Dear (none)Designer,
Welcome back to the thirty-sixth Design at Scale™ Newsletter – focusing on innovation and how design drives change in a large organisation or an agency.
Historically and sociologically, we have developed a profound respect for older adults, as well as those in positions of authority. In the same sense, the post hierarchy is governing the company or your organisation. Quite rightly, it has a profound impact on a well-organised company where a well-defined hierarchy drives the direction for the organisation.
It's often mistaken that middle management, especially in design teams and design units, does not have to manage up the expectations and understand the integration of design functions.
The societal pressure and the difference in the cultural background will play a role in the design team, especially if they are based in different parts of the world. While our North American colleagues and design leader are greatly empowered and have the competitive advantage of driving the business and the proposition, our EMEA nd APAC colleagues might not feel the same way. As their equivalents, they will be (most likely) pushed down with the middle management to deliver what was asked of them instead of influencing the product, let alone architecting a customer experience proposition. In the majority of EMEA cases, we are here to deliver, not to think.
Why is it that? Why has the design and design function lost power over its own deliverables? Why, quite frequently, do we hear design leaders negatively reflecting on their position or role within the organisation?
Several articles from the Harvard Business Review, The Economist, Stanford University, MIT, and other prominent institutions debate the structural hierarchy and which successful businesses operate and deliver customer-centric propositions. We often hear that the product should lead the proposition, but quite rarely can we see how the design and development, which inevitably are the leading force in delivering the proposition, are not empowered in these organisations.
It all comes down to a profound understanding of how these makers and some "leaders without titles" have to recognise the absolute necessity of managing up.
Why should you manage up, and what benefits does it bring to you and your team?
In order to profoundly influence any digital delivery, you, as a middle manager, design leader, design director, brand director, solution architect, or technical lead, need to manage your colleagues who spend more time on the meeting and less on delivering the proposition. The "principal roles" defined the actual core architecture of the online store financial app for the airline's booking system are far below the senior leadership. Therefore, these professionals need to understand how managing up can positively influence their desired outcome, but more importantly, stabilise any situation within the organisation.
What does it look like?
First and foremost, you have to find out what your boss and all your parties need or want. What is must, what is should and what is could. This way, you create your priority list (map) and fulfil the primary objectives for your deliverable.
The second thing is that every single leader will have a different communication style, which you need to discover and respect. Some would prefer daily updates, some a weekly report, and others might be involved in some of your decision-making.
Achieving this gives you an expected landscape, "the map of Pyrenees," which is a business term about navigating unknown territory.
For more information, please visit Designa at Scale™ – GRID Magazine, where you can find additional relevant articles that explore high-performing teams, self-organising teams of 001, teams of 010, and teams of 100 that deliver the value proposition within a product-led environment.
