How to build a design team & structure their workload
In this article, I will talk about the rhythm of team workload. What is the relation between different members of the team? What is the similarity between building the two things?
Building a team
I was in that lucky situation to build my team from the ground up. In my belief rhythm and balance are essential things when you are designing anything. So just like using lego bricks, I tried to fit together different pieces. Primary, I always try to find two major components and habit types and put them into balance.
The “A” type of people has the spirit, speed, drive, energy they first do than think. They can easily see the bigger picture. They are louder and love to communicate and can easily connect to other members.
The “B” type of people have more stability, can build a more natural system, and have consistent thinking. They have the ability to deep dive in any small detail. They always think before they act, more introvert kind of people.
In every person, these kinds of habits are in a mixed form, but if we have to categorize them, it could be a great help for us.
As a first takeaway, if you can combine and balance these two kinds of habits, you can build an excellent team balance.
I am currently working with two different divisions in my team. In every division, we have already built this balance. If we zoom out a bit and see the whole design team together, we see the same balance. So we already applied this principle to both parts of the team and also to the entire team.
Working rhythm
As you see, you can design a team by using identified components. We can use a similar approach when we are designing the work rhythm. First, you have to define the major components and then the pattern or rhythm between them. You want to avoid the possibility of burn out for the team members. On the other hand, you would like to increase everyone's motivation. This goal requires two things:
- See everybody’s strengths
- Control the workload and different type of tasks
Everyone has different strengths
What do I mean? Define what kind of task you can ask from who. What are the strengths of each team member? So how can you answer this? IIn the first phase, for each team member you switch between different task types and continuously pay attention to what is complete early and what requires more effort from the member. This helps you build up a list of strengths. These strengths help you optimize the members’ workload. Based on these observations, you can quickly build up a skill matrix if needed.
Workload and different type of tasks
Managing needs designing. Designing requires a precise definition of components. As we already have the strengths, this can help us to define the big building blocks in the workload.
Big building blocks
The big building blocks should be the most critical and complex thing that needs a lot of energy and creative thinking. These kinds of tasks should be the major ones. In an optimal world, there are one or two primary tasks in a sprint. These kinds of bigger blocks can define the focus and also help to build up the smaller components. (Start of a new feature or design a new campaign)
Small building blocks
During creating smaller things, the creative roots have the time to reload. The brain is taking a rest, and the hand is now working more. It is time to listen; it is time to collect new information and build a foundation for the next more significant project. (Research before a feature or update some existing assets)
So combining these two components and filling up spaces between big building blocks with smaller ones can have a positive benefit on our team member’s performance. Using this method, we have a chance to avoid burnout and also increase the quality of the work.
This article is not based on any special studies only my thoughts, personal experience, and opinion.
