Growing a Distributed Product Design Team

I’m a Senior Design Manager in Platform, a company with about 600 of us principally engaged on issues that aren’t seen to Spotify listeners. We’re the individuals who construct inner instruments for studying and velocity and to assist the basic capabilities of Spotify. 

Our staff of product designers is embedded in several teams inside Platform, designing for Data and Insights, Experimentation, Machine Learning, Tools for Web and Mobile Infrastructure, Security, and Spotify’s homegrown developer portal, Backstage.io.

The pandemic offered us with a complete new problem in rising this staff: How can we obtain our unique objective of making a extremely collaborative and environment friendly product design staff whereas everyone seems to be distant?

Growing a distributed staff

A distributed staff is one which works collectively however from completely different areas and (generally) embedded in different groups. Setting up a distributed staff with loads of new hires, we knew we would have liked to have strong processes for progress so folks might work collectively effectively from the get-go.

We targeted our efforts on making a hiring and onboarding course of that allowed us to get to know candidates shortly, set a strong basis for collaboration, and cultivated a tradition of empathy and self-care amongst staff members. 

Virtual hiring

Leveraging expertise acquisition

Because distributed groups work throughout time zones, and on quite a lot of parallel initiatives, they do greatest when members are self-motivated, extremely organised, and actually nice at speaking. These qualities (together with all the same old: a ardour for design, robust previous expertise, and private success metrics) fashioned the framework for the forms of designers we have been in search of.

In order to discover a robust lineup of candidates becoming this profile, we shortly realized how necessary it was to have relationship with expertise acquisition and to determine trustworthy and clear communication with them early on. 

We fashioned a robust partnership with our Design Talent Acquisition Manager, Brooke Sommerhalter, who guided us by means of the digital hiring course of:

“In a standard hiring course of, the connection between TA and Hiring Managers is extraordinarily necessary, however when hiring a distributed staff, that relationship is paramount. This new approach of constructing a staff gives so many new alternatives, but it surely additionally creates loads of ambiguity within the course of. We knew early on that what would work for our partnership was weekly conferences and pondering exterior the field for every candidate that got here by means of our pipeline. It’s by no means a one measurement matches all technique. Decisions aren’t all the time made as shortly as they as soon as have been however they’re very deliberate. It’s an thrilling time, the distributed work arrange permits for rather more flexibility for Spotifiers and in flip creates extra potentialities to diversify the groups,” stated Brooke.

As a supervisor, I discovered we have been most profitable after I was actively conserving everybody up to date about staff wants, challenges, and priorities for the roles we would have liked to rent for. This clear and constant communication allowed us to maneuver quick, right away.

Interview course of

The largest distinction between hiring at Spotify earlier than and all through the pandemic was that we have been unable to fulfill in individual.  

Previously, candidates in late-stage interviews could be invited to our workplace in Stockholm or New York City (regardless of the place on the earth they have been situated). This was an important alternative for everybody to fulfill and for candidates to get excited in regards to the function. Now, we have to guarantee candidates benefit from the hiring course of and get a really feel for the kind of staff they is perhaps becoming a member of, with out assembly us in individual. Here are a few of the strategies we adopted to do exactly that: 

Find out what makes candidates tick

In the introductory interviews with candidates, our expertise acquisition accomplice would share extra context across the job alternative, but in addition use this as an opportunity to seek out out who the candidate is; what’s their design journey, what are their hopes and goals. 

We additionally actually took care to get the circumstances of our digital interviews proper. We made positive to have interaction in honest dialog, to develop belief, and create a secure area so we might reduce the nerves or awkwardness of a digital interview and actually get to know the candidates.

What’s their type?

During digital portfolio critiques, candidates had the chance to stroll by means of a couple of of their initiatives, explaining the method from perception to the ultimate design. We made positive to take time to grasp how they wish to observe design and their journey in designing merchandise — moderately than simply speaking in regards to the last polished design screens. 

Take benefit of instruments

Cross-functional interviews utilizing digital boards (like Mural) and collaborative actions have been additionally essential in correctly evaluating our candidates, attending to know them, and permitting them to get to know us within the digital world.

I requested Daphne Lin — a Product Designer who joined the staff through the digital hiring course of — what her experiences have been:

“Interviewing virtually has its challenges. You can’t visit the office, you don’t know how people sit or work together, you can’t get a feeling for the environment. However, everyone also meets through the same video medium, in the comfort of their own space, in their own timezone.” 

