Swarming: 10x your team's creative process with this technique
Creatives are constantly on the lookout for new and innovative ways to bring their ideas to life. To 10x the process and make the most of our time and effort. And our traditional ways of doing that are effective.
But they are limiting.
Let’s think of a fictional startup working on a new app called «Tapjoy». Their team consists of cool people. They are using traditional and innovative development processes they‘ve learned in the past. Agile, Scrum, Kanban, they know it all.
As usual, they handed off responsibility from one department to the next: Their product manager defined the potential features of the app and created a specification. The designers did their best to express these written points visually. Some features didn’t make the cut, because they didn’t fit with the design. But the handoff to the development department went smoothly — the developers nodded without expression or questions during the meeting, indicating that everything was clear to them, right?
As the project progressed, the team at Tapjoy encountered roadblocks. And struggled to meet their deadlines. They noticed that, like kids playing the telephone game, their work suffered with each handover and got worse over time. Even a meticulous quality assurance process couldn’t save their app in the end. But the clock was ticking and they were running out of cash.
That’s when they decided to try swarming.
In the end, Tapjoy was able to launch its app before its deadline – with impressive results. Pipe dreams? In this article, I’ll tell you how they did it and why swarming may be the key to successful product development for your team.
What is swarming?
At its core, swarming is creative chaos. You group together a team of creatives in a swarm, to work on a problem in parallel. This creative process can help teams to generate solutions more quickly and efficiently. The goal is to deliver high-quality results by directing all available power until the task is done. Instead of stacking department activities one after the other, the designers, product managers, developers or content strategists in your project grind at the same time. For a set amount of time. Instead of working on one potential solution, your project gains many different views and concepts to work from.
Ever heard of bringing developers on board early into the process?
With swarming, this is the default.
The Tapjoy team could have used swarming when creating the user profile for their app. The product manager may have focused on defining the goals and requirements for the user profile, while the design team worked on initial wireframes or the logo design and the development team started coding their first backend query.
By swarming in different directions, the Tapjoy team was able to create three iterations in a fraction of the time it would have taken the product manager to craft a complete product specification. After the first round of swarming, the PM can take inspiration from the first cut of the database structure created by the developers.
To achieve success with swarming, all team members must be dedicated to the task at hand. In the end, this is not a technique for individual work — it requires the collective effort of the entire team. But before deciding to use swarming for a project, you must carefully consider the goals, deadlines, and available resources of your project. If swarming seems appropriate, your team can come together to quickly and efficiently complete a task, generating innovative solutions and delivering high-quality results.
Swarming is useful for fast-moving projects with a lot of unknowns and areas for innovation, because it allows teams to quickly finish tasks, gather everyone's feedback and move on to the next iteration.
Benefits of swarming
The Tapjoy team experienced the benefits of swarming firsthand when they used the technique to overcome the roadblocks they were facing.
Teams that have used swarming, noticed several benefits from it:
Gained time: By involving multiple team members in the completion of a task, swarming can reduce the potential for reworks and edits down the line. This can help teams to complete tasks quickly and efficiently, allowing them to stay on track and meet deadlines.
Deeper collaboration: By bringing together workers from different backgrounds and departments to work on a goal, swarming allows to gain insight into each other’s working styles and improve cross-functional collaboration. This can foster a more collaborative and creative work environment, leading to the generation of fresh ideas and solutions.
Increased quality: Having creatives from different disciplines dealing with a task means more angles on a solution. And a higher quality of work, than if one person was proofing the final result. This can help teams to deliver high-quality products that meet their goals and exceed customer expectations.
How to get started with swarming
If you’re interested in swarming for your next project, there are a few key tips to keep in mind.
1 / Choose the right people: To ensure the success of your swarm, it’s crucial to carefully choose the right team members. Look for individuals who possess the necessary skills and have the availability to devote themselves to the task at hand. Additionally, seek out team members who are committed to collaboration and value the contributions of their peers. By assembling a team of skilled, dedicated, and cooperative individuals, you can maximize the potential of your swarm.
2 / Pick a common goal: Once you’ve selected the right team members, it’s important to define the goals and objectives of the swarm, namely the function or feature you are working on. This will help to ensure that everyone is working towards the same result and prevent any confusion or misunderstandings. It’s essential to set a timeline for the swarm and establish clear communication channels among team members.
3 / Establish good processes: If your team isn’t organized in agile sprints, weekly meetings will keep your team on track. But don’t forget the importance of daily check-ins. These brief meetings allow you to identify and tackle any roadblocks as they arise, redirecting resources as needed. Use these daily meetings to review work status and ensure that progress is being made across all components of your swarm. By staying on top of your team’s development, you can take swift action to realign team members and keep your swarm moving forward.
4 / Enable your team: Additionally, it’s crucial to provide the necessary resources and support for the swarm. This may include providing the team with the necessary tools and equipment to do collaborative work and ensuring that they have access to any relevant information or data. It’s important to provide guidance and support to team members throughout the swarm, helping them to stay on track and overcome any challenges they may face.
5 / Never stop learning: Finally, it’s essential to review the results of the swarm and learn from any successes or challenges. This can help you to improve your swarming processes and achieve even better results in the future. By implementing these tips, you can successfully implement swarming in your own team and realize the benefits of this collaborative and creative approach to product development.
TL;DR: In conclusion, swarming is an effective and powerful approach to product development. Unlike traditional linear processes, which can be limiting and slow, swarming allows teams to collaborate and work together simultaneously to generate creative solutions quickly and efficiently.
The Tapjoy team was able to overcome challenges and launch their app before its deadline — thanks to swarming. While this technique requires careful planning and the full dedication of the entire team, it can be a valuable tool for teams looking to take a more collaborative and innovative approach to product development. By implementing swarming, teams can unlock their full potential and achieve impressive results.
If you’re interested in learning more about our approach to swarming, please don’t hesitate to reach out on Twitter or LinkedIn. If you are one of those old school-mail-lovers (like me), you can hit my inbox here.
I’d love to hear your thoughts and ideas on this topic. If you have any additional insights or experiences to share, please leave a comment below.
