D(esign) Playbook - People

Continued Growth & Ownership

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Keys to Continued Growth & Ownership:

Continued Growth - Insist on firm funded annual professional growth plans. This includes consider levels of time and expense. It also requires, once a business case is made and accepted, that the execution of this plan is carefully undertaken. Unique considerations include i.) whether to place a max limit on the number of team members attending the same event (challenges include interruption of delivery and perception concerns for certain firm types) ii.) whether funding should be restricted to certificate bearing experiences or whether any type of domain specification should be a check (sometimes a non-traditional learning experience could well serve the individual and the team) iii.) Will you support a difference of spend between different levels of team members (e.g. is a director held to the same spend expectation as a junior associate) iv.) Finally, a recommendation to create as streamlined and transparent process for individuals to submit for approval plans….with the additional benefit of making it possible to retain/transfer funds when there are complications or changes to plans.

Ownership - Meaning, developing a system of support and delivery that checks against the oft extant concern of “micromanagement.” To achieve this, it is crucial (especially for manager <-> associate pairs who are new) that i.) expectations of delivery and communication/review are clearly communicated by the person manager ii.) said person manager follows through with effective review and critique according to the agreed expectations iii.) trust develops as associates prove their ability to meet and/or exceed expectations as agreed and as a result iv.) more autonomous ownership can be agreed upon.

Citations/Learn More:

*Last updated 4/24/2020, please note this is for the purpose of allowing me to document and evolve my thoughts, experiences, and approach. I’d very much appreciate the opportunity to learn from you sharing yours. Reach out to me at jaydubois@gmail.com or @jaydubois