Building collaborative product development teams
7 tactics for building high-performing working relationships
by Jon Robinson
At Slalom, we place a high value on our ability to team. Sometimes that means working with trusted collaborators for short-term, quick wins to develop strategies for our partners. Other times it means forming new relationships to set our clients up for long-term success.
Either way, my time at Slalom has taught me that I personally value two things: Good work worth doing and the people I do it with.
Collaboration is the key to bringing these two things together. It’s what fosters our ability to perform as a team, contributing to valuable solutions that support our clients’ success. And in consulting, we not only have to build collaborative relationships with our coworkers. We also strive to build high-trust working relationships with our clients, seeing we are often working side-by-side on common objectives.
As a member of our Experience Strategy and Design practice, I often find myself working on product development teams designing technology-based, human-centered solutions for our clients. When faced with a problem, I want to truly understand it. I want to ask a lot of probing questions so that I fully comprehend what problem I’m solving, and collaborating with my teammates is often how I validate ideas and get past assumptions. The ability to do this is supported by an understanding of what each teammate brings to the table, what they value, and how we can best work together.
When all members of a team are aligned, good collaboration allows us to utilize the experience, skills, and knowledge of everyone involved. But building trusting, collaborative relationships doesn’t take magic, or even luck. To do it well you have to:
1. Be honest
Forming as a team; coming together to build new relationships and align on goals is often a difficult task. The process forces us to be open and honest about who we are and what we need, to actively work on building trust, and to consciously create a common ground so collaboration can begin.
During team formation, it’s important that we start to solicit ideas and opinions. When kicking off a new working relationship I not only want to understand each person’s strengths, so I know how and when to leverage them, but I also want to make sure everyone’s voice is being heard during this process. Facilitating multiple points of view early, and providing honest feedback about your needs and goals, will aid in the long-term engagement of each team member and cultivate a collaborative environment.
When it comes to building client relationships: Honesty is a key to facilitating trust, and one of the quickest ways to form a relationship with someone.
Even though people are often fearful of it, everyone appreciates honesty. If you disagree with a teammate or a client on something, let them know, in a respectful way of course. Get someone to understand your point of view and value your opinion, and they’re going to keep asking for it.
2. Be reasonable
When coming together with collaborators it’s also important to start assessing what each person values, so you know where and when to keep people informed. Who needs or wants to know about decisions and changes? Who does it affect most? Who doesn’t care?
This is why I love team working agreements. They help set expectations right off the bat. We all have boundaries and other things we’re trying to balance, and working agreements help alleviate any misunderstandings. Team agreements help develop a sense of shared responsibility, increase awareness, and enhance the quality of collaboration by establishing a team culture that empowers everyone to be fully invested in the process.
Also, don’t make promises to anyone that you can’t keep. As a designer moving from the creative agency world that was so focused on the individual, to agile product development and a focus on teams, I often find myself weighing decisions based on their value to the team, as well as the business need. The slickest design solution will fail if it’s not technically feasible for the team to execute.
3. Encourage and inspire others
When working with a group of like-minded people who all understand the difference between user value and business value, who strive to create a solution that supports business needs while providing the most value to the end user, all while keeping the approach human-centered with the goal of crafting a seamless user experience: Those are the people I want to work with. The hero teammates that inspire us to be better at the work we do.
Honestly, I think this is why I prefer joining teams that are already chipping away at in-progress work. For me, being put into a situation where I can come in and say “tell me what you need” and start to alleviate pains and provide value immediately is when I really feel good about the work I’m doing. If I can make your job easier, or come up with a solution for something you’ve been stuck on, that’s my first priority. This is that sweet, instant gratification you miss out on when everyone initiates a new project together.
To me, an ideal teammate is someone that cares; someone that truly wants to understand the value of the thing they are doing and encourages others to see that value as well.