“I found that through virtual hiring, what I’ve focused more on is the quality of the interactions I have with people and their ability to verbally and visually communicate. I got a fuller sense of how I would be treated, trusted, and communicated with on a daily basis, more than I normally would have paid attention to. Overall, I had a great experience because Spotify always kept me up-to-date on the process, there was always a lot of communication, and I enjoyed the interactions I had.” 

Remote onboarding 

Breaking the ice

Growing a staff will be overwhelming for each new hires and present staff members. I discovered utilizing ice-breakers to start out conversations helped relieve these jitters and set the tone for brand new starters. 

Senior Product Designer, JD Welch, is one other from Platform who joined our rising distributed staff and met their new colleagues remotely.

“Trying to get to know new people through video calls is deeply strange, but this team has been really great at making a welcoming environment. I really appreciate that most of our synchronous team rituals are more social than not: instead of focusing just on work, we’ll spend an hour talking about our favourite comfort foods or what colour describes you the best. It sounds kinda trivial on paper, but these things really help develop connections to the people behind the screen.”

An ice-breaker I discovered significantly efficient as an introduction was getting folks to explain “My perfect day at work”. During this exercise, new joiners shared a little bit introduction of themselves and the way they wish to work. 

In telling the tales of an ideal day at work (and in contrast what makes a not-so-great day) everybody developed an understanding of the preferences and work kinds of their new colleagues. This exercise additionally helps reveal most popular communication kinds and units the inspiration for the staff dynamic. 

Staying collaborative and environment friendly

At the start of distant working, our calendars have been on hearth making an attempt to take care of the extremely collaborative surroundings we have been used to. Designers have been spending a part of the week on calls and digital whiteboards. It grew to become clear that so as to optimize their schedules, they wanted to intentionally determine what and the way they’d spend their time every week. 

JD shared their strategy to managing their schedule:

“I am pretty ruthless with which synchronous meetings I accept and decline. If I accepted all the requests I get, I would be attending four different team retrospectives! Asking organisers ‘I want to participate in this discussion, is there a way to do that asynchronously?’ is helpful; if the meeting is based around reviewing an artefact like a planning document, I can usually get my thoughts in without needing to be present at the meeting. For meetings I run, I try to go in with explicit outcomes in mind and always am happy to end early if we’re done. I’ve been pleasantly surprised to get feedback that folks appreciate how efficiently I conduct meetings.”

One approach we optimised our time was to outline the sort of design conferences we’re attending as a staff, and the cadence we’d like (we’re nonetheless iterating on this). It was additionally useful to create devoted Slack channels for various matters, design updates to share with the broader viewers, and many others, this helped us to be linked and on the identical time determine what conversations we might have with the group asynchronously, by asking particular questions in particular channels, we lowered the necessity for some calls. 

Cultivating tradition when working distributed

There’s an analogy that likens good staff tradition to agriculture. Just like how vegetation want sure components (like good soil, seeds, solar, water, and weeding) to develop, groups want sure attributes; like mutual belief, shared values, and accountability to do their greatest work and to assist staff tradition develop.

As a pacesetter of a distributed staff, it’s our job to consistently inspire and get them excited in regards to the work they’re doing. Don’t hesitate to problem issues, be daring in implementing new practices, and to guide with ardour — that’s how good seeds of a staff tradition are planted, germinate, and convey highly effective outcomes to the world.

Taking your distributed staff into the long run

In distributed groups, belief is extremely necessary. Encourage everybody to be dedicated and accountable for one another and to consider the influence and the results of their teamwork.

I wish to advocate for a fearless tradition the place Product Designers share their work in progress and search suggestions; taking incremental steps and making small enhancements day by day. Let the staff really feel secure asking questions, pondering critically, creating, failing, iterating, taking dangers, and expressing disagreement — and to do all of that in a approach that’s nonetheless enjoyable. 

I’ve shared only a few of the issues that helped me develop a collaborative and environment friendly distributed staff. In the previous 12 months, there have been some huge challenges however wanting again, we’ve come to date and tailored to the digital world by taking it one step at a time. In the staff, we’re nonetheless studying and rising and, even now, nonetheless discovering new methods of working. We’ll hold experimenting, innovating and embracing the change.

A giant shout-out to my wonderful inner instruments staff Monospace.