Summary
How often have you found yourself wondering how to begin or improve the partnerships necessary within Enterprise environments? Trusted partnerships are a key ingredient of effective design teams when navigating large enterprise-level organizations. Through practical examples, find out how to get started or expanded your practices with partners as you all work together to realize and deliver valuable products and services.
Key Insights
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Effective partnerships in design require a structured framework of connection, communication, and collaboration.
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Including decision makers and influencers early leads to richer design insights and better buy-in.
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The 'three in the box plus' model expands traditional business-design-technical roles to include legal and compliance in regulated industries.
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Leading with a clear, concrete ask strengthens initial connections and speeds up stakeholder identification.
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Transitioning from seeking a seat at the table to building the table fosters predictable and inclusive communication routines.
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Regular executive updates and design demos enable alignment and continuous feedback.
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Lack of active feedback in communication routines can cause misalignment despite high participation.
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Measuring engagement and reevaluating involved stakeholders is crucial as the project evolves.
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Collaborative workshops and group activities reinforce alignment and create a shared team mindset.
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Strong partnerships cultivate design advocates within the organization who promote design thinking beyond the immediate team.
Notable Quotes
"Being a playbook, my hope is you can take these lessons and apply them at your place of work."
"The partnership pyramid has three levels: connection, communication, and collaboration."
"Whoever you’re talking to can help you navigate to the correct person if you lead with the ask."
"I like to rephrase the phrase a seat at the table into building the table."
"We invite everybody to the table and set extra places because the group may grow or shrink."
"Regular routines equal predictable engagement, which partners really appreciate."
"We always try to connect design decisions back to business performance or risk metrics."
"Missed feedback is often the root cause of misalignment in communication routines."
"We want to hear design-focused language from our partners, not just from us."
"Effective partnerships and advocacy within the organization show that collaboration is truly taking place."
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