How to join a team

Transcript

1. How to Join a
   Team
   Meghan Byrnes-Borderan — Head of Design for CapCo
   
   Ivis Mas — Head of Design for OnDeck
   
   Jackie Velasquez-Ross — Senior Recruiter for InVision
   
   Skipper Chong Warson — Design Director for Shep and 

   Host of How This Works
   17 Oct 2020
   SXSW panel proposal 2021
   

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2. We are in the midst of a huge change and shift in terms of
   how we live and we work. What’s going to happen on the
   other end, we have no idea. For many of us, it’s a kind of
   alien landscape for those of us who are lucky enough to
   have work. In the next room, we might have kids doing
   “remote” school. It might even be the same room. Work is
   happening in our home space, home is happening in our
   work space. Days are full of video meetings and emails/
   messages at all hours.
   How do we help support our coworkers, teams, and
   ourselves to do our best work?
   2
   

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3. Whether you’re coming into
   an existing structure, starting
   with yourself as the first
   person in the group, or
   something else altogether —
   there are a number of ways
   to get yourself, your team,
   and your organization all on
   the same foot.
   3
   

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4. 4
   Start with values
   Every group has their own system of values —
   whether they’re published or not. How does gravity
   work in this world? Does it make doing our jobs
   easier or harder?
   
   Is there a set of shared values for the group you’re
   in? Is there a set of values for the larger
   organization? Do they jive with each other?
   
   Each person who works there has their own
   founded experiences that are valid and real. How
   do people feel about the group values? Are these
   values for which everyone subscribes? If not, what
   are the right agreements for the group?
   
   If you’re starting from scratch, it goes differently
   but keeps a lot of the same things in mind.
   

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5. 5
   Align to those values
   What good is it to have values if they’re just empty
   words written on the wall in the lobby?
   
   Values are not black and white. They’re not simple.
   They are nuanced, subtle, and relative.
   
   Value trade-offs happen in the context of our
   relationships and often as we navigate our shared
   work. It’s true that values are emotionally driven.
   And therefore, when people in your organization
   are not aligned in their core values, things can
   spiral quickly.
   
   Be patient and iterate. Keep moving.
   

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6. 6
   Invite people in
   How you hire and grow a team is like having good
   ingredients to start a recipe. And middling apples
   will never make an apple pie the way your uncle
   Kim used to make it.
   
   People are created equal, but we’re not the same.
   For example, let’s take one of your coworkers
   who’s a parent — that’s part of who they are. And
   that person should be held to the same standards
   as everyone else on the team while also making it
   clear that they can leave early to pick their child up.
   That part of who they are shouldn’t hold them back
   from opportunities at work.
   
   Is there also a way to not penalize someone who is
   not a family person if they need to leave for
   personal reasons? Is there a larger conversation
   about seeing each other as humans first and
   therefore having needs as a result?
   

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7. 7
   Meet them where they are
   Start fun, start light, but start somewhere. Getting to know
   a new group of people is always awkward and you don't
   need to lock yourself in with your coworkers in a panic
   room to build camaraderie either. It doesn't happen all at
   once.
   
   Take it slowly, anything worth building takes time and
   care. If they love Simpsons’ personality quizzes, start
   there. If they're super into problem solving exercises, go
   there with them.
   
   Each person’s race, sexual orientation, gender identity,
   culture, physical ability, and religious practices affords
   them different levels of access and privilege. They are a
   whole person. You are a whole person. So meet them
   where they’re at.
   

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8. 8
   Sit in the tension
   Understanding is the first step. And this only
   happens when you listen and empathize. Spend
   time asking about what's working and what isn't.
   
   Come up with a plan of action together. Be
   comfortable being uncomfortable. The goal is to
   have a clear, honest, and transparent view of what
   working at the organization is like from those on
   the ground — positive, negative, or indifferent.
   
   So when listening, really listen. And listen hard.
   Superficial listening is a sign that you don't care
   and that your company doesn't care about their
   people.
   

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9. 9
   Be the keystone
   A rising tide might raise all ships but a sinking wave
   also lowers the ships too. What do people want to
   learn? Where do they see themselves in two years?
   
   Rise an individual’s goals up along where the
   organization or group expects them to be to meet
   somewhere in the middle. This won’t be a straight
   line but it will be a collaboration of interests.
   
   As leaders, we are the bottom of the pyramid,
   supporting our team, not the other way around.
   

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10. +1 646 504 1384
    [email protected]
    http://panelpicker.sxsw.com/vote/111591
    Thanks for your time
    and consideration.
    Please be safe.
    

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