When describing ideal collaborators I still use the term “T-shaped:” Someone that has many capabilities but is an expert in, at least, one. Today we more often hear terms like Versatilist, Wedge-shaped, Polymath, or even IT Athlete when describing the type of expert that can adapt to varying demand. But I hold to my use of T-shaped for good reason.
When you consider the legs of the T as deep expertise, and the arms of the T representing broad interests, those who are able to teach from their legs broaden the reach of others’ arms. And when you’re able to learn from others with the same deep expertise as yourself, it makes your legs stronger. To me, that’s the true embodiment of collaboration: Learning better, together.
4. Create a safe space
Everyone has different, legitimate needs that need to be recognized. Some of your teammates will have great ideas, but may not be great communicators, for example. Some people only want to share their honest opinion in a safe space. Others have no problem being pulled into a meeting when their perspective is needed, and don’t mind being put on the spot. It’s every team members’ responsibility to create that space and respect those differences.
I think this is one of the hidden values of agile ceremonies. Activities like pointing development stories as a group give everyone an honest forum to share their concerns, and the process of dividing up work during a sprint planning session gives each individual the opportunity to advocate for the work they want to do—what they’re comfortable tackling—at their own pace.
Giving each team member ownership over their day-to-day provides them with comfort in their role and the feeling of a job worth doing. But, of course, when someone needs help, help them out.
5. Hold others accountable (and hope they do the same with you)
Once you understand everyone’s personal goals—and know how to leverage strengths and compensate for weaknesses—it’s time to find opportunities to advocate for them. In collaborative environments, it’s ok to push people outside their comfort zones when the opportunity is right. Especially if you know that thing is a growing edge for them.
If you’ve built a trusting, collaborative relationship with your teammates, they are more likely to understand that you’re trying to help them feel empowered.
A typical, collaborative exercise that I like to conduct with teammates when faced with designing a solution for a feature, or whatever, is to bring documentation to the table. Here’s the problem we’re trying to solve and here are three ways we can solve it: Let’s discuss. This gets everyone invested in the solution, and leads to faster results. Plus, it holds everyone accountable to the execution of that solution and fosters trust with the client when they see that the whole team is on the same page.
As a designer, I don’t believe in committing a team of developers to build a thing they’ve had no input in. I want their voice to inform the solution, and I want them to have final sign-off before that solution ever goes in front of the decision maker.
In product development, the user may be the final validation point on that feature, but that doesn’t mean anything if it throws a huge wrench in what we’re building. Because we’re building it as a team. We’re often trying to answer three questions to determine if something is viable: Does this support the business? Do the users want it? Can we build it? The first two don’t mean anything if the answer to the last one is “no.”
6. Receive feedback well and know how to give it
I feel lucky to work for an organization that highly values feedback and coaches us on how to both give and take it; positive and negative. Throughout the lifespan of a project it’s important that we stay consistently aligned to our goals. If collaboration starts to break down within your team, you have to take the time to step back and level set on those goals. And since it’s already assumed that we’re operating with honesty: You’ve got to be honest when things aren’t going well and focus on how to fix the problem.
Fear exists on both sides, and you have to face that fear head on.
In consulting, we have our share of relationships that break down with clients as well. We could be talking about short-term scenarios or initiatives that last for years. When relationships become strained, it never hurts to remind your client that, “Hey, we’re here to make you successful. We’ve got your back. It’s our job to make you look good.”
Either way, It’s good to remind people that we’re all here to support one another.
7. Give credit. And do it publicly.
This one is simple: You gotta show people appreciation and not expect it in return. And on the other hand, if you are wrong: Own up to it.
You see, the real point to all of this is that collaboration is way more than just you doing your job. It’s doing your job in the context of a team. It’s supporting one another so that you can better support your client and your users. It’s building trust with one another so that they trust you.
When working against a problem, many voices get results. But those voices have to be aligned and in sync. When you take the time to build solid collaboration efforts with everyone involved, those problems don’t seem so big when everyone is facing them together.
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