Complete the team skills matrix - Jacki's team
We're going to create a team skill's matrix this quarter! Here's the handbook page for this - https://handbook.gitlab.com/handbook/product/ux/product-design/product-design-manager/#team-skills-matrix
This is the tracking issue - once you are done with your part, feel free to unassign yourself.
Why are we doing this?
It's been awhile since we've done this exercise - we have lots of new team members and everyone has grown their skills. And, we have different people working together now.
We will use the output in a few different ways:
- identify learning opportunities - for example if a lot of designers want to improve their communication, we could look into a book club or class to take together
- hiring managers can use it as a guide for skills to look for when hiring
- team members can use it to create an IGP
Is this another Talent Assessment?
No - it's a self-assessment of your design skills now, and where you'd like them to be in the future. You might use your Talent Assessment as an input to it if you'd like, but this isn't about assessing performance in the role.
It's also different from Talent Assessments, in that it's shared with the team, where a Talent Assessment is private. Sharing it helps everyone see where the strengths are in the team, so they can learn from others.
ToDos for completing the assessment
Follow the process in the handbook page
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Each team member completes the Skills Assessment - less than one hour | Due: March 8 | Spreadsheet -
Nick Leonard -
Nick Brandt -
Katie Macoy
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Jacki to create the combined team skill assessment | Due March 29 -
Jacki to update this issue with the summary and themes | April -
Team to identify action items | April -
Jacki to share the results with team members and department | April
Summarize what was learned
Share what the team strengths are, any team gaps, skills members want to improve, areas we might want to focus on in hiring.
Current | Future |
---|---|
- Strengths: We have 5 out of 8 categories covered with at least one person at a 4 or above. Team members can learn from and help each other.
- Possible gaps: User research and leadership scored collectively lower. I think designers have strong skill in both these areas, so read this as areas where we feel less confident and want to learn more.
- Categories to level up: UX vision and strategy and leadership show most desire to level up.
Next steps
There were two areas for growth that came up often:
- UX vision and strategy
- UX leadership
Opportunities for Growth
- Consider using the Growth and Development benefit.
- Consider asking to shadow others. Anything from CEO Shadow to someone in a PM or other related role.
- Book clubs are a good way to learn and discuss how to apply the new information. If there's interest we could pick a book on one or both of these topics.
- Who has done UX strategy really well? Inside or outside GitLab - what can we learn from those examples?