Collaboration …

“Stop Fighting, Start Designing” Dan Brown-Interaction14 from Interaction Design Association on Vimeo.

Things that contribute to poor collaboration

  • Excluded from planning
  • Lack of a decision-maker
  • Inconsistent expectations
  • Oversimplification e.g. “just get a bunch of smart people into a room”.

Not a lack of tools, like Skype or Sharepoint. Don’t prioritise software tools over management/behaviour tools.

Things that contribute to good collaboration

  • Establish a communications plan. “Let’s check in every morning at 9am” “when you’ve got something to show me, ping me on slack … “
  • Provide a rationale for decision – make sure you have a good reason for doing the things you do on a project.
  • Define roles and responsibilities – “I’m the design lead so anything to do with budgets or timelines falls to me”. “There are a bunch of tasks. Let’s define the tasks and assign responsibilities (and throw out titles until they tasks are done).”
  • Set expectations about performance. “Here’s what I need you to be able to do”. “I’m expecting to see a handful of mock-ups by the end of the week”.
  • Communicate progress. “I can’t manage what I don’t know”.
  • Be honest about your approach, output and performance. “How can I be a better contributor next time?”

 

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