CULTURE CARDS
Culture Design
Cards for organisational design workshop
Role: Designer & Researcher
Cards for organisational design workshop
Role: Designer & Researcher
Design workshops often require assets to prompt conversation and for participants to use during exercises. In this case, I created ten A5 cards for August (aug.co) to use in a workshop with a client, to explore different kinds of organisational designs.
PROCESS
1. Understanding the brief
The brief was to create 10 prompt cards with best, worst and the in-between of types of organisational design. It was especially useful to go broad and include very different types of organisations.
2. Research
I did desktop research on best of class ways of working whilst remotely consulting colleagues interested in team culture. I asked them what companies they found best, worst and why in terms of company culture.
3. Synthesis
Synthesising as I went was important, so keeping a handwritten list close by helped. I also had a doc opened on my computer where I copy pasted quotes and interesting paragraphs. It was important to store my sources so I could revisit them later. I took breaks from doing research to focus on the layout of the cards.
1. Understanding the brief
The brief was to create 10 prompt cards with best, worst and the in-between of types of organisational design. It was especially useful to go broad and include very different types of organisations.
2. Research
I did desktop research on best of class ways of working whilst remotely consulting colleagues interested in team culture. I asked them what companies they found best, worst and why in terms of company culture.
3. Synthesis
Synthesising as I went was important, so keeping a handwritten list close by helped. I also had a doc opened on my computer where I copy pasted quotes and interesting paragraphs. It was important to store my sources so I could revisit them later. I took breaks from doing research to focus on the layout of the cards.
3. Layout
Once the research was shaping up and examples where becoming more apparent, I stopped doing deep dives into articles and papers. Instead I used Illustrator to create a final layout for the cards.
Once the layout was working for most of the cards I began 'production mode'. Production mode is less about content and more about form. Here is where all the pixel pushing happens: doing it before is a waste of time because I run the risk of restricting the content to make the artwork look good, rather than including the content that matters and worrying about 'looks' later.
4. Preparing the cards for delivery
Before sending out any artwork I proofread the work and show it to someone else at least, to get feedback. Once I was happy with the cards I labelled the illustrator files and PDF's properly, zipped them into a folder and shared it with the client.
Once the research was shaping up and examples where becoming more apparent, I stopped doing deep dives into articles and papers. Instead I used Illustrator to create a final layout for the cards.
Once the layout was working for most of the cards I began 'production mode'. Production mode is less about content and more about form. Here is where all the pixel pushing happens: doing it before is a waste of time because I run the risk of restricting the content to make the artwork look good, rather than including the content that matters and worrying about 'looks' later.
4. Preparing the cards for delivery
Before sending out any artwork I proofread the work and show it to someone else at least, to get feedback. Once I was happy with the cards I labelled the illustrator files and PDF's properly, zipped them into a folder and shared it with the client.
Outcome
The ten cards were used in the workshop and helped consultants and participants through their conversation around team cultures.
Learnings
I learnt that a lot can be done if you have experience delivering workshops, doing research, synthesis and presentation of findings under pressure. More time would have been dedicated to deciding which examples were better than others, essentially creating choice so only the best cards came forward. I still think the output was of high quality and responded to the brief well.
It was lovely to help August in this project. I also love preparing and delivering workshops, so I'd definitely do something like this again.
The ten cards were used in the workshop and helped consultants and participants through their conversation around team cultures.
Learnings
I learnt that a lot can be done if you have experience delivering workshops, doing research, synthesis and presentation of findings under pressure. More time would have been dedicated to deciding which examples were better than others, essentially creating choice so only the best cards came forward. I still think the output was of high quality and responded to the brief well.
It was lovely to help August in this project. I also love preparing and delivering workshops, so I'd definitely do something like this again.
~
Bibliography
Farag, M. (2017). The Rise and Fall of a Teal NGO. [online] Ssir.org. Available at: https://ssir.org/articles/entry/the_rise_and_fall_of_a_teal_ngo [Accessed 29 Sep. 2018].
Home. (2018). Case Examples of Successful Journeys. [online] Available at: http://www.reinventingorganizationswiki.com/Case_Examples_of_Successful_Journeys [Accessed 29 Sep. 2018].
Home. (2018). Organisational Structure. [online] Available at: http://www.reinventingorganizationswiki.com/Organizational_Structure [Accessed 29 Sep. 2018].
