Providing situational support with shadowing

If you lead designers embedded in product development teams, you'll balance empowering your team to solve problems and deliver while having a line of sight into their day-to-day work. Having the right level of visibility can help with growth planning and support; in instances of underperformance, it can set up better scaffolding and accountability.

The best way to calibrate this is to sit with product development teams for at least two weeks. Shadowing allows for fast feedback in the team context. The goals of shadowing are:

• Increase skills and knowledge in 2-4 areas (see Skill Assessments)
• Provide timely support in the team context
• Set growth goals for the near term to continue improving skills and building on existing strengths.

Shadowing starts with a conversation with your mentee or direct report, during which you create a contract outlining where you'll focus during the shadowing period. Ideally, this is documented, and you agree on your focus. During the two weeks, you pair with your designer in team spaces and frequently meet to debrief and review feedback in real-time.

At the end of the two weeks, you'll meet to review the self-assessment and strengths/areas for growth. You can then develop (or tweak) your growth plan for the coming months.