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Nicholas Tenhue Management Manifesto I'm not keen on telling people what to do. I believe that the people I work with are smart problem solvers, so I will try to support your decision-making process (even if it's not the way I would do things). Always feel free to ask for help and make suggestions and guide you down the correct path (occasionally I'll give advice when you don't ask for it, but this usually means I've experienced that situation before and have something to contribute). If there is a time when I feel very strongly about a decision, I'll always present evidence to make my case. On the UX team, we let the data make decisions. There may be times when things outside my influence stop us from doing what we think is right, but believe me that I'll always work toward outcomes that are best for the UX team and the 'user.' Some key things about the way I work: I want to facilitate and empower individuals on the team to help them reach their full potential - tell me what you want to achieve, and we'll work together to reach those goals. I will do my best to take the heat when there is pressure from elsewhere - if you're having an issue come and tell me. Think of me as a guide and an enabler for you to do what's best for users of our products. I'm not the type to shout or dictate instructions - there is work to be done, I will help drive you and enable you to succeed. I won't take credit for the things you do; we celebrate success as a team. I will give you feedback, and I expect you to do the same - whether it's negative or positive I want to hear it; otherwise we can't improve and perform. I don't buy into a 60-hour week schedule. There will be times when we need to put in extra work to reach a milestone, but I don't want to make these the norm. I'll strive to communicate with various stakeholders to ensure that we achieve visibility on upcoming work, so we have time to plan. Burnout isn't cool. The work we produce is always better when the objectives are clear, the team is happy, and processes are well understood. If you feel that: Your skills aren't being well utilized You don't know to proceed in a certain situation You don't understand the problem you're trying to solve Come and talk to me and we'll take action to remove these issues.

UX Management Manifesto - Nicholas Tenhue

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Page 1: UX Management Manifesto - Nicholas Tenhue

NicholasTenhueManagementManifesto I'mnotkeenontellingpeoplewhattodo.IbelievethatthepeopleIworkwitharesmartproblemsolvers,soIwilltrytosupportyourdecision-makingprocess(evenifit'snotthewayIwoulddothings).Alwaysfeelfreetoaskforhelpandmakesuggestionsandguideyoudownthecorrectpath(occasionallyI'llgiveadvicewhenyoudon'taskforit,butthisusuallymeansI'veexperiencedthatsituationbeforeandhavesomethingtocontribute).IfthereisatimewhenIfeelverystronglyaboutadecision,I'llalwayspresentevidencetomakemycase.OntheUXteam,weletthedatamakedecisions.Theremaybetimeswhenthingsoutsidemyinfluencestopusfromdoingwhatwethinkisright,butbelievemethatI'llalwaysworktowardoutcomesthatarebestfortheUXteamandthe'user.'SomekeythingsaboutthewayIwork:

• Iwanttofacilitateandempowerindividualsontheteamtohelpthemreachtheirfullpotential-tellmewhatyouwanttoachieve,andwe'llworktogethertoreachthosegoals.

• Iwilldomybesttotaketheheatwhenthereispressurefromelsewhere-ifyou'rehavinganissuecomeandtellme.

• Thinkofmeasaguideandanenablerforyoutodowhat'sbestforusersofourproducts.

• I'mnotthetypetoshoutordictateinstructions-thereisworktobedone,Iwillhelpdriveyouandenableyoutosucceed.

• Iwon'ttakecreditforthethingsyoudo;wecelebratesuccessasateam.• Iwillgiveyoufeedback,andIexpectyoutodothesame-whetherit'snegativeor

positiveIwanttohearit;otherwisewecan'timproveandperform.Idon'tbuyintoa60-hourweekschedule.Therewillbetimeswhenweneedtoputinextraworktoreachamilestone,butIdon'twanttomakethesethenorm.I'llstrivetocommunicatewithvariousstakeholderstoensurethatweachievevisibilityonupcomingwork,sowehavetimetoplan.Burnoutisn'tcool.Theworkweproduceisalwaysbetterwhentheobjectivesareclear,theteamishappy,andprocessesarewellunderstood.Ifyoufeelthat:

• Yourskillsaren'tbeingwellutilized• Youdon'tknowtoproceedinacertainsituation

• Youdon'tunderstandtheproblemyou'retryingtosolve

Comeandtalktomeandwe'lltakeactiontoremovetheseissues.

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1 Decisionmaking

Forme,decisionmakingisateamsport.It'syourroletoadvocatefortheuser.Useyourvoicetoarticulateforwhatisbestfortheuserandpresentevidencetosupportyourclaim.Youmightnotwineverybattle,butbyspeakingup,wecandrivethebusinesstowardcustomercentricityandcreaterealvalue.Weallcommunicatemorecoherentlyindifferentways;shareyouropinioninameeting,inawell-craftedemail,oraone-to-oneconversation.Whateverworksbestforyou,aslongasitistimelyandtherelevantpeoplehearyourvoice.

