Careful Advice for UX Design Managers Looking to Move a Team Elsewhere in the Org

Preface: Over the years I’ve worked in UX Design Teams that have sat in different positions at tech companies, be it within Engineering, Product, Marketing and even the coveted Design vertical (ie direct line to the CEO). I’ve come to believe that due to the unique ways that companies and teams operate, there is no universal best organizational position for a Design Team — just the best one for Design, the organization, and the company to succeed at a given time. There are many other factors, aside from organizational position, that can collectively spell success or raise flags. That said, re-organizational changes that involve a team moving do happen, are sometimes necessary for progress, and aren’t always initiated from the top down. Here’s how you can manage them.

Consider This Hypothetical Scenario

You are manager of a UX Design Team. The team’s position within the company (you report to the VP of Brand) may have made sense at some point in the past, but moving forward, in order to get unblocked and achieve goals, belief sets in that the team might be better positioned elsewhere. Your team, previously protected and focused on designing great products, is now getting swept up into organizational politics, productivity is taking a hit, morale is dropping, and spirit-boosting memes are circulating. Not an ideal situation.

“This is fine” meme. Credit: KC Green

The possibility of moving a Design Team may be more attainable in growing startups, where organizational changes are the norm, but even in the most flexible of circumstances, contemplating a change like this, its execution and impacts, can be daunting as a manager. Even after months of things not working, more of the same will likely still present as an easier path forward, than to take action. That is until things blow over (often wishful thinking) or blow up (disaster).

Sharing My Own Experiences

Years ago I experienced organizational shift as a member of a Design Team. It was messy. Ultimately a forced reorg pushed the team to a new place where it and the company were more successful, but not without a lot of unnecessary friction and consequences. I am mostly proud of how I handled the changes at the time, given the circumstances, but do not care to repeat that experience, nor discuss it further.

Some years later as a manager of a Design Team, I found myself encountering a similar scenario. However this time after methodically attempting other options, and doing a fair amount of planning, I was empowered to act for my team and see that we were moved to a better place. It was a challenging undertaking, but ultimately the right course of action at the time. I stand by my actions.

Three tricky hurdles for a Design Team manager considering or attempting to move their team elsewhere organizationally are: A) Identify Design Blockers and Work to Fix Them, (assuming all other options have been exhausted) B) Determine Where is Best Next and How to Get There, and finally, if possible C) Get to the Next Place and Manage Fallout. In this post I will share best practices learned from my experiences, while keeping keeping sensitive information out.

Three Hurdles for Moving a Design Team

Disclaimer: Organizational change is a big deal, and should be your last option — hopefully one you won’t have to take. Slow down before jumping to any conclusions!

Hurdle A: Identify Design Blockers and Work to Fix Them

1. Take another look at goals that relate to design— for the Design Team, organization (if separate), and company. If you’ve like you can work with your Design Team to list these out — a good exercise in general, that won’t be a cause for alarm, will remind help remind people of the mission. For the latter goals, consult those senior to you. It’s important to have a full picture view here. Example Design Team goal: Deliver an intuitive augmented reality make-up try on application user experience.
2. Note blockers for achieving the aforementioned design goals. This is another exercise you can complete with your Design Team that allows them to share feedback, offer up solutions and be heard. Example Design Team blocker: UX Design situated within the Brand organization, is struggling to drive the conversation around a solid user experience, due to an overwhelming focus on wow-factor.
3. Determine corrective actions for the Design Team and execute. Are there new actions your team will take to address the blockers? Discuss a plan with your team, consult your manager, peers who need to know, and set it in motion. Example Design Team plan (proposed solution): Design Manager (you) to work with Product Manager to re-prioritize user needs. Furnish any relevant user research findings from your team to help.
4. If there’s nothing else you or your team can do to eliminate the blockers or the previous plan doesn’t work out, you should address the blockers with your own manager again, and this time actively seek their direct involvement. Ideally they should be receptive and have new ideas of things to try. Once a new plan has been instituted, give it some time to set in. In the meantime a simple “We’re working on it. Stay tuned” may be a sufficient status update for the Design Team. You may need to run and revise this loop a few times to get it right. Hopefully things will work out, and the blockers will get resolved, but if not…

Hurdle B: Determine Where is Best Next and How to Get There

1. After a time if you are still not seeing progress, it might be time to make list of potential new places for the Design Team. Some questions to consider: In which new position is the Design Team most likely to succeed in overcoming the blockers that got you here? Will this new organizational position be a place where the Design Team can thrive? Is a move there even possible at this time? Which arrangement is best for the success of the company as whole? Will there be negative impacts to your team and others? How long will it take your team to acclimate? These are tough, but important questions that will keep guide you to the next place. Until these potential options are fully fleshed out, it’s probably a good idea to keep them yourself.
2. Approach your top new potential superior. This is a hard step. It might feel a bit like mutiny, but remember, you’ve exhausted all other reasonable options in your current position, and your intentions are positive — aligned with the betterment of your Design Team and company. To start you may casually talk to this person about the challenges your team is facing in its current position. By being vulnerable in this way you will hopefully inspire trust. They may want to know what you’ve tried already, and share their own insights and ideas. At some point in the discussion one of you might say “what if…,” and that person should ideally be you — this is why you are a talking in the first place. However if they vocalize the idea first, be quick to support them. The cat is now out of the bag. If both parties are in agreement, proceed. Otherwise move to your next best option.
3. Assuming you have found a probable next land place, formulate a transition plan. Keep in mind that change is unlikely to be immediate, and there’s a chance that it may not happen at all, but have hope. Be mindful and appreciative of the effort, potential risk and eventual responsibility that your potential new superior is taking.
4. Share the plan upwards. Your future boss will need to have conversations to move things forward. Accept that they will likely be making the request to their own superior, who in turn will share it further up the chain. Around that time you could create a well-crafted email proposing a Design Team shift, and how the proposed arrangement will enable success for the team and the company and share it to those in the need-to-know. Be prepared for other ideas from superiors, but most likely if you’ve gotten to this point, they will already know that something is coming, and have a response in mind.

Hurdle C. Get to the Next Place and Manage Fallout

1. Execute the plan. As the plan moves forward, make sure you have clarity with finer details of the arrangement and timing. When will critical folks be in the know? When can you tell the Design Team about the reorg? When will the broader organization know? At this point the train is moving and it’s not coming back from the station. My advice is to let the Design Team know of the changes as soon as you can — be the first to have that conversation. Explain how, why and when the team is moving. Be prepared to answer questions as best you can l, without sharing details around what happened behind the scenes.
2. Manage fallout. After the switch, check in with your team, peers and new manager at more frequent intervals. How are things after the move? Are there unforeseen impacts to the Design Team? Manage the situation the best that you can.
3. Reflect. Once the dust has settled, take time to reflect, think about what you would have done differently, but also celebrate successful aspects of the move. If emboldened, you might even consider writing a blog post to share your wisdom.