Colin Greenwood, Creative Director of UX&D at the ´óÏó´«Ã½ in Salford, shares his insight into these factors and how they improve the culture of his team.

Strive for alignment

I don't think human beings are naturally very good listeners, or at least I'm not. We hear what we want to hear. So job number one is to get the team aligned around a common goal. This can be a grand strategic vision, or just hitting a target, but the effect is the same: there's the obvious thing of everyone pulling in the same direction and the more subtle thing which is that, even where there's disagreements, it's much easier to assume good intent because you know you've got the same goal in mind.

Create a safe space

It's a quirk of our psychological make-up that if we're stressed, we'll focus all our energies on solving the source of the stress regardless of the task we've been set. For those of you working in agencies this is why pitching is so hard: you have to think of something brilliant, under huge pressure. You're not designed to do that! So a sense of safety is really important if you're to get the best out of your teams. Creativity is risk: you have to create an environment where people feel able to take risks.

Stay humble

As well as technical skill and creativity, I'd definitely say that humility is a core attribute of a good designer. I heard someone say the other day they try to have strong opinions, loosely held, which pretty much captures it. One person can create the kernel of a brilliant idea, but it's different people's perspectives, experiences and energies that can really help to shape into something awesome.

Be honest

You have to be kind and constructive, but also honest. It's a hard balance, especially when you're also trying create a sense of safety. When designers are overly positive and shy away from constructive feedback, this only creates a false sense of security. Collaboration isn't just about sharing ideas and working on something together — it's about being honest when something needs improving whilst instilling confidence in the receiver.

The design leader's role

My role at the ´óÏó´«Ã½ is about making us one of the very best places to work, from the day-to-day tools we use, the services we consume to the working culture at the ´óÏó´«Ã½. There are many moving parts and we'd be nowhere without close collaboration with like-minded teams across the ´óÏó´«Ã½.

There are two things that I help my teams do:

Break down the barriers

In large organisations like the ´óÏó´«Ã½, it's not uncommon for staff to work remotely or for teams and managers to be scattered across multiple locations. Physical distance can create a barrier to both good relationships and getting things done. I'm based in Salford and my team are in London, so this something we've had to figure out.

One way to 'break down the barriers' between dispersed teams is to establish set forms of communication for certain tasks. Within our team, client and official communications will always be sent via email, whilst informal questions, quick chats and phone calls are kept to Slack.

Another is to recognise that through the magic of modern digital witchcraft, people working off-site are just as available as those co-located. Rather than asking permission or setting up a meeting, you need to treat a phone or video call as the same as turning to speak to someone at the desk next to you.

You also need to be more conscious of meeting dynamics and recognise that it's easy for the remote folks to get sidelined. Firstly check that they can actually hear what's going on! Secondly make a point of asking for their opinion, rather than assuming they'll pipe up as it can hard to interrupt the flow of the people in the room.

Finally, you need to recognise that there are times when a face-to-face meeting is the best solution for effective collaboration. Kick-off meetings, big co-design sessions and relationship building are hard to do via remote working tools (although we are experimenting with remote workshops and having surprising success!)

Find common ground

´óÏó´«Ã½ involves collaborating with a huge range of teams across the ´óÏó´«Ã½. This means a huge range of cultures and huge range of familiarity with, and appetite for, design.

Like all teams, we have our successes and our dead ends, and it's important to keep positive. Rather than stomping off in an artistic huff, we always assume good intent, recognise that our view is partial and actively seek to find the common ground with our colleagues. As an old ´óÏó´«Ã½ hand said to me "It's going to be awesome, just not quite as soon as you'd hoped". In the employee experience space, we have to play a very long game, and by finding the common ground, building relationships and planting the seeds of future opportunities, we might lose the odd battle but hopefully we'll win the war.

This article is part of our Studio Culture series, which explores the important factors that help design teams excel and collaborate effectively.