Home. (2018). Case Examples of Successful Journeys. [online] Available at: http://www.reinventingorganizationswiki.com/Case_Examples_of_Successful_Journeys#Valve [Accessed 29 Dec. 2018].
Kamer, J. (2018). How to Build Your Own "Spotify Model". [online] Agile CIO. Available at: http://www.agilecio.net/blog/2018/2/18/how-to-build-your-own-spotify-model [Accessed 29 Sep. 2018].
Mendes, E. (2018). Why it's Time to Re-design Company Structures – flux – Medium. [online] Medium. Available at: https://medium.com/thingsflux/why-its-time-to-re-design-company-structures-f6a17c82f2b4 [Accessed 29 Sep. 2018].
Morgan, J. (2018). The Complete Guide To The 5 Types Of Organizational Structures For The Future Of Work. [online] Medium. Available at: https://medium.com/jacob-morgan/the-complete-guide-to-the-5-types-of-organizational-structures-for-the-future-of-work-ae9b646a8aaf [Accessed 29 Sep. 2018].
Bernstein, E., Bunch, J., Canner, N. and Lee, M. (2018). Beyond the Holacracy Hype. [online] Harvard Business Review. Available at: https://hbr.org/2016/07/beyond-the-holacracy-hype [Accessed 29 Sep. 2018].
The Deloitte Network. (2018). [online] Available at: https://www2.deloitte.com/content/dam/Deloitte/global/Documents/HumanCapital/gx-dup-global-human-capital-trends-2016.pdf [Accessed 29 Dec. 2018].
Pink, D. (2018). Drive. [S.l.]: Canongate Books Ltd.
Brown, B. (2010) The power of vulnerability. Available at: https://www.ted.com/talks/brene_brown_on_vulnerabi...">https://www.ted.com/talks/brene_brown_on_vulnerabi.... (Accessed 29 Sep. 2018).
Farag, M. (2017). The Rise and Fall of a Teal NGO. [online] Ssir.org. Available at: https://ssir.org/articles/entry/the_rise_and_fall_of_a_teal_ngo [Accessed 29 Sep. 2018].
Home. (2018). Case Examples of Successful Journeys. [online] Available at: http://www.reinventingorganizationswiki.com/Case_Examples_of_Successful_Journeys [Accessed 29 Sep. 2018].
Home. (2018). Organisational Structure. [online] Available at: http://www.reinventingorganizationswiki.com/Organizational_Structure [Accessed 29 Sep. 2018].
Home. (2018). Case Examples of Successful Journeys. [online] Available at: http://www.reinventingorganizationswiki.com/Case_Examples_of_Successful_Journeys#Valve [Accessed 29 Dec. 2018].
Kamer, J. (2018). How to Build Your Own "Spotify Model". [online] Agile CIO. Available at: http://www.agilecio.net/blog/2018/2/18/how-to-build-your-own-spotify-model [Accessed 29 Sep. 2018].
Mendes, E. (2018). Why it's Time to Re-design Company Structures – flux – Medium. [online] Medium. Available at: https://medium.com/thingsflux/why-its-time-to-re-design-company-structures-f6a17c82f2b4 [Accessed 29 Sep. 2018].
Morgan, J. (2018). The Complete Guide To The 5 Types Of Organizational Structures For The Future Of Work. [online] Medium. Available at: https://medium.com/jacob-morgan/the-complete-guide-to-the-5-types-of-organizational-structures-for-the-future-of-work-ae9b646a8aaf [Accessed 29 Sep. 2018].
Bernstein, E., Bunch, J., Canner, N. and Lee, M. (2018). Beyond the Holacracy Hype. [online] Harvard Business Review. Available at: https://hbr.org/2016/07/beyond-the-holacracy-hype [Accessed 29 Sep. 2018].
The Deloitte Network. (2018). [online] Available at: https://www2.deloitte.com/content/dam/Deloitte/global/Documents/HumanCapital/gx-dup-global-human-capital-trends-2016.pdf [Accessed 29 Dec. 2018].
Pink, D. (2018). Drive. [S.l.]: Canongate Books Ltd.
Brown, B. (2010) The power of vulnerability. Available at: https://www.ted.com/talks/brene_brown_on_vulnerabi...">https://www.ted.com/talks/brene_brown_on_vulnerabi.... (Accessed 29 Sep. 2018).
