There is a popular saying that goes something like this ... “People leave managers, not companies.” Well, I had a great UX team, and over the course of a year they all quit. Every. Single. One. Of. Them. What the hell did I do wrong? Was it me? We got on well - but I had to face the facts. They all quit – and I was their manager. Time to take stock, review what was happening and think about what the future was going to look like. In this talk I will cover off the post mortem of contributing factors. I will go through an observation - problem - action - result scenario for key factors contributing to the extra-ordinary churn of team members.

1. The year my
team quit.
@glynthomas

4. I Quit

5. “I need to
chat ...“

6. “People leave managers,
not companies.”
- The devil on my shoulder

7. DO MY JOB
MY TEAM’S JOB
THE STORIES WE TELL3
1
2

8. Do My Job!
1
i

9. THAT WAS THEN
• Reactive decision making
• Starting without finishing things
• No clear purpose
• No roadmaps, plans or strategy
• No ability to push back
• No say …

11. Without knowing what my
job was - I had created
uncertainty.

13. LEARN

14. THE ACTION
• Training
• Self Awareness
• Read (heaps)
• Mentor - Great Manager
• Peer Support

15. SAFE HANDS

16. THIS IS NOW
• A spreadsheet
• Starting to standardise our practice
• Taking the ground
• Planning and resourcing
• A say.

17. The team’s job
2

18. THAT WAS THEN
• Lack of resilience
• Isolated design practices
• Wasted efforts
• Busy - not being designers
• No peer support or growth

19. To lead a design team -
well - you need a design
team.

20. What did I have?

23. For the strength of the
pack is the wolf, and the
strength of the wolf is
the pack.
- Rudyard Kipling

24. THE ACTION
• Designing together
• Codify how we work
• Pitch in
• Take the ground

25. THIS IS NOW
• Designer pairing
• Things become visual
• Work flows between designers
• Designers support other designers
• Accountability
• Feedback

26. The stories
we tell
3

28. THE OBSERVATIONS
• Problems remained
• I was frustrated
• Finger Pointing
• If only …

29. Setting up
to fail

30. THE ACTION
• Just stop …
• Get context from others
• Doubled down on catchups
• Share the right kinds of stories

31. THE RESULT
• Bridges were built
• Individuals were able to find
their own way
• Rough Patches are still rough
patches - but they get through
them

32. DO MY JOB
MY TEAM’S JOB
THE STORIES WE TELL3
1
2

33. Do I have safe hands?
Is my pack strong?
What stories do I tell?

34. THANK YOU
@glynthomas