align their abilities along with your staff’s wants. They’ll instantly really feel invested within the firm and might see the direct influence of their private contributions. 

2. Fine-tuning your staff

I need to undergo how I’ve helped to fine-tune our staff at Spotify and the way they’ve gone from merely functioning to attaining synergy as a bunch. If I may title three massive wins, I’d choose our product design briefs, the best way we plan out our work, and the way we open up our design course of to the remainder of the corporate.

Product design temporary

A key ingredient in staff success is making certain they’ve all of the context they want. I launched this collaborative temporary that designers develop alongside their product counterparts, so that they all the time have the “why” outlined earlier than they begin ideating. This helps us align on what drawback we’re making an attempt to unravel and why that is vital to the enterprise on the outset of the speculation improvement stage. 

Planning and monitoring work

We have so many superior tasks occurring on the similar time, and it may be fairly tough to maintain observe of all of it. Using a Trello board helps us hold observe of all of the work we now have in flight and ensures the staff is pointed on the highest precedence issues.

Open up the design course of

We need to carry extra folks into our course of and ensure we’re not designing in a bubble. That’s why it’s so essential for the staff to showcase the work they’re doing and welcome enter from across the firm. We paste the work up on the partitions, invite non-designers to crit, and share design decks on inner channels with the intention to acquire suggestions from exterior stakeholders.

3. Preventing burnout

Everybody is aware of tales about bands taking a while off after being on the street for too lengthy. Sometimes they understand they should cease touring with the intention to handle themselves, and design leaders typically observe swimsuit: generally, we have to take drastic steps to guard our staff’s well being, and our personal well being. None of the steps I’ve talked about earlier matter in the event you’re not caring for your self and ensuring you are in the best mindset to steer. Here are a number of suggestions: 

Build your personal inner board of administrators

When you are a supervisor, it may be lonely on the prime. You’re typically in command of most people sitting round you, so whom do you flip to for recommendation? Build a trusted group of friends, a community of people who can help you on this journey. Rely in your fellow design managers, but additionally on managers from different disciplines. For instance, the engineering org has typically solved plenty of the issues that the design staff is making an attempt to unravel, and at a very massive scale.

Be weak

Contrary to well-liked perception and the fixed strain we placed on ourselves, we don’t truly have to have every part all discovered. Bring your staff into the decision-making course of. Your staff members will profit from being included and really feel extra motivated, engaged, and empowered. This may even encourage them to stick with your staff longer.

Show you worth their enter and continually search methods to enhance

Design leaders ought to open up, present they make errors, and invite enter. Simple phrases like these will encourage staff members to be open and to share sincere suggestions:

• “This is just my two cents.”

• “Of course, I could be wrong here.” 

• “What am I missing?”

• “What do you think?”

If we as managers need to encourage a progress mindset in our groups, we have to exhibit a need for progress in ourselves. We ought to all the time be looking out for methods to enhance, and our groups are a fantastic useful resource to assist us see our blindspots. 

Take care of your self

We even have to acknowledge that self-care—no matter that appears like for you—is vital, so it’s important to schedule it into your calendar as if it had been a physician’s appointment. Otherwise, you simply received’t do it.

Get help from Design Ops

Finally, acknowledge the worth of design ops in serving to to help and execute the imaginative and prescient you could have for the staff. All the issues I’ve talked about on this article can occur about ten instances sooner you probably have a Design Ops perform to assist construct staff tradition, create visibility for the work your staff is doing, onboard new hires, strengthen staff rituals, and extra. 

We’re so fortunate to have Cliona O’Sullivan, among the best design ops professionals within the business, heading up our design neighborhood at Spotify. Cli is the very best, and she or he’s proven me firsthand how impactful this position might be. If you need to know extra about her journey at Spotify, you may learn the article she wrote for our Design weblog: Dialling Up the Joy, Turning Down the Pain: Design Ops at Spotify.

What does your band have to get to the highest of the charts?

The solely approach a band can succeed is that if everybody is aware of precisely what position they’re enjoying. And being comfortable with the truth that generally a vital position finally ends up hidden from the cheering crowd. 

Next time you see a band enjoying their songs on stage, do not forget that what you get to see is definitely only a tiny a part of the entire manufacturing. From sound and lighting technicians, to costume and stage designers, to roadies and producers, to the individuals who take away all of the brown M&M’s from the sweet bowls within the dressing rooms, all roles are equally vital to the ultimate end result. 

At the tip of the day, being a supervisor can be discovering your self away from the highlight. But in the event you or certainly one of your staff members are there, take pleasure in that! As difficult as it could sound, being chargeable for nice achievements—even when invisible—does make you are feeling like a rock star anyway. 

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Thank you to my band of designers at Spotify for displaying me every single day how rewarding it’s to be a design lead!