Where makers become managers
As a designer, you’ve cultivated a set of skills to craft quality products and brands for others. Now you’re transitioning from maker to manager and navigating expectations about impact while learning a completely new set of skills—and you’re expected to fly when you’re just figuring out how to walk. (No pressure!)
This design leadership workshop was created to give you the support and guidance you need to become a truly great design leader. We’ll help you assess your leadership skills and learn the fundamentals of managing a team. You’ll reach the other side equipped with the tools and strategies for structuring and supporting your team members so they can deliver excellent design.
Please note this is a three-part series. Participants must attend all sessions:
November 30, 2023 9am - 2pm Pacific
December 7, 2023 9am - 2pm Pacific
December 14, 2023 9am - 2pm Pacific
REGISTRATION CLOSED
We know getting educational budget isn’t always easy, so our experienced managers wrote your reimbursement requests for you.
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What participants are saying
“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.”
“A firehose of excellent frameworks and thought starts to help you approach management with intentionality.”
“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.”
Design Leadership Fundamentals:
is a live, remote workshop (sessions will not be recorded)
is a 3-part series (each part is 5 hours)
is intended for new and early-career managers or for senior individual contributors contemplating a management role
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
equips you with strategies for growing a team and designing your organization, especially in startup and hyper-growth environments
What you'll learn
This leadership workshop provides perspectives and tools to help answer questions such as:
How do I stay creative?
What skills do I need to become a successful leader?
How do I build a great team?
How do I create a healthy team culture?
How do I make sure my team delivers excellent design?
How do I handle design critiques?
How do I navigate tough conversations?
How do I protect and prioritize my own time?
Who should attend
Design Leadership Fundamentals is for Managers (new and early career). Creative functions include (but are not limited to):
Product design
Brand design
Content design/strategy
Research
Creative ops
Schedule overview*
Day 1
9:00am
Welcome
9:30
Leadership as a creative practice
Design Leadership Skill Wheel
1030
Break
11:00
Designing design teams
11:30pm
Break
12:00pm
Designing design teams (cont.)
2:00pm
Wrap
Day 2
9:00am
Ensuring design excellence
10:30
Break
11:00
Ensuring design excellence (cont.)
12:30pm
Break
1:00pm
Cultivating Culture
2:00pm
Wrap
Day 3
9:00am
Catalyzing performance
11:00
Break
12:00
Designing your time
12:40pm
Break
1:00pm
Q&A with Design Leaders
2:00pm
Wrap
* Schedule may change
Session Details
Leadership as a creative practice
Many designers fear that in becoming a manager, they’ll lose their connection with creativity and making. But leadership too can be a creative role. This design leadership course will help you learn how to think differently about your design skills so you can leverage them in new and evolving responsibilities.
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 design teams
Successful design teams don’t just happen—they’re structured with intention. This design management course will help you learn how to recruit and grow a team that aligns with your purpose, delivers great experiences, and helps you excel as a leader.
Cultivating culture
Culture emerges from interactions within an organization, not from what we say it should be or think it should be. You can’t directly design culture, but you do have the power to design the system that fosters it. In this design leadership course, you’ll learn how to design experiments that leverage different elements of the system—your org—to enable a good culture to emerge.
Ensuring excellence
As a new manager, you’re making a move from solving the problem yourself (as an IC) to ensuring that your team solves the problem. But you have to make sure they’re solving the right problem, using the right processes, on a tight deadline, without compromising one iota of quality. (No pressure!) This design leadership course provides an overview of the fundamentals you need to ensure excellent output from your team—like how to set a vision and how to instill quality execution across the organization.
Catalyzing performance
Managing performance is one of the biggest challenges for all people leaders. Often as a manager, you’re evaluated on your team’s performance, so if you’re not helping them excel, it reflects directly back on you. Through connection, real-time feedback, and coaching, you can accelerate a person’s progress and continued growth. In this creative management course, learn how catalyzing individual team members can activate and maximize the potential of the entire team.
Design your time
The urgent always seems to win over the important—unless you design your time. This design leadership course provides a framework you can use to evaluate impact and effort. You’ll learn how to better value your time, as well as how to prioritize and protect it.
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.