Management Design: 101

Four simple principles I’ve used to build strong teams, foster a healthy culture, and become a successful people-leader.

1. Foster Autonomy

Empower your team to make decisions, take risks, and explore possibility. Micro-management is off the table. Not to say one should be totally hands-off, but voice opinions to stimulate healthy debate.

2. Align Around Goals

Business and personal goals are equals. The business and the individual have to thrive for design teams to be successful. Unless there are goals laid out, being autonomous becomes chaos.

3. Lean Into Strengths

Play to designers strengths and scale the team to be complimentary, filling gaps and weakness to build an all around dynamic force.

4. Be Human

No one likes an asshole. Understand that every individual has different communication styles, come from diverse backgrounds, and have lived a variety of experiences. First, start with learning and understanding the the individual before imposing any methodologies. Foster mindfulness and self-care.