How Margaret Gould Stewart and Adaptive Path helped me build and manage teams remotely

In 2021, I joined SoftServe — a Ukrainian-American consulting company — to manage the U.S. design team. Over time, my focus expanded to the Americas region, spanning the U.S., Mexico, Colombia, and Chile. Based in the Bay Area, I worked entirely remotely and almost all of my interactions was happening over Teams chat or video calls. This offered a number of advantages post-pandemic, but the remote-first setup meant that I had to find creative ways to connect with my team and foster relationships effectively.

We experimented with various approaches to build ties within the group: lightning talks, hidden roles games (like Werewolf), coffee chats, book clubs, and PechaKucha presentations. And then I remembered a concept from Org Design for Design Orgs by Peter Merholz and Kristin Skinner — attribute cards.

Attribute cards

Above, the photos of Kristin and Peter from their book, “Org Design for Design Orgs.” The caption reads, “The cards in use — teammates choose 3–4 cards that describe the traits they most need from you, and photograph you holding up those cards.”

The book mentions an initial set of attribute cards made by Margaret Gould Stewart and refined by Adaptive Path, the consultancy that Merholz and Skinner worked for, who used them to set “expectations for individuals on teams” and “to guide a ‘what we want from you’ exercise to help set expectations about roles.”

I wondered, Could I adapt this activity to learn more about my remote team and improve our working dynamics?

Building our own deck

The book offered a few examples of attribute cards, and after some internet sleuthing, I discovered a PDF of 19 cards shared at a conference years ago (see link below). Using these as a starting point, I recreated the deck in Miro and introduced it to my team during a weekly meeting. Each of us selected 3-4 cards that resonated with us, shifting the exercise to focus on what we valued most in ourselves and in one another.

But it didn’t end there. We added three new attribute cards, including “curious.” After reflection, though, we decided that while curiosity was important, especially to designers and product people, it felt too universal across many kinds of people in software design — almost table stakes. So, we removed it.

Over time, the cards became a fixture in our team-building efforts — especially when onboarding new members. I also used them in a few project kickoffs and pre-mortems as a functional icebreaker and to clarify expectations among multi-functional team members. We added four more attributes, bringing the total to 26. I even printed a physical version of the deck and included it in our end-of-year gifts for the design team.

Practical benefits

The attribute cards provided a simple and quick way to bridge gaps across borders and time zones a bit like personal user manuals or team READMEs, helping us bridge gaps across borders and time zones. By clarifying goals, roles, and expectations, the cards fostered trust and understanding. What started as a small experiment evolved into a core part of how we worked together. The cards became a tool to:

• Align individual and team expectations
• Kickstart meaningful conversations during project pre-mortems and discovery sessions
• Build stronger connections within a dispersed, multicultural team

Here I (Skipper) am today with my own selection of attribute cards in hand

Wanna try for yourself?

If you’re curious about using attribute cards with your team, start here:

• Original set of 19 cards: Download the print ready PDF
• Expanded set (26 cards, including activity description): Download the print ready PDF, also with print ready sheets
• Miro board: Download the activity with the cards

Bridging gaps

With a bit of remixing, the attribute cards became a starting point for building understanding and connection within our remote group and with larger project teams. By adapting this exercise to our needs, we elevated our collaboration methods and built trust across borders and time zones.

This simple yet impactful activity highlighted the importance of adaptability and intentionality in leading remote-first teams.

Thanks for reading. What do you think? Have you used attribute cards in your team or group? Will you try them out? Let us know in the comments below.

Citations:

• Org Design for Design Orgs by Peter Merholz and Kristin Skinner (Buy from Bookshop • Amazon) — A practical guide to structuring and scaling design teams for success, learn more at orgdesignfordesignorgs.com
• Peter Merholz
• Kristin Skinner
• Margaret Gould Stewart
• My favorite werewolf deck from Stellar Factory