We commonly all seek improved project execution, that is as long as it does not impact the way “I” do things. Let’s be honest. We are selfish to a fault, have good size egos and are damn proud of our contribution to the cause, so why would we need to change? But, by the way there is something that “you” might try to do differently. It is human nature to protect how we individually do things and criticize how others perform their tasks.

If you generally agree with that last statement it should not be difficult to see why the natural operating point of a design team is to maintain the status quo while “wishing” things would be different. There is no fault or blame to be passed around; it’s just human nature for teams to settle at keeping things the same. I am not implying that change will not be possible. We must understand and address the natural team dynamics in order to move off of dead center and head in a direction where real change is not only possible, but enthusiastically embraced.

Below is a list of items that must be addressed to enable the teams migration away from the status quo in design team performance and towards a higher level of design execution.

Understanding the team dynamics (as identified above)

Improvement budget

Improvement resources

Allocation of time

Change leadership experience (Change Agent)

If management does not fully support these items at a minimum, the team will continually fail to meet improvement milestones. As a team leader, manager or stakeholder your mission must be to take charge of the above items, state your case, state your requirements, state your desired results and get them addressed or the teams performance will stay as is.

The harsh reality is that it is your choice to improve or not by first deciding if positive change is a goal or only a wish. If real quantifiable change is the goal then a detailed improvement plan and specific actions must be put in place. Without specific actions in place you are really only wishing for change by default and you can expect a continuing environment of non-productive grumbling about performance and the inability to improve.

If the design team is not behind a mission to improve performance you will be working towards a goal that will never fully materialize. Legislation of performance improvements by establishing criteria in the absence of a well thought out, resourced and agreed upon plan will rarely provide the required results. Beware of a common misconception that an improvement change requires merely a focus on tools and flows. This line of thinking will place improvement emphasis outside of design, thereby removing the team from the solution. Maximizing success in a teams performance improvement plan must include the teams enthusiastic participation to provide insight into the teams interactions, task deliverables and to identify what is not known.

It is rare that a design team is not apathetic towards performance improvement activities. They are routinely verbally flogged for being late, not producing to the “ideal” level, displaying unpredictable execution, producing first silicon that is not production worthy and take the heat for delayed time to production. All this in the face of being well stocked on projects to keep them from having time to consider looking at the complex design process that must be synchronized throughout the entire team and the business itself. This is the general perception of the environment from the designers standpoint. Real or not, that perception is each designers reality and must be addressed if the team is to embrace change.

The good news is that apathy begins to fade as trust in managements true motives increases. When the team believes that management will be an enabler of real issue discovery and problem solving, acceptance of improvement concepts begins to take root. The team begins it's migration towards the acceptance of change. Another mechanism for enhancing trust is through management support of the teams requirements for change; typically through budget, resource and time commitments to the team.

The process of creating an environment of trust is not a difficult one. View yourself in a role of facilitator. You don’t have the answers, the team members will and you’re role is to help them discover the areas that are roadblocks, identify solutions and achieve acceptance of the solutions. Work “with” the team, “listen” to the frustrations the team has during project execution and assist in uncovering the root causes that keep the team from executing at ideal performance. Do this well and honestly and you will be viewed as an ally of the team. The team will have embraced change and performance improvement objects become a reality.