Summary
Culture is the glue that holds everything together. When our work lives are disrupted and norms shift, your culture can be at risk. Let’s discuss the role that Design Ops plays in designing and upholding company culture. We'll look at ways to turn your beliefs into behaviors that reinforce healthy creative culture, even in uncertain times.
Key Insights
-
•
Design ops is crucial for reducing pain and increasing purpose in teams.
-
•
Effective practices enable collaboration and adaptability in remote work settings.
-
•
Process is rigid and prescriptive, whereas practice allows flexibility and creative problem-solving.
-
•
Employing practices like establishing team curfews can alleviate work stress and improve performance.
-
•
Regular well-being check-ins can effectively gauge and support team morale and workloads.
-
•
Setting core collaboration hours can facilitate non-linear work days for better work-life balance.
-
•
Prioritizing communication, particularly asynchronous forms, is vital for team cohesion in remote environments.
-
•
Encouraging mental health days promotes recovery and sustainable productivity among teams.
-
•
Creating a culture of psychological safety supports open communication and vulnerability among team members.
-
•
Focusing on the individual and team agency can lead to a more humane and inclusive work culture.
Notable Quotes
"Process is a scary word; smart people do not like to be told what to do."
"Great practices help you do more with less, go deeper, and work smarter."
"If we get it right, we’ll expand the capacity of our craft and reduce work around work."
"Developing good practices is one way that will evolve to help us work smarter and better together."
"Culture is how you act on your beliefs, and a community is a group of people who share those beliefs."
"The second there’s a misunderstanding, async communication breaks down and can undermine trust."
"Weekly well-being check-ins via Slack give signals about how people are doing."
"Establishing team curfews allows people to log off and truly rest without work expectations lingering."
"Mental health days are encouraged from the top, allowing for reflection and self-care."
"If you prioritize relationships, you create space to communicate openly and foster belonging."
More Videos
"Design operations is never done; it's always evolving."
Kristin Skinner Kamdyn MooreGroup Activity: A Deep Dive Into Value and Outcomes
October 23, 2019
"It's easy to get sidetracked by tools and processes and lose sight of your work."
Jorge ArangoThe Best of Both Worlds: How to Integrate Paper and Digital Notes (1st of 3 seminars) (Videoconference)
April 5, 2024
"The synthesis process is about finding order in chaos."
Prabhas Pokharel Mayo NissenOrder and Chaos: New Ways of Collaborating on Synthesis and Storytelling
March 10, 2022
"Apple's iPhone 3GS changed the world by introducing a built-in screen reader."
Sam ProulxMobile Accessibility: Why Moving Accessibility Beyond the Desktop is Critical in a Mobile-first World
March 10, 2022
"We want our research to drive decisions, not just be a box checked off."
Roberta Dombrowski Sam Duong WoloszynskiMaking Research a Team Sport
March 11, 2022
"This view is not anywhere in the system. No one can see all of this."
Josina VinkNavigating the pitfalls of systems thinking in service design
December 4, 2024
"Most tech layoffs are a result of social contagion—companies mimic the actions of others."
Angelos ArnisNavigating the Rapid Shifts in Tech's Turbulent Terrain
October 2, 2023
"This market isn't very clearly defined yet for us, so we must focus on where we can build strategic relationships."
Ted NewardTheme 4: Enterprise Organizational Journey
June 4, 2019
"The goal is to prove value and engage team members in the change process."
Maria SkaadenPanel Discussion: Methodologies and Work Environments
November 8, 2018
