The client & us!? Applying a balanced team mindset in agencies

The client & us!?Applying a balanced team mindset in agencies

Johanna Kollmann - @johannakollBalanced Team Conference, 24 September 2011

Photo by NASA Marshall Space Flight Center http://www.flickr.com/photos/28634332@N05/4941688795/

Photo by Frank Kovalchek http://www.flickr.com/photos/72213316@N00/5531444032//

My definition of a ‘balanced team’

Photo by Frank Kovalchek http://www.flickr.com/photos/72213316@N00/5531444032//

A multi-skilled, collaborative team that is self-empowered, free to choose the best way to achieve what they’ve

set out to do, with a culture of learning and skill-sharing.

I work in an agency!

Team A: we are your department

• Financial services client

• Long-term relationship (years!)

• Experience planning, design, development, business

analysis

• The client sits with us

Team B: we are your consultants

• Retail client

• Building a long-term relationship

• In-house staff, us, plenty of 3rd parties

• We spend a lot of time at the client’s

Key success factors

• You work on one account at a time

• Collaborative planning instead of account managers who

‘sell resources’

• Everybody on board from the beginning

Key challenges

• Can us + client + 3rd parties = 1 product team?

• In the end, it’s about money

• The boom of freelancing!

What tripped us up

Neglecting the basics:

• process

• rituals

• work environment

Why did that happen?

• Team A got too comfortable

• Team B had people drop in and out

• Both moved workspace

Photo by Dirk Jan Ranzijn http://www.flickr.com/photos/dirkscircusimages/6155373806/

Balancing requires attention and adjustment

It’s constant and conscious

Agile adoption in agencies: my observations

Collaboration rituals

Client involvement

‘the right fidelity’

Prototyping

Teams, not departments

Mini-waterfalls

Angst management tools

Deliverables, deliverables

Oh research, where art

thou?

Roles, not responsibilities

What makes me feel out of balance

• Customer feedback & research not (enough) part of the

design process

• Resourcing, roles and egos

• Project vs. product

• Learning, coaching, pairing

I’d love your input, please

• Traditional UX agency business model is threatened

• It’s very early days – agile still scares large clients

• Process vs mindset

• Any stories to share?