Cross-functional collaboration is fundamental to product management. Product teams are expected to work well with partners across teams.
But what if the partner teams don’t reciprocate?
In a recent discussion on the Women in Product page, an anonymous poster lamented that, while her product team has been successful at building great relationships with their engineering partners, they have struggled with their internal design and research team. Not only does work fall short of expectations, but the team manager reacts to feedback with defensiveness.
The PM is concerned that agitating the design manager may reflect poorly on her team because their reaction is to blame the other teams involved, claiming that design can’t perform well when requirements are unclear.
After having a couple of bad encounters with an internal design team, one of our clients got approval for a small pilot project with an external design team. The project was a smashing success, and it proved how much better outcomes could be. After that, they had no trouble getting approval to outsource more design.
Testing an external team can work well for several reasons:
It can check your expectations. When you feel that one team is just not getting it, working with another team can help you see whether your expectations are reasonable.
It empowers the product team, reducing turnover. Product folks are judged on outcomes. If they’re unable to deliver what they know is possible, it won’t be long before they are looking for a new gig.
It can release tension. Sometimes, a team that seems like a blocker to one group may be a valuable partner to another. Style differences are particularly likely after a merger or acquisition. Enabling each team to work their own way can relieve pressure, and make work easier.
More brains is a good thing. More ideas, more research, more past experience, more diverse thoughts. All of that is good stuff, especially in design.
It creates competition and broaden exposures. Seeing how another team approaches the problem (especially an outside team that has to compete for every job) can broaden the perspective of internal team. It can also create extrinsic motivation to be the preferred partner. Over time, this drives quality and standards upward.
If you’re dissatisfied with the quality of work your internal design team delivers, consider a pilot project with an external team, and see what you learn from it.