A more effective teamwork is possible, for design teams too
I am not a perfect team player, and there are times that I feel more comfortable when I work on my own. I know that I am not alone feeling this way. When I type keywords “Why teams” in Google I am auto suggested by the sentences “Why teams don’t work?” “Why teams fail?” Knowing the internet is there to back you up with tons of articles is relieving, yet I believe we can and should enhance the teamwork because it is inevitable in today’s businesses. No one can deny the importance of discussing and building on each other’s ideas when you’re sailing towards the same goal. Outcomes of a productive and efficient team is very likely to be highly rewarding for all team members.
To make it clear, I am not writing this to discuss if design teams work or not, I believe it is another topic of discussion that will not arrive at a complete conclusion anytime soon. Instead, I am looking for ways to foster a more effective teamwork within the design industry because I want to improve my everyday life and I want to enjoy more when working with others.
Core of good design is to understand what users think, feel and need in the key moments of their lives. Nevertheless, we are not always good at applying those principles when we turn our focus to ourselves and our work environments. Effective communication and understanding team members are essential for an effective teamwork. Outcomes of a good teamwork is very much related with understanding what team members think, feel and need in their context.
Here I’d like to introduce you Teamwork Efficiency Canvas. It is a tool to be used on a regular basis throughout the process. It does not only list down the tasks and the milestones but also focuses on the concerns, feelings and other needs of team members because well-being of individuals is as important as the tasks that need to be done.
Who, when, where?
Well, in order to make it a success, an adequate amount of time, effort, and dedication is needed by ALL team members. Yes, ‘all’ in capital letters because it is not only project manager’s task to update the canvas, everyone in the team has to participate. When team members meet in their daily/weekly standups they should take 5–10 min to update the canvas by having an open conversation.
Here comes some suggestions:
- It would be a good idea to assign 1–2 people in the team who would act as TEC (Teamwork Efficiency Canvas) ambassadors. They should remind and motivate other team members to have regular standups and to update canvas until it becomes a habit. (it may take longer than you expect :))
- Having a big printed canvas that would always have a physical presence would help to include everyone in the process. Each update of the canvas can be photographed and archived digitally. It might be helpful to have the retrospective when new members join the team or when a case study about the project needs to be put together.
And the good news is that the canvas is flexible enough to adapt your team’s standup schedules whether you meet daily, weekly, bi-weekly, etc.
How?
The canvas consists of three main parts: Constants, Current, and Next Step. There is Project Team at the very heart of the canvas which spans all three parts. Pictures of team members (and maybe their roles too) are placed in this part depending on their level of involvement in different stages of the project.
CONSTANTS
These are the elements such as project name, description, timeline and core team members such as project manager, project owner or core designers who would always be involved in the project from start to finish.
CURRENT
How are we feeling?
In teams, people skills like empathy and collaboration is as important as technical skills. When we recognize emotions in others we would be more willing to think beyond our own concerns and perspectives. Here comes the cultural and personal nuances: While some people are very comfortable with expressing their thoughts, worries and emotions with others; some people tend to stay quiet and repress their thoughts and feelings. It is such an important factor for effective teamwork so this comes first in the canvas and we should be honest and open when we’re working on this part. Keep in mind that people should come before tasks in teamwork.
Tasks
Tasks that are currently being done or should be done are listed with the names of the people responsible from those. This part should not be confused with detailed task boards used in agile/scrum methodologies. Even though it is very helpful within development teams to manage backlog of the implementation process, keeping an extensive task board is not our main purpose when using TEC canvas.
3C’s — Concerns, Challenges, Constraints and Solutions
Any concerns or challenges that any team member has when realizing a task is stated on the canvas with a possible solution that could address that challenge.
Insights from past experiences
We all have invaluable experiences from our previous projects and clients and sometimes we tend to underestimate them or cannot see the underlying pattern. We share relevant insights that might help us to solve current challenges or to improve our process in this current state.
Things to keep in mind
Important decisions we have made along the way or some reminders for issues that we should pay attention take place in this part because spoken words fly away, written words remain. It can be anything to remember about team, project or client such as “Keep all your project files organized in server”, “It’s easier to reach client by phone than e-mail.”
Need help?
In small organizations where everybody knows each other it is easy to identify whom to ask for help when we need. However, when organizations grow it is very difficult to be aware of different skillsets and resources. Imagine having physical boards used as TEC canvases for each project in the office. It would enable others to come over, learn about our project and offer help in a more organic way if they think they would be a good match for the profile you are seeking for. Plus, use of these boards would also increase the visibility of projects running in the office at that time.
NEXT STEP
It’s up to the project team to define the timeline for their next step. It can be the day after or next week or 2 weeks later, etc.
How will the weather be like?
This is the same as in the current part but this time we state what we think we’re going to feel as a team.
Tasks
Tasks that are planned to be completed in the next steps are defined here.
3C’s — Concerns, Challenges, Constraints and Solutions
Any concerns or potential challenges regarding the tasks we’ve identified for the next step should be listed down — with suggesting possible solutions of course!
Suggestions
Here we write down suggestions that could improve our way of working, deliverable formats, time management, etc for our next step.
Things to keep in mind & Need Help
This two sections remain the same but this time they are filled out with notes regarding the next step.
So, that’s it! This is an initial thought of a tool that needs to be improved with feedbacks of people who are willing to give it a try. Personally, I’m looking forward to testing it out asap.
Shout out if you’d like to try, discuss further, or just to share feedback!
Here you can download Teamwork Efficiency Canvas empty template and start using it.
And here is the sample TEC canvas filled for an imaginary project to give a better idea.
P.S. I would like to say a big thank you to Maria Trujillo Olaiz and Lexi Lin for their contribution in developing this tool while they’re doing their internship at Designit.
