Summary
The IBM CIO portfolio is comprised of thousands of tools and services. Given the organization’s obsession with the IBMer experience and their desire to positively impact IBMer productivity, it is extremely important that they allocate their scarce Design & Research talent to the projects that have the greatest impact on IBMers' work experience. To this end, they have refined their staffing processes and developed a new metric, The Design Staffing Score, that allows them to measure the degree to which their staffing approach aligns with project priority. Patrick will describe their refined approach to staffing, how progress is measured, and the tangible benefits they’ve realized.
Key Insights
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The demand for UX design support can quickly outpace capacity, necessitating a clear prioritization method.
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Documenting criteria for project selection can enhance transparency and stakeholder communication.
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Building a prioritization formula based on user impact ensures focus on projects that maximize organizational effectiveness.
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Regular communication with leadership helps align staffing decisions with strategic priorities.
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Implement a tiered support model to provide varying levels of assistance based on project priority.
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Utilizing a design staffing score allows teams to measure alignment between staffing and project priorities effectively.
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Transitioning designers from lower to higher priority projects ensures resources are allocated where they can have the greatest impact.
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Continuous assessment and refinement of processes are crucial for adapting to shifting project scopes and priorities.
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Maintaining strong relationships between design advisors and project teams fosters better collaboration and project understanding.
Notable Quotes
"We need to work on the right problems to maximize our impact within the organization."
"This simple process worked well for us initially, but demand continued to increase, leading to challenges."
"We were really lucky to have leadership that understood the importance of employee experience."
"To maximize our mission, we focused on aligning staffing to strategic priorities while being transparent throughout."
"The higher the priority, the more fully we staffed the projects."
"Anything below zero on the score indicates misalignment in staffing to priorities."
"This new approach provided clear expectations for all stakeholders."
"Breaking down our gaps by skill and priority allowed us to see what we needed to hire."
"Our ultimate goal is to maximize our impact on the employee experience."
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