What does it take to manage a design team?

I feel fortunate to have had the chance to manage a team, and even more grateful to return to the work I love as an individual contributor. Several years later, I can now reflect on my time in management with greater clarity.

The opportunity to manage the design and research team at ShopRunner came somewhat unexpectedly. I had just returned from maternity leave to find my organization had largely turned over while I was away, and was in need of management. To be honest, I was sleep-deprived and already overwhelmed with my new responsibilities as a parent. While I might not have felt ready at the time, I’m incredibly thankful for the chance to grow into the role with such a supportive and talented team.

There are approximately a million things to learn in your first year of management. Two books that helped me find my way are The Making of a Manager and Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can’t Stop Talking. I would recommend them to anyone, but especially those who don’t think of themselves as the management type.

With much reflection, below are my raw strengths, struggles, and learnings.

Things I excelled at

• I’ve always loved and continue to love thinking strategically and communicating a vision. I was in my element whenever the need arose to distill multiple perspectives, chart out clear options, or put creative energy into imagining the future. With a team under me, people looked to me for that kind of input, something I had long been pining for.
• I hired some exceptional people. Especially in the beginning, I deeply enjoyed hiring people I knew would grow quickly. I pride myself in my ability to seek out and foster growth mindset.
• I let people make their own decisions. I organized product designers as the owners of their own products and expected them to manage their team relationships and decisions with authority.
• I loved to mentor and teach. If someone wanted to learn, I would create all but a class syllabus on the topic, with every resource I had found helpful in the past.
• I created an inclusive, respectful culture. I have no tolerance for negativity and discouraging feedback. I did my best to demonstrate an open minded and experimental approach to design.

Things I struggled with

• I struggled to build cross-functional partnerships but later recognized the value of dedicating time to relationship-building across teams.
• I underestimated the support needs of my junior designers, realizing that I needed to adapt my mentorship style for different experience levels.
• I found it difficult to create an environment where disagreement led to productive outcomes, something I would prioritize and approach differently in the future.

Things I would do differently next time

• First of all, I will be more discerning in my next management role. I found management very demanding of my energy, in a way I wouldn’t take on again without exceptional circumstances. At the time, it felt like the only path forward, but having scratched the itch, I now feel very comfortable wielding influence as an individual contributor.
• Schedule time for building relationships and prepare for them. This is true for both management and IC roles, but did not come intuitively to me, as a profound introvert. Relationships take time and effort to build, and have to be prioritized against other kinds of work.
• I would use frameworks to manage productive disagreement. I found conflict between my direct reports paralyzingly uncomfortable. However, diverse opinions are critical to problem solving. I would lean more on methods as simple as pro-con lists, decision logs, and pre-mortems to create constructive discourse.

So what does it take to manage a design team? Simply put, practice. Management is a skill developed over time, just like any other. Whether you're intimidated or excited by the idea, know that it’s a journey of continuous learning. And if management isn't the right path for you, remember that influence can be wielded from any role, without a formal title.