My First Time Managing A Team
How I’m trying to apply my knowledge and experience as an educator to managing a team.
Six months ago I was asked to step into the interim role of team lead for the UX Research team at Babbel- my first time leading a team. My career path has taken me from educator to user researcher. How would I translate those skills into efficiently leading a whole team? Could I manage to do this while also continuing to build my skills as a researcher? Would I fall into the trap of the Peter Principle?
I’m have to admit that I’m a bit terrified of the Peter Principle. The Peter Principle as that concept where one is recognized for being good their job, and then they keep being promoted to the next level, until they no longer have the competencies to succeed. Spoiler, it has been working out great. I was able to draw on my training and time as an educator to step into the role of a team manager. Here is why I think educators make great managers.
Translating goals into opportunities for growth
Educators are constantly grappling with determining the most effective methods, tools, and processes to help their students learn about the world around them. Sometimes this is driven by an external driver- i.e. all students must know how to read by the end of the year. Sometimes this is based on student interest- the student obsessed with samurais and eager to learn everything about them. Educators help students to gain the knowledge and skills to reach the goals. Managers should be able to do the same for the team. Whether the goals are cascaded from the top, or come from an individual team member, an effective manager can support their team in using these goals as opportunities for learning and growth.
How am I translating this to the User Research team? As a part of an initiative to increase company wide understanding of our users through personas, a team member was able to increase their competencies using a new statistical program as a part of the analysis. To increase company wide understanding of UX research methods a new team member is creating informational comics- increasing her own understanding of our research methods, while building on her skills for visual communication.
Assessing where your team members are, and where they need to go
Like educators, effective managers should be regularly assessing their teams strengths and weaknesses. This goes beyond conducting yearly performance reviews to see if they have met their goals/ KPI’s. This kind of assessment is ongoing, and should take into consideration the competencies each team member will need to gain to continue growing their career.
In my new role as manager informal assessment happen with team members on an ongoing basis, providing feedback of where they are succeeding and opportunities for growth. Monitoring projects and bi-weekly 1–1 meetings provide opportunities for assessment and feedback.
Understanding individual learning needs
Not everyone learns in the same way. While this is well recognized for students these days, somehow this understanding hasn’t translated to professional development. Not everyone learns effectively in webinars, regardless how many topics and videos the companies subscription might offer.
At the moment I’m working with 5 team members, and all of them are unique in the ways they learn and grow as researchers. Being able to recognize their needs and adapt to their professional development needs is key. While one team member may appreciate the flexibility and format of the webinar, another benefits from the immersive and social format of a two day training course.
Making use of Peer Learning
Progressive educators often utilize some form of peer-to-peer learning. Whether formally having one student share what they know with another, or less formally through organizing group projects. Good managers can support team growth, and exchange of knowledge and skills through similar methods.
We are doing this informally through collaborating on multifaceted projects that involve different members skill sets. I’ve also started experimenting with supporting peer to peer learning more formally. We kicked this off with one of Babbel’s talented scrum masters who led us in a Marketplace of Skills exercise to make visible team members current contributions, and areas they would like to grow. The exercise including listing out areas where we each feel we can contribute to the team, as well as areas we would like to grow. Then team members were able to suggest additional strengths, as well as areas where they could contribute- one team member offering to help with creating surveys, another offering expertise in eye tracking.
Continuing your own professional development
Educators seem to never stop learning. There are trainings and opportunities for educators to learn during summers, weekends, and more. Managers benefit from making sure to continue to work on their own professional growth, both as leaders and in whatever field they specialize.
For me as a manager this translates to participating in management related training sessions- lately it’s been from German labor law and managing conflict. It also means continuing to grow my skills sets as a researcher. I’ve recently signed up for a class on coding. I also make sure to be a part of all phases of the research process, learning new tools and techniques as I go.
