Making the transition into management can be challenging, especially for designers. We spend years developing our skills to craft quality products and brands on behalf of others. And when the opportunity comes to take on a leadership role, we may find ourselves facing a whole new set of unknowns, including how to lead a team and manage people.
If you’re lucky, you’ve worked with a great manager or an inspirational leader who has given you some guidance along the way. Even then, the resources, support and training needed to become a truly great design leader is often lacking, particularly in startups. This workshop will show you how to leverage your design skills for leadership success.
This is a three-part series. Please note all dates:
Part 1: July 15 from 9-2pm PDT
Part 2: July 16 from 9-2pm PDT
Part 3: July 17 from 9-2pm PDT
Registration closed.
“As the title suggests – a great foundation class for aspiring and new design managers that will provide you with a starter-kit of tools and frameworks you can use, and also a platform to share points of views and ask questions to people who are in the same boat as you.”
“The Design Leadership Workshop isn’t just informational but also actionable. I can take what I learned and apply it to my job to create an immediate action plan as well as a long-term vision. I would highly recommend this to design managers, new and seasoned.”
“Like good UI, exactly what I needed, exactly when I needed it. Wonderfully structured, terrific, relevant topics, valuable group participation, and two down-to-earth presenters who really know their onions. I felt I was in good hands the entire time.”
What you'll learn
Fundamentals of management success
Four pillars of design leadership and the skills you need to deliver successfully in each area
Strategies for growing a team and designing your organization, especially in startup and hyper-growth environments
How to guide a team to deliver design excellence, from vision to process management
Guidelines for facilitating an effective design critique
How to deliver feedback to foster great team performance
Develop strategies for navigating tough conversations
Prioritize your time based on your team vision and focus
Remote format
Our remote workshops are based on the success of our in-person learning principles. Our goal is help participants learn not only from our instructors, but industry experts and peers. The day will be a mix of short lectures, solo reflection, group activities and Q&A. It’s a highly participatory remote workshop. Participants should be prepared to participate in a quiet space with stable wifi.
What you'll receive
Your personal printed workbook with content and exercises
Access to our Design Dept. community slack to stay connected and learning from other leaders
Who should attend
This workshop is great for both new managers and senior individual contributors looking to transition into management. DLF is suitable for leaders in brand design, product design, research and content strategy in startups or tech. All industries and backgrounds welcome.
Schedule overview
Day 1
9:00am
Welcome
9:30
Leadership as a creative practice
Design Leadership Profiles
12:00pm
Lunch
1:00pm
Designing design teams
2:00pm
Wrap
Day 2
9:00am
Welcome
9:30am
Cultivating Culture
Ensuring design excellence
12:00pm
Lunch
1:00pm
Ensuring design excellence (continued)
2:00pm
Wrap up
Day 3
9:00am
Catalyzing performance
9:30pm
Ensuring design excellence
Designing your time
12:00pm
Lunch
1:00pm
Q&A with Design Leaders
2:00pm
Wrap up
* Schedule may change
Session Details
Design Leadership Profiles
The Design Leadership Profile focuses on four pillars of creative leadership—vision, team and execution—and the critical skills necessary to successfully deliver within each area. Develop your personal profile to inform your own growth and your team’s development.
Designing design teams
Successful design teams are structured with intention. Great design leaders adapt industry best practices to architect organizations specific to their company and their needs. Learn how to recruit and grow a team that aligns with your purpose — one that delivers great experiences and helps you excel as a leader.
Catalyzing performance
Building high performance teams begins with catalyzing individuals to help them reach their potential. Learn how to accelerate your team’s progress and continued growth through connection, real-time feedback, and coaching.
Ensuring design excellence
High performance design teams focus on solving the right problems with the right guardrails and processes in place to build quality experiences rapidly. In this session, we focus on the fundamentals that ensure design excellence, from setting a vision to instilling quality execution.
Cultivating culture
Culture is an observable set of behaviors that rise organically from interactions in a system or organization. While leaders can’t control culture, they do have power to shape the system and its elements. This session focuses on the parts of the system that you can actually design, to create the opportunity for a good culture to emerge.
Designing your time
It’s a classic challenge: the urgent winning out over the important. After two days of deep learning, designers have even more “important” to consider. Designing your time teaches a framework for evaluating impact and effort to determine what to prioritize, delegate, or dump—so you leave Fundamentals with a clear path for moving forward.
Remote Events; Cancellation Policy
We understand that plans can change and your workshop may have to wait due to unexpected circumstances. If you need to cancel, please email us at hello@designdept.co to let us know as soon as possible. Similarly, in the event that circumstances beyond our control require changes to our programming, you understand and expressly agree that we may hold our Retreat/Event remotely, via video or other telecommunication methods, and that in doing so we have not cancelled nor rescheduled and this Agreement shall remain in full force and effect in the event of a remotely hosted event.
While we cannot transfer or allow for substitutions should you wish to cancel, we may be able to help you with a refund according to the following:
Within one week after registration: Registration is 100% refundable.
Between one week after registration and one month before workshop: We'll refund 50% of your registration fee.
One month before workshop: Registration is non-refundable.
This policy is subject to change; all registered participants will be notified of any changes.