2 Continualalignment

I'mnotafanofbigunveilingswheredesignsgetshownaftertheyaremadepixelperfect.Showmeyourdesignsasworks-in-progress,andwecanhaveproductivedesigncritiques.

3 Meetings,meetings,meetings

Ibelieveallmeetingsshouldhaveanagenda,adistinctivepurposeoraim,andactionableoutcomes.Ifameetingisnotthemostefficientcommunicationmethod,declineandreachoutinanotherway.FeelfreetocallmeoutifI'mdraggingyoutoameetingthatdoesn'tmeetthiscriterion.

4 Oneonones

1:1sareyourtime,soit'suptoyoutomakethemostofthem.Iwillaskhowyou'redoingandletyouknowwhatI'mworkingon,butthisisalsoachanceforyoutosuggestthingsandletmeknowhowI'mdoingasyourmanager.Again,differentpeoplepreferdifferentstylesofcommunication-ifyouwouldpreferupdatingeachotherviaemail,that'sfine,butIthinkface-to-facecommunicationisagoodwaytobuildrapport.Ifyoufeelthatyouneedmorethanourallotted1:1timeslottodiscusssomethingimportant,scheduleameetinginmycalendar(seemynoteonmeetingsabove).

5 Collaborationwithotherteams

Collaborationiskeytosuccess;withoutalignmentthingsoftengetmiscommunicated,andthingsstarttofallapart.TherearemanytoolsinourUXtoolboxthatwecanusetofacilitatecross-functionalgroupcollaboration.Comeandtellmeifyouarehavingtroublearticulatingdesigndecisionsorcommunicatingconceptswithotherteams;I'mmorethanhappytorunaworkshopandsharetoolsyouneedtodiscussUXandproblemsolve.

6 Openandtransparent

Istrivetocreateanenvironmentwhereconstructivediscussionscanhappen.Youshouldfeelconfidentinyourabilitytopushbackwhenyoudon'tagreewithsomething.Weareallona

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levelplayingfield,andyoushouldfeelcomfortablewhenraisingissueswithme.IfIdon'tknowtheanswertoaquestion,Iwilltellyou,"Idon'tknow."IfIknowtheanswerandcantellyou,Iwill;ifIknowtheanswerbutisitnotappropriatetoshare,I'llsay,"Iknow,butIcannottellyoubecause..."Weworkinanenvironmentwherecertaininformationisnotminetoshare,butIwillneverwithholdinformationunlessIhavebeenspecificallyaskedtodoso.

7 WhatIexpectfromyou

Showupandgetexcitedabouttheproductswe'rebuilding.Thinkaboutwaystoapproachproblemswiththeend-useratthecenterofeverythingyoudo.Alwayslearnnewthingsandsharewhatyoulearnwiththeteam;useourknowledgesharingsessionsatavenuetohelpotherslearnnewthings.Helpuschangethecompanyculturetoadesign-drivenanduser-centeredone.FormopinionsbasedondetailedanalysisofuserneedsUCDbestpractices,secondaryresearch,andinsightsfromyourpeers.Presentyourconclusionsandbepreparedtodefendthemwithreliableevidence.Whenthingsdon'twork,andsomebodyelsegivesastrongerargument,bewillingtopivot.Mistakesandsetbackswilloccurduringourtimetogether;Iaskthatinsteadofcoveringupyourmistakes,thatyoudiscussandlearnfromthemtobecomeabetterdesigner,researcher,andproblemsolver.

8 Howtoconnectwithme

I'mavailableatalmostallhoursoftheweek,especiallywhenthesubjectisurgent.Youmightgetanoddemailormessagefrommeoutsideofworkhours(asIworkthroughmyemail'backlog'),butIdon'thaveanyexpectationforyoutoreplyoutsidebusinesshours.Nobonuspointsforweekendemails.Phone:021729158Email:[email protected]:I'musuallyintheofficeduringworkhours,don'thesitatetointerruptmeifyouhaveaquestionSlack:MessageswithGIFsgetafasterreplyLinkedin:https://www.linkedin.com/in/nicholastenhueTwitter:https://twitter.com/nicholastenhue

9 Stealthisdocument

IwrotethisdocumentafterreadingAugustdelosReyes'(HeadofDesignatPinterest)managementmanifesto.Heencouragedpeopletostealhismanifestoandmakeittheirown.Iinviteyoutodothesameandwritedownwhatpeoplecanexpectfromyouandshareitwithyourpeers;itwillactasareminderofhowwewanttoworktogether.