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Running a remote design team: a thread
1. Schedule all 1:1s at the beginning of your week. Keep a paper doc for you and your direct report to keep track of everything you want to cover as non-urgent things come up constantly throughout the week and can be easily forgotten. This list acts as an agenda during your time!
2. Go ahead and put 2 design Zoom check-ins on the calendar even if you don& #39;t know how you& #39;ll use them yet. Someone will always make use of that time, even if it& #39;s just to say hello and see a person& #39;s face.
We do Mon/Wed for Communication Designers and Tues/Thurs for Product
We do Mon/Wed for Communication Designers and Tues/Thurs for Product
3. At the beginning of a project, go ahead and schedule Zoom calls with all advisors and stakeholders of the project. Time passes quickly and it helps me stay organized if I put the meetings down ahead of time — you can always cancel.
4a. We each maintain a "design daily" which gives players a look at each others tasks for the day, and gives them insight into what you& #39;re working on as well. Example:
4b. I love these as a manager because they operate the way a stand-up does, give me an at-a-glance look at everyone& #39;s priorities, they& #39;re visual, done on everyone& #39;s own time, and they take 5 minutes each day to fill out.
5. Schedule 1:1s with PMs and Tech leads occasionally to make sure you& #39;re not missing anything
6. Do your hair or whatever it takes for you to feel human.
7. Leave your house once you& #39;re ready, get a coffee or whatever, and come back to your desk ready for your day.
I can& #39;t stress this one enough. Transitions and rituals are still extremely important in a remote setting.
I can& #39;t stress this one enough. Transitions and rituals are still extremely important in a remote setting.
8. Don& #39;t think you& #39;re a super hero.
"I work from home now! That means I can travel and work somewhere new every week, and chores! I can do all of my errands..." stop. It& #39;s tempting to think you can do it all, but you& #39;ll be surprised at how difficult it is to Do All the Things.
"I work from home now! That means I can travel and work somewhere new every week, and chores! I can do all of my errands..." stop. It& #39;s tempting to think you can do it all, but you& #39;ll be surprised at how difficult it is to Do All the Things.
9. Set your working hours on your calendar. GCal let& #39;s you establish when you& #39;re working and when you& #39;re not. Setting boundaries for yourself and other people isn& #39;t mean, it& #39;s necessary.
10. Turn all notifications off Slack after working hours. It& #39;s going to be hard to stop, for some of you. So remove the temptation before it& #39;s there.
11. Over-communicate. It can feel really awkward shouting into an open room that you& #39;re behind on a deadline, or taking Friday off to go to the doctor. Say it out loud in a meeting, leave a reminder in Slack, and set your status. You have to say it 3 times for it to stick.
12. Set your display name to set expectations. Lunching? Go ahead and put a burrito by your name. Out until Friday? Put that in your name so people know right away when they& #39;re trying to reach you.
Q 1:
How have you found supporting the emo needs of your team remotely?
It& #39;s hard! But 1:1s via Zoom are a little easier, in my opinion, because people are already in a quiet solitary space. But you have to be direct and vulnerable with them first. Get right to the hard...
How have you found supporting the emo needs of your team remotely?
It& #39;s hard! But 1:1s via Zoom are a little easier, in my opinion, because people are already in a quiet solitary space. But you have to be direct and vulnerable with them first. Get right to the hard...
questions and let them know that it& #39;s a safe space for you to talk. Also, sometimes there are things my reports might now feel comfortable talking to me about, so i& #39;ll make sure that they have time with our People Ops pal that remains confidential.
Q 2: A few for ya:
How do you handle concept brainstorming?
We use @figmadesign !! Put some time down for a small group (2-6 people) to hang out and play in a figma file. It can be awkward at first, but give them time and space to play and be an example. We have fun still.
How do you handle concept brainstorming?
We use @figmadesign !! Put some time down for a small group (2-6 people) to hang out and play in a figma file. It can be awkward at first, but give them time and space to play and be an example. We have fun still.
Here& #39;s an example of a brainstorm last week when one of our designers jokingly "weather-man& #39;d" his design presentation with a Zoom background
