In our previous article Part 2, we will look at the gathering of the “right” people for the establishment of the Design Team members to effectively get things started. In Part #3 of this series, we will look at the Design Team “Right Size”.

Having a team that is too small (too few people) can result in a lack of diversity where the solution created by the Design Thinking team has a “limited” view of the solution. On the other hand, having too large of a team can always lead to communication challenges and alignments when comes to execution.

So, what is the ideal size for a Design Thinking team? A good example is the practice of a “Two pizzas rule” where we order 2 large pizzas to sufficiently feed the team. Such practice was popularized by Jeff Bezos who is the CEO of Amazon and adopted by many successful organizations. The rationale behind this rule is to improve efficiency and scalability.  As a good-sized team will be able to stay focused and aligned to the goals and not waste time on other things unnecessarily (like keeping other team members updated). Studies from Standford also confirmed that meeting with more than 9 participants tends to be ineffective and when under 5 people will risk falling into a Groupthink.

The formula for an “Ideal Team Size”: N(N-1)/2.

Individuals that are part of the Design Thinking team with a team size of 7 people +/- 2 people (i.e., 5 to 9 people on the Design Team). It is important to get the “right” team size to ensure effective team dynamics to ensure communication and productivity do not suffer.

Other elements to consider include:

1. Creative Environment – a room for Design Thinking.

It is important that a room specifically where the Design Thinking team can go to, and conduct the Design Thinking itself. The room should be spacious enough for team members to gather and get work done. It should also be equipped with the necessary amenities (like chairs, sofa, bean bags, TV screen, flip charts, whiteboards, printers for Paper and 3D printing, coffee and tea making facilities, etc.). Do note that all the materials inside the creative environment are “secured” as well.

2. Set aside quality Time.

Ensure a collective agreement on a regular basis that a quality time slot of a 4-hour block is scheduled to run the Design Thinking itself.  Attendance from all Design Thinking team members is mandatory. Engage Experts (as required) to provide knowledge sharing and guidance where the Design Thinking team needs assistance.

3. Essential Tools and Resources

Provide Design Thinking Tools, Materials, and amenities to support the Design Thinking Processes. Having the readily available tools (e.g., Wireframing tools, Kanban board, etc.), materials for prototyping (e.g., Lego blocks, cardboards, metals) and amenities within a creative environment will help inspire the Design Team to come up with a workable solution.

Knowing the “right” team size, next we need to ensure diversity on the team. That is selecting individual team members with the “right” skill sets that can contribute to the success of the Design Thinking team. Many instances we have group of a particular type of team members (for example from Engineering only) forming the Design Thinking team which struggles to find the right solution despite multiple iterations being run. Once we introduce team members from different backgrounds and skill sets, you will see sparks of innovation being ignited. What are the factors that we can use when selecting the “right” team members? We would suggest a combination of Demographics, Psychographics and Skillsets factors to be used when doing selection.

Having the “right” mix of team members will help to ensure the solution developed can be considered as practical and humanised.

What else do you think we need to consider enabling your Design Team to be more successful? Interested to know more on how Design Thinking can help you and your organization do better? Reach out to Cybiant’s consultants by dropping a quick e-mail at info@cybiant.com to us.

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