Team Building
As part of my role leading a team of Product Designers, I organised and facilitated a multiple team onsite designed to strengthen collaboration, align on team goals, and nurture a culture of ownership and innovation. Operating within a hybrid model, the team spanned multiple product streams, so creating space for focused connection and strategic alignment was essential.
The onsite combined skill-sharing sessions, design retrospectives, and roadmap discussions—tailored to each designer’s growth and our broader department vision. My goal was to foster deeper cross-team cohesion, celebrate our progress, and create shared momentum around where we were heading next.
Product Design Team Skills Mapping
Product Design Team Skills Mapping is a collaborative exercise I’ve facilitated to help our Product Design team better understand our collective strengths, identify skill gaps, and shape our development priorities. As designers, we wear many hats—from discovery and research to delivery—and this activity makes visible where each of us has depth, and where we have opportunities to grow.
We started by mapping our individual skill sets using a radar chart, rating ourselves across a range of core design competencies. Once everyone had completed their self-assessments, we reviewed the collective map together to discuss where we’re strongest, where we may have single points of coverage, and what areas might benefit from upskilling or future hires.
The session not only gave us a clearer picture of our overall team shape, but also empowered each designer to choose one area to focus on in their personal development plan. It was a valuable way to align growth efforts with team needs—and to foster a sense of shared responsibility for evolving our design practice.
Team Leap
Team Leap is an alignment workshop I’ve run with my design team to help us better understand each other’s goals, working styles, and priorities—especially during moments of change, like kicking off a major initiative or welcoming new team members.
The session starts with individual reflection through a worksheet, where each person takes time to think about how they work best and what they’re focusing on. We then regroup to share our responses, ask questions, and gather any emerging themes or key takeaways—like time-off plans, communication preferences, or personal development goals.
From there, we co-create a set of team norms—agreements around how we want to work together moving forward—and align on our core rituals, such as design critiques, async updates, and planning cadences.
It’s a simple but powerful way to reset expectations, build empathy, and set the team up for healthy, collaborative momentum.
SWOT Analysis
SWOT Analysis is an activity I’ve used with my team as part of our personal development planning. It’s a simple yet powerful tool that helps each designer reflect on their current strengths, identify areas for growth, and uncover opportunities that might otherwise go unnoticed. The aim is to reframe perceived weaknesses and threats into actionable steps for development—ultimately turning them into strengths.
During the session, each designer completed their own SWOT Analysis on their personal development board, using it as a snapshot of where they were at the start of the year. I encouraged the team to revisit their 360 feedback from the previous year to ground their reflections and make the exercise as insightful as possible.
This activity gave everyone a structured way to check in on their growth trajectory, set meaningful goals, and approach development with intention and self-awareness. It also created a great foundation for future check-ins each quarter.
Psychological Safety
Psychological Safety is something I actively work to foster within my team, not as an end goal, but as the foundation for collaboration, innovation, and growth. I ran this session to create space for open reflection on how we show up as a team—and to build shared responsibility for creating an environment where everyone feels safe to speak up, take risks, and learn from mistakes.
We began by grounding ourselves in what psychological safety means: the belief that no one will be punished or humiliated for sharing ideas, asking questions, raising concerns, or admitting mistakes. I shared key principles—like replacing criticism with curiosity, modelling vulnerability as a leader, and giving/receiving feedback with gratitude. We also talked about the importance of structures and behaviours that encourage safety at all levels of the team.
From there, we brainstormed what psychological safety should look like for us—not just as a concept, but as a set of actions we could start, stop, and continue in our daily work. The session gave us language to talk about trust more openly and led to small but meaningful shifts in how we collaborate, give feedback, and support each other.
Networking
Networking is a capability I actively encourage within my team—not just for career development, but as a way to break out of the company bubble, build diverse perspectives, and uncover unexpected opportunities. I ran this session to help the team reframe what networking means and recognize the long-term value it brings to both individuals and the broader organisation.
We began by discussing the many benefits of networking: from sensing industry trends and avoiding groupthink, to building confidence, learning from others, and raising one’s professional profile. I introduced ideas from thought leaders like David Burkus, who highlights the power of reconnecting with dormant contacts, and Rick Turoczy, who reframes networking as “connecting the dots”—removing the pressure of immediate value and instead focusing on authentic, long-term connections.
To make it actionable, I challenged the team to take simple steps: reach out to five dormant connections, and schedule a casual coffee with one “friend of a friend.” We also talked about how to enable stronger internal networks—reducing silos, sharing knowledge, and strengthening cross-functional collaboration.
We committed to checking in each quarter to see how our networks and visibility have evolved. It was a refreshing, low-pressure way to bring intentionality and momentum to something that often feels daunting or overlooked.
Competitor Design Critique Walkthroughs
Competitor Design Critique Walkthrough is a session I ran to highlight design critique skills and market awareness. I kicked things off with a live walkthrough of a key competitor’s product—highlighting key UX patterns, design choices, and overall product strategy through a critical lens.
After the walkthrough, I shared my own SWOT analysis of the competitor’s design: calling out its strengths, where it falls short, and what opportunities or threats it might pose in relation to our own product. This helped set the stage for a deeper conversation about differentiation and where we might learn or leap ahead.
From there, I handed things over to the team with a DIY session—inviting everyone to explore the competitor’s software hands-on and run their own critiques. This sparked thoughtful discussion, challenged assumptions, and generated fresh ideas we could bring back into our own work.