Inspiring connections: A workshop for building a collaborative experience at John Lewis
Something that strongly resonates with my values and principles here in John Lewis is the strong commitment to collaborate and communicate efficiently with your colleagues.
I am part of the Checkout and Payments product teams. Over the past year, I had the opportunity to contribute to diverse cross-team projects, gaining valuable insights from everyday situations and challenges.
Navigating Complexity
One project that significantly influenced me was my role as a UI designer in the implementation of a new product for John Lewis. Our goal was to expand the payment options for customers by introducing interest-bearing credit. This required collaboration with multiple product teams within the organisation, as well as teams outside our Omni structure, such as Finance and Compliance. The intricate nature of the project led to complex deadlines, necessitating meticulous prioritisation efforts to ensure the success of this expansive initiative.
Reflections in motion
Looking back on my experiences, I observed an increase in the coordination required among teams for various projects compared to the previous year, each adopting different approaches. This led me to consider: what if everyone is learning on the go (as I was)? Do they require additional support? Could I contribute to shaping the culture in the Experience Design group at John Lewis?
In the teams I’m involved with, we regularly conduct retrospective sessions to address challenges, celebrate successes, and plan our next steps. Inspired by these established processes, I conceived the idea of organising a workshop. The objective was to facilitate an open exchange of experiences, enabling us to collaboratively establish guidelines and best practices for cross-team collaboration within our group. While preparing for it, my biggest concern was to ensure I was creating a safe space for everybody to speak freely and feel comfortable engaging in the activities.
A Jigsaw Ice-Breaker’s Tale
To relax the atmosphere, I organised a jigsaw puzzle ice-breaker. Six identical puzzles, each with a distinct colour, were prepared. Two pieces from each puzzle were intentionally mixed into other puzzle areas. I then encouraged my colleagues to form six teams and select a puzzle to unravel together.
Some teams exhibited efficient communication, politely requesting missing pieces, while others resorted to taking pieces from rival teams.
As one might expect, a variety of behaviours emerged during the activity. Some teams exhibited efficient communication, politely requesting missing pieces, while others resorted to taking pieces from rival teams. Some even opted for using mismatched colours if they appeared to fit into their puzzle. The diverse reactions served as a compelling analogy for the dynamics of working with various teams and individuals. This exercise not only provided valuable insights but also established a constructive mindset for the tasks that lay ahead.
Crafting Collaboration Principles
The workshop activities kicked off, leading participants to split into smaller teams once again. Their task was to document both positive and negative examples from past cross-team collaboration experiences, along with three key words encapsulating the essence of success or failure in each case. Positive key words included communication, empathy, agile, flexible, openness, while negative terms encompassed rigid, siloed, unclear vision, duplication, and single-mindedness.
Subsequently, teams were reshuffled, and building on the earlier key words, they collaborated to generate three cross-team collaboration principles. In both phases of the workshop, I encouraged teams to showcase their assignments, fostering a healthy conversation about cross-collaboration.
As the session wrapped up, the next step was the voting phase. Here are some of the propositions that received broad backing and consensus from the team:
- Communication — Open channels to ask questions, give feedback, and keep people in the loop/bring them on the journey.
- Be considerate — Don’t be unkind — be open and considerate of everyone’s opinions/skill set/personal circumstances. It costs nothing to be kind 🥰.
- Consistent and easily accessible updates: one source of truth to have an overview of what all teams are working on.
Team Empowerment
It was an exceptional session! I was genuinely inspired by my colleagues, witnessing their dedication to caring for and nurturing the team’s happiness. In the days following the session, I received insightful feedback that motivated me to craft a blog post and share the outcomes on a broader scale. I would be thrilled to see the potential of this team exercise in inspiring other partners within and out of our business.
I am a firm believer in the transformative power of collaboration. It not only sparks innovation and elevates productivity but also fosters the development of robust relationships among colleagues. I consider myself fortunate to be part of an organisation that consistently embodies best practices and prioritises well-being on a daily basis. As the demand for diverse skill sets and expertise grows, collaboration becomes an indispensable element in achieving success.
