Freedom + Trust = Scaled Impact
Agency & Assurance aren’t optional
Experienced Designers and Researchers are worth the organization's investment. See the other posts in this series if you are looking for context.
Simply hiring Senior staff will not guarantee outcomes, as initial conditions for success determine how effective they will be. A workplace culture built on trust and the freedom for Senior Practitioners to do their thing is the best way to utilize their experience and expertise.
Trust without Freedom is as bad as Freedom without Trust. Trust without agency to act is micromanagement with mixed signals. Being empowered to make decisions without Trust results in management taking all the credit when things go well and none of the blame when they don't.
I promise I didn't mean to begin with anti-patterns, but here we are & away we go!
Freedom isn't without cost
Talk senior to me
Let me start with an obvious statement: Senior resources have much more leeway than Junior resources. As you nod while reading this, I want you to remember when someone treated you like a junior resource and what that felt like. If you roll your eyes or realize you have repressed some memories, that's okay.
(Repressing emotions isn't healthy, but I am not an expert in that field, so let's move on.)
Mansplaining. Platitudes. These aren't particularly helpful when it comes to managing Senior staff, some of whom may have more time delivering in their trade than their Managers. Junior and Senior Managers should spend some time getting to know Senior staff or at least read through their LinkedIn biographies.
Managers should remind themselves that they hired Senior Staff to focus on craft, accelerate a specific project, or series of experiences. The treatment of someone Senior like someone Junior shows immaturity or reflects control issues. Senior leadership should be able to spot scenarios like this and directly address them.
Senior Practitioners have earned their freedom to make decisions. They are Senior based on their ability to be decisive, think objectively, and weigh different options quickly and confidently. Doing so should result in trust. But more on that later.
Lowercase F failure
I might be tired of hearing the term 'Fail Fast.' By 'might,' I mean I am sick of hearing and saying it. It is, however, an effective shorthand and alternative to saying, 'Trust the Process.'
The connotation that failure is wrong, the opposite of success, isn't true. We learn by failing. It's just that only some failures will result in significant consequences. Not all errors carry the same weight, and not every 'win' is worth posting to the team Slack channel.
I'm not saying that we shouldn't care when we fail. That shit hurts if you let it. The flipside is....I have yet to meet someone who has never made a mistake, but I know people who believe they haven't. It's a topic for another time.
One final thought on the topic of failure. Without risk, there is no reward. Driving innovation requires taking a risk. If Senior Designers and Researchers don't feel safe if they make a mistake, they won't deliver to their full potential.
Managers should recognize when to observe a mistake and when to step in to correct an error. Managers should provide precise feedback to Senior staff when there are teachable moments. Senior Practitioners should recognize when they learned something the hard way, take accountability, and identify potential improvements. And there is always room for improvement.
Lowversight
Treat someone with seniority in a way that aligns with their experience. Check. Allow Senior staff the ability to learn by doing. Got it. Now, about the amount of attention Senior Practitioners need...
When I started managing people, it took me a while to understand how much I needed to be involved in their work. I am grateful to have worked in environments with a high bar for talent. It took me a while to figure out how much I needed to keep an eye on things, a function of many variables tied to the practitioner.
No two Designers or Researchers will solve a problem the same, and it's better that way. Managers should embrace concepts different from their preferred solution because a Senior resource has earned the right to address their work their way. That doesn't mean results don't need some level of quality control--over time, a Manager will learn the strengths and weaknesses of Senior Practitioners.
My advice to Managers is to trust Senior Designers and Researchers and to provide them with guidance early in the creative process. The worst scenario for both parties is catching something too late to make necessary adjustments. Disconnects occasionally happen, especially at scale, but repetition is a pattern needing adjustment.
Managers have many responsibilities beyond ensuring everyone takes their mandatory HR training. There is only so much time in a given day to address business goals and balance individual needs. It is not uncommon for Junior Managers to suffer burnout.
Managers should spend more time upskilling Junior staff, driving operational effectiveness, or managing leadership's expectations vs. checking in on Senior team members. Senior Practitioners should take the freedom to deliver seriously and drive outcomes with integrity and precision. This level of delivery helps to drive trust.
Certitudity
Flywheel of faith
Trust is earned and not freely given. This thing takes time. That said, organizations hire trustworthy people to get the job done. The more Senior an individual is, the more trust they command from leadership. Otherwise, why are they paid more than Junior team members?
The more trust Senior Practitioners have, the more control they feel in driving their outcomes. If someone feels in control and can make decisions, they are confident in their abilities. Repeat the process and increase the impact of Senior staff; they will drive innovation and be more creative in how and what they deliver.
Management 101 tells us that trust leads to increased employee retention. Senior professionals are likelier to stick around when they feel valued and trusted. Senior Designers and Researchers should appreciate that earning trust may take a few releases or projects.
Infused culture
Trust may be a journey, but there are ways to foster an environment that accelerates mutual trust. A culture of encouragement and recognition is worth the effort. Management must encourage and recognize all staff, not just Senior team members.
Encouragement can come in multiple ways. Senior staff can play a vital role in providing support and taking notice of the efforts to drive excellence across the team. Pushing technical boundaries, increasing domain knowledge, and collaborating with non-designers are all praiseworthy. Managers can easily lead by example since they have a line of sight into what individual team members are up to.
Senior Designers and Researchers know how to meet or exceed their KPIs. They know how to deliver excellence. A pizza party or happy hour is tricky but not impossible in today's hybrid work landscape. Managers should always look for ways to provide non-monetary compensation (time off, training class, conference, google it, etc) or a spot bonus to recognize a job well done--and to know what is exceptional vs. expected
Pixel pal
What you do and how you do it matter. If you have worked with someone fantastic (or an asshole), you know what it's like to work with someone that can do impressive things without hubris. Technology can be a small world, and references mean a lot.
Senior Practitioners know that trust comes from repeated timely, quality delivery with care. Not every feature is easy to drive with even quality without drama, and making a sustained effort can be exhausting.
Senior Designers and Researchers know that only some opportunities will go the way we plan. The best staff strive for excellence and hope for the best. Senior team members should call attention to challenges they need assistance with as early as possible, which should be rare. Managers should trust that Senior staff set a high bar for quality and work with them to navigate obstacles to achieve the best outcome.
Meet their needs or find their replacements
It’s that simple
Trust and Autonomy are essential to scale quality outcomes. Senior Designers and Researchers have seen and done a lot in their careers by the time they join a team at their level. They have earned the trust and freedom to deliver without significant oversight. If Managers don't provide them with the right environment to thrive, they will move on.
Churn may be a topic to address sooner than later. But there are more pressing topics. Stay tuned for some posts in no particular order on Design Language Systems, Artificial Intelligence, Generative Design, and the 'Death of Design Thinking.'
