How we can improve effective teamwork from the website building process
As leaders, building successful teams that can collaborate, communicate and take accountability cross-functionality is more than just a dream, it’s a goal. Whether the business is downsizing, upsizing or restructuring its teams, productivity and quality will be impacted if not managed properly. This is where the web development process can teach us how to build effective teams regardless of which stage the business is in. But first, we need to understand the web development process.
It’s not linear, it’s cyclical
At Tashi Hati, our web development process does not stop after it’s launched. In fact, it’s just the beginning of an endless cycle of design thinking, where we explore problems, and lean experimentation, where we test our hypothesis. Below we’ve mapped out the process visually.
There are 4 stages when it comes to web design
Discover information based on data and research,
Scope out which are relevant to our goals,
Build a website from the filtered information,
Experiment by maintaining to analyse and update information for discovery.
Constant experimentation allows us to improve the website based on the visitor's needs. A website is more than your online business card where you share essential information about your company. It is one of your most important lead generation tools to make a visitor trust and buy from you. So why stop updating your website after it’s launched when visitors come every day to judge and determine whether you or your competitor solves their problem better?
This does come with effective teamwork because not everyone has the skills or time to design visuals, write content and integrate technological tools while analysing the performance of a website. Therefore, the website building process often has two core teams: web design and web development.
Web designers focus on the look and feel of the site, think visuals, colour palette and layout. Web developers on the other hand focus on the functionality, speed and coding of the design requirements. These two teams must collaborate and communicate in order to complete a fully functional website despite the individuals having completely different personalities. They must understand what is required, who does what and set clear deadlines so that the next phase can begin otherwise a client’s launch might be missed. So how do they do it?
Web developers and web designers understand the principles of great teamwork
Successful teamwork in your organisation is not just about ensuring happiness and collaboration. It’s about working together so that the goals of the organisation are met, whether that is completing a website or improving your customer satisfaction score. There are four principles that web developers and web designers understand allowing them to work side by side without affecting the productivity of their work.
A second pair of eyes is better than one.
If you’ve ever sat in a cross-functional team meeting, you probably understand that communicating a vision or decision to everyone comes with several reactions. It’s not easy to work side by side and have everyone agree. And this is not a bad thing.
Web designers understand that they need a web developer’s pair of eyes in order to brainstorm a successful path in completing a project, and vice versa. They need to come to a resolution so that both can do their jobs effectively while minimising potential setbacks.
Communicate