Ideas without execution are hallucination
Thomas Edison
Infinum – Head of Design – 22-23
As the Department Head I was responsible for the overall profitability, effectiveness, motivation and performance of the entire group.
The Design Department consisted of 33 team members split between Product Designers (UX and UI) and Product Strategists. It was almost entirely composed of permanent team members with additional contractors brought on board as required. The team was split across European mainland, the UK and the US. My immediate direct reports consisted of 4 Team Managers, 1 Director and 1 Lead Designer. Each of my team leads had between 6-8 team members.
High Level Department Performance
- Delivering on primary goals:
- Driving profitability of the Department –
- Record turnaround in utilisation achieved (Low/Mid 60% before arrival to 77% consistently through 2023)
- Targets increased based on rapid achievement of first targets set Overall (72% to 77%)
- Record turnaround in utilisation achieved (Low/Mid 60% before arrival to 77% consistently through 2023)
- Driving profitability of the Department –
- Key OKRs around efficiencies in Departmental approaches
- Prioritisation and delivery of most impactful OKRs
- Design Department Efficiency
- Value mentality to embed
- Prioritisation and delivery of most impactful OKRs
Client Work – Awards
- iF Design Award for the UX Design work done on Phillips Versuni App by Infinum Design Team – View details
Team Development and Coaching
- Driving Performance of Department and Direct Reports
- Individual Development Plans, Targeted Coaching and regular specific feedback
- Individual Development Plans, Targeted Coaching and regular specific feedback
- High Retention despite initial de-motivation of several team members and several members insisting they had intended to leave before I joined.
- Individual Career Discussions and forward growth plans aligned to Progression Frameworks for the Design Group.
A message of thanks from my team members and another Department Head to thank me for the work I have put into the role of leading and supporting them. Written in verse in acknowledgement of my interest in Shakespeare and theatre. This was written inside the cover of a gift of a beautiful older book with a local translation of Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream.
Initiatives introduced and delivered
Enhanced Department and Team collaboration:
- Ambassador Initiative
- Recommendation and implementation of initiative to enhance collaboration and understanding of approaches between key Departments throughout the business.
- Recommendation and implementation of initiative to enhance collaboration and understanding of approaches between key Departments throughout the business.
- AI assisted design (Assigned and built case for developing a role responsibility for the Lead Designer to work on identification of all tasks within current and recent project workflows that could be enhanced by AI.) Proposal for an AI council for cross project collaboration on crossover tasks where AI could provide efficiencies in working practices.
Strategy for difference in delivery
- Introduced Consultancy / Value mindset to client work.
- Commodity Design – introduced the identification of common design work where work can be templated and delivered quickly, effectively and efficiently.
- Commodity Design – introduced the identification of common design work where work can be templated and delivered quickly, effectively and efficiently.
- 4 day working week policy for Designers and outlined the potential policy for the entire organisation to be adoptable.
- Outlined Validity /Eligibility criteria
- Approach on how it will be assessed
- Timelines for implementation
- Active Performance Enhancement
- 360 feedback action plans for direct reports (Team Leads, Directors and Leads)
- Identification of areas for development and tracking documentation to show objective improvements in behaviours
- Identification of key strengths of team members for amplification and onward coaching
- 360 feedback action plans for direct reports (Team Leads, Directors and Leads)
- Strategic Workshops with senior department members to identify key areas of focus over the upcoming 12, 24 and 36 months.
Team Performance and Building Longer Term Financial Results
- New role created and introduced: Principal Design role with new strategic responsibilities
- for winning new business and setting projects on the right path
- identifying opportunities for efficiency gains across projects
- Profitability / Utilisation / Sustainability
- Historic lows to historic highs. (Consistently delivering to targets across Individual contributors, leads and Team Managers and Head of Design)
- Historic lows to historic highs. (Consistently delivering to targets across Individual contributors, leads and Team Managers and Head of Design)
- Developing client base
- Winning strategically appropriate clients
- Engaging with and winning work for a large luxury automotive brand to deliver just Design work – accomplished this challenge laid down to me by the Exec management in my first conversation.
- Working with sales teams in Europe and UK to respond to RFQs and represent design
- Bringing the client onboard (demonstrating capability in early work)
- Winning strategically appropriate clients
- Client Management
- Assigning senior personnel strategically to deliver value to existing and potential clients at the right time
- Assigning senior personnel strategically to deliver value to existing and potential clients at the right time
- Building Awareness – Engaging with press and conducting interviews to raise the profile of Infinum in its markets and outlining the design ethos to attract potential customers and employees.
- Downscaling plan created and implemented for additional contractors when there was a sudden downturn in expected work.
Purposeful Team & Culture Development
- Coaching leadership for Team Managers, Directors & Lead
- Key learnings / coaching delivered to direct reports covering:
- Seeing and being open to alternative perspectives
- Empathy works up as well as down
- Pacing work and commitment for long term sustainable performance
- Communication for clarity and comprehension of purpose
- Decision making strategies for rapid balance and evidenced decision making
- Maintaining and building a sense of purpose (countering de-motivating factors)
- Concise and simplified communication – whilst maintaining enthusiasm
- Seeing and being open to alternative perspectives
- Key learnings / coaching delivered to direct reports covering:
- Learning / Education Programmes across the Department
- Designed and ran presentation masterclass workshops for key presenters in the Department
- Reviewed and fed-back on presentations given. Key areas of improvement identified for improvement for further
- Recruiting and Team Development
- Developed a multi-year succession and team development plan
- Identified future leaders and development paths
- Identified future leaders and development paths
- Increasing team diversity:
- Proceeding with recruiting team members with differing profiles to existing team members
- More UX focused – amongst doubts from senior team members – subsequently proved successful hires- highly capable and brought new skills
- proceeded with recruiting the right people when there were doubts over timing (downturn) and these proved highly capable in roles and the short term downturn didn’t last
- More UX focused – amongst doubts from senior team members – subsequently proved successful hires- highly capable and brought new skills
- Proceeding with recruiting team members with differing profiles to existing team members
- Developed a multi-year succession and team development plan
- Retention – Record low turnover within the team (Zero non appropriate leavers)
- 1 person – Moving on who were no longer a fit (by their own admission)
- 1 person – Wishing to pursue an alternative career
- Building specific departmental cultural behaviours:
- Encouraging – Design teamwork –
- rapid support for each other
- sharing knowledge proactively
- team design critiques (weekly)
- Building psychologically safe environment to:
- encourage honest feedback
- fearless questioning
- Measured effectiveness of enhancements through surveys and frequent feedback
- Encouraging – Design teamwork –
- Risk Identification and mitigation mentality created with active measures
- Identification and actions on key risks to short term and medium term effectiveness of the team.
- Personal efforts included convincing valued members to stay in my first week when they were initially determined to leave (before I joined)
- Personal efforts included convincing valued members to stay in my first week when they were initially determined to leave (before I joined)
Inter-Department Collaboration and Efficiency Efforts
- Engagement and relationship building with all the key department Heads and Directors. Built strong connections and trusted relationships with:
- QA
- Engineering
- Back-End and Solution Architects
- Mobile Development
- Project Management
- Marketing
- Country Leaders