Management Approach

A light touch that drives quality and results

Over the years, I’ve developed a low-touch management approach centered on fostering an environment of trust. I strive to create spaces where designers feel empowered to focus on iteration and experimentation, leverage both quantitative and qualitative data to inform their design decisions, and grow fearlessly while pursuing their passions.

As a result, I have consistently led high-performing teams with exceptional employee satisfaction and remarkably low attrition rates.

I have built and managed full-stack Product Design and User Experience organizations ranging in size from 5 to 38 designers. My experience includes managing multiple layers of design leadership and building globally distributed teams encompassing Product Design, User Research, Content Design, Design Operations, and Design Systems.

Management Tools

I have experimented with many different ways to provide oversight without being overbearing and landed on the following ceremonies based on multiple failures and feedback from my design teams.

Weekly Design Stand-ups

A critical ceremony for my teams is the weekly Design Standup. We spend 15 mins each Monday morning sharing what will be tackled during the week, if there are any impacts to other designers, and if there are any blockers.

Studio Time

On a weekly basis, the team meets for 90 minutes to share current design work, provide and receive feedback, and practice their presentation and storytelling skills.

Bi-monthly Coaching

As an extension of both stand-ups and studio, I have bi-monthly scheduled coaching sessions with my team. During these 1 on 1 sessions we delve into challenges and goals, focusing on career growth and mentorship.

Agile Design Integration

I coach my designers and their squads on different Agile + UX integration methods. We assess the team norms to determine the best way to integrate design into each team's Agile process.

Office Hours

I keep Office Hours on a regular basis to foster off cycle and one off conversations with my designers. It is critical to have this organic forum to uncover issues and provide ad hoc mentoring.

Job Definitions & Growth Plans

To foster career growth and performance expectations, I establish detailed Job Families defining role expectations. I then work with each member of my team to create a growth roadmap that leverages their strengths and targets areas of improvement.

Proactive Comms

A key attribute of my design teams is “radical transparency”. This is a key set of processes with the sole purpose of ensuring that all partner teams are fully aware of the team’s task, timelines, and outcomes.

Servant Leadership

Partnership is a process, and I focus on cultivating deep connections with my peers and key partners within the organization through regular 1:1 conversations enabling me to proactively realign, and support shifting priorities, troubleshoot processes and issues, and uncover opportunities for my team.