UX Manager Relationships
Hi Reader,
I sure hope your weekend was as sunny as mine. Berlin is just a totally different city when the weather is great. It’s funny how sometimes even little things can have huge effects. While my family was on vacation this week, I spent most of my time working on the material for my session at Leadership Ateliers in May.
One major topic I‘ll discuss that greatly affects career success is the relationship with your manager. Whether you’re a UX manager yourself or in an individual contributor role, the better you manage your manager, the more likely you will be able to grow in and beyond your role. Here are some aspects of relationships with UX managers that I feel deserve more attention.
Consider their role
The higher you climb on the career ladder, the more likely you are to report to someone outside the design field. Many UXers in leadership roles report to product management at some level.
This comes with a whole set of challenges. Managers from different disciplines may need to learn exactly how UX can be utilized best. They are led by goals and methods that have different needs. Expecting them to simply deliver the tools and processes your team needs most likely won‘t lead to success. Instead, make yourself aware of your manager’s motivations, background, and needs. If you don’t understand your manager, it will be hard for you to contribute to their goals with your UX work, but ultimately, that is what is expected of you.
Help them manage
Whether your manager is a fellow UX professional or not, managing a field as broad as UX can be challenging, and they may rely on your active support. Don‘t just expect your manager to give orders and directions. Help them by providing the necessary information to make the right decisions for your team, the company, and the product you’re building.
Rules of engagement
In my experience, many conflicts and disappointments with managers happen because of unclarity in the level of autonomy and responsibility. Make sure both you and your manager have clarity on who gets to decide what. As a UX designer, you need to be responsible for designing the right solutions. Align with your manager on how far this responsibility stretches and at what level they need to be involved.
Good managers give their UX teams sufficient autonomy to design solutions and give guidance to avoid setting them up for failure. Especially when you begin working with a new manager, it may require extra communication to determine what level of autonomy and engagement is right for your relationship.
Managers are in your corner
One of the tougher things I had to learn as a manager was that the design team no longer truly considered me as one of them. After all, I now had the power to judge their performance. However, many forget that most managers want to see you do well. We have no incentive to see you fail. Quite frankly, if our team members fail, we fail. So, naturally, good managers want to help their team members grow and evolve. Consider us as a coach in your corner. But helping you develop is not a one-way street. Your manager likely doesn’t always see all your areas of development and strengths. The more you work with them to openly share what you feel strong in, what areas of UX you struggle with, and most importantly, what you would like to achieve, the better they can help you.
Don‘t just wait for your performance evaluations to check in with your manager. Work with them to set up a development plan and use regular 1:1s for feedback. Trust me, a good manager will be thankful. You’re making their life a whole lot easier, and your career growth will speed up significantly.
Challenge your manager
Like all of us, your manager depends on feedback for personal and professional development. In the field of UX, many leaders aren‘t trained managers. Good individual contributors are often promoted to management roles based on their performance as individuals. However, management is an entirely different job that requires adjustment and a new set of skills. Unless you find yourself in a totally toxic environment (which is a topic for another email), helping your manager become better by providing feedback on what they are doing well and what they are screwing up could be considered a part of your role as a team member. After all, we can‘t fix what we can‘t see ourselves. Be as kind and candid as you expect your manager to be.
Join me and a great list of other UX leaders at Leadership Ateliers in Berlin on May 15th and 16th to learn and exchange about UX leadership and management. There are still some tickets left.
Articles & Resources
The ‘management carousel’ inhibits UX professional growth, Peter Merholz
In this article, Peter Merholz discusses some of the difficulties in helping UX professionals grow. Some great tips for current or becoming managers.
How to NOT Be a Bad Design Manager
Nate Schloesser takes an open and honest look at managers' responsibilities and how we might fail. I suggest reading this with the idea of “how can I be helpful and supportive” in mind.
Is UX Management for Me?
Slides of my session sharing some insights and considerations for those who are considering a UX management path (download from my resources page).
Reflective Question
Think back to a good relationship you have had with a colleague or manager. How did you contribute to making this a great relationship, and how might you apply this behavior to other relationships?
Have a spectacularly sunny week,
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Marvin Olukayode Hassan
UX Design Manager & Career Coach
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