Stuart Roberts

Teamwork with “3 in a Box”

Stuart Roberts — Tue, 19 Jun 2018 12:38:56 +0000

Take Away

By taking a representative from the 3 groups responsible for product development & working closely together, you get teamwork, consistency, more cohesive design and a better end product.

What is "3 in a box"?

Where you form a working group by taking a representative of Product Management, development and design & put them together.

Empower them to come up with ideas, solutions, functional enhancements or just prioritised tasks for a project.

This concept was introduced to me recently by an experienced product manager. We formed a team of Product Manager, Ux designer and development team to work closely on design, functional requirements, and development of the product.

How does it work?

Put your chosen 3 together in a room. Give them a task with a specific output requirement. Keep the gatherings "in the box" focused and short. Empower the participants to come up with solutions.

How does it benefit?

The benefits are not immediately obvious, even in practice. By allowing a representative of each main group to be involved in the solution to a problem, or prioritisation of a task list, you gain alternative viewpoints, and consensus across the team at the end of a session.

But it's the intangibles that are the real gain with "3 in a Box." The 3 separate areas of development gain an understanding of each-other and build trust in that understanding.

The developer knows the Ux designer wants to build a product that people will use & keep using, not just one that looks pretty.

Product Management will understand more of the complexities of the development lifecycle as well as being able to keep a guiding hand on where the product is heading.

The Ux design team will understand that there are trade-offs that get to be made sometimes when building the product. A specific feature may require significant extra development time. The developers may need to change the way a feature is implemented for technical reasons.

By having a closer relationship built on trust and understanding between the 3 main groups, there's less "but why" and more "let's get this sorted out".

And that is a good thing for everyone.

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The Comfort of the Velvet Coffin

Stuart Roberts — Wed, 13 Jun 2018 11:28:07 +0000

Have you ever felt so much comfort in a role that you started to think they may have to carry you out in a box?

I know I have. My wife and I have a special name for a role like that - the Velvet Coffin.

You know the comfort is not doing your career or continued learning any favors, but it's just so soft and warm, you can't bring yourself to get out.

You know what gets to be done every day, and exactly how it should be done. Because you've been doing it for what seems like a lifetime.

Often you don't recognise you're in the velvet coffin until something happens to jolts you out of your slumber. A challenging job offer. Catching up with a friend or old teammate who made a couple of astute moves, and is now in a great role. A change in your personal life that forces you to evaluate what it is you do each day.

When you realise you are in the velvet coffin, you need to make a change. Quickly. If you don't, you will get stuck. You will get left behind. You will be overlooked. You may be taken for granted. You will eventually resent the role that brings so much comfort.

Don't get me wrong though, there are times when the velvet coffin is the best place to be. Working in a role that you could almost do in your sleep. Autopilot if you like. Roles like these give you a chance to recover, regroup, rebuild. But you need to remain aware of why and be ready to move when the time is right.

You can't sit still for too long. The world will not wait for you. Once you are behind, it's really hard to catch up again.

You get to make a change. That suits you. What you want to do, who you want to work for, where you want to work even.

Remember, you don't have to change companies to get out of the velvet coffin. Unless there is absolutely no chance of moving up (or even sideways initially) you can go to your bosses and talk.

Let them know how you feel & that you want to do something about it. Make suggestions, even if what you want is outside of your current skill-set.

If they value your continued involvement in the company, they will listen, and assist you in making changes. And what's the worst thing they can do? Not help? Say no?

If that happens, it's time to consider looking for a new employer, as they don't have your best interests in mind.

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Are You Accidentally Diminishing Your Team?

Stuart Roberts — Mon, 11 Jun 2018 06:13:22 +0000

I think I'm pretty good at listening to what my team has to say, and making sure they feel they are heard. That they can give their opinion and it will be considered.

But am I? Are you? How would I even know if I wasn't?

When the article linked below came up on LinkedIn recently, I decided to take the test included. Digest my results. Think about the suggested ways to make sure I am listening carefully, and giving each team member a chance to voice an opinion or solution before I give my thoughts.

https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/you-accidentally-diminishing-colleagues-your-meetings-mark-rickmeier/

If you are a manager, team leader, or just want to build a stronger, more inclusive team, I strongly suggest you take the quiz and think about the results. Block out 30 minutes and do it now. The quiz only takes a couple of minutes, then take the rest of the half hour to consider the results, and how you run meetings.

Where you fall on the scale isn't so important - think of this as a prompt to allow you to reflect on the way you interact.

I'm going to have a go at the "Wicked Meeting" game in my next meeting.

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