Follow your own path to great design leadership
More and more makers seek to influence business outcomes without managing people. While company career ladders are beginning to support this path, the tools for non-management leadership are rarely taught. Usually, senior individual contributors learn to wield influence through personal trial and error.
This highly interactive design leadership series offers guidance to help you become a truly great design leader while following your own path as a senior creative. Through peer discussions, you’ll learn from each other and explore what’s uncomfortable or difficult about your new role. You’ll assess your leadership skills and acquire frameworks and tools to help you collaborate effectively with senior cross-functional partners, influence senior management, and support fellow creatives in delivering great craft. Most of all, you’ll learn how to think about your role from a new perspective.
This is a four-part series. Participants must attend all sessions.
Please note the one-week gap between the sessions on July 20 and August 3:
August 24, 2023 9am - 1pm Pacific
August 31, 2023 9am - 1pm Pacific
September 7, 2023 9am - 1pm Pacific
September 14, 2023 9am - 1pm Pacific
$2200
SOLD OUT
We know getting educational budget isn’t always easy, so our experienced managers wrote your reimbursement requests for you.
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Design Leadership Fundamentals for Individual Contributors:
is a live, remote workshop (sessions will not be recorded)
is a 4-part series (each part is 4 hours)
is intended for individual contributors
includes access to the Design Dept. community Slack channel for ongoing discussion, support, and learning from other leaders
provides you with a personal printed workbook that includes workshop content and exercises
helps you build relationships, deepen your craft, and increase your impact–without using management as your tool
What you'll learn
This leadership workshop provides perspectives and tools to help answer questions such as:
How do I define leadership if I’m not a manager?
Do I have to be a manager for impact?
How do I influence my manager?
How do I partner with cross-functional teams?
How do I influence the business roadmap and other key decisions?
How do I handle design critiques?
How do I help younger creatives level up their work?
Who should attend
This workshop is for individual contributors. Creative functions include (but are not limited to):
Product design
Brand design
Content design/strategy
Research
Creative ops
Session Details
Design Leadership Skill Wheel
Design leadership can take many forms. This creative leadership course explores the key areas of design management and leadership that are required for success. By understanding your potential, you can map out your current skills and make a practical, actionable plan for growth.
Designing alliances
Being an excellent creative isn’t enough to guarantee impact. To be successful, you have to shift your mindset from reactive problem-solving to proactive relationship-building. It begins with knowing yourself and clarifying your needs in a relationship. This design leadership course will teach you how to collaboratively build effective alliances up, down, and across the organization.
Communication by Design
Giving feedback isn’t always easy or comfortable, especially when you’re not sure how to do it. This creative leadership workshop helps you first understand different types of feedback and then develop (and practice) the tools needed to deliver effective feedback to your team members, peers, and managers.
Leading by Influence
Great design leaders don’t wield influence like a hammer–they motivate people by eliciting conviction. In this session, you’ll explore common currencies in organizations and learn how to communicate the value of design through the lens of business.
A note about remote
Our remote workshop formats are highly interactive, providing multiple opportunities for you to learn from our facilitators and from other leaders in the Zoom room.
No preparation or homework is required. We don’t expect you to do anything before the workshop other than create the space and time for focusing with us.
We do expect participants to show up ready to contribute. We also ask that you keep cameras on during conversational sections, so find a place where you can do that comfortably. We don’t mind pets, kids, or partners walking around in the background—it’s life these days!
Each workshop is:
taught live by one of our instructors via Zoom
a blend of lecture, solo reflection, group discussion, and small-group activities
mindful of the importance of safe spaces (breakout rooms) for small-group activities
an opportunity to learn and grow, and includes your own printed workbook to use in solo and group activities
Workshop size minimum
This workshop minimum is 15 participants. If we do not receive the minimum registrations before the class begins, you will have the choice to reschedule for another workshop or receive a full refund.
Remote Events; Cancellation Policy
We understand that plans can change and your workshop may have to wait.
If Participant’s plans change, or if any adjustments from in-person to remote Workshops will not work for Participant, Participant shall email DD at hello@designdept.co as soon as possible. While we cannot transfer Participant’s Workshop ticket or allow for substitutions should you wish to cancel, we may be able to help you with a refund according to the following timelines:
Notice given to DD two (2) or more months before the workshop: Registration is 100% refundable.
Notice given to DD less than two (2) months but more than one (1) month before workshop: DD will refund 50% of Participant’s registration fee.
Notice given to DD less than one (1) month before workshop: Registration is non-refundable.
This policy is subject to change. DD will notify registered participants of any changes to this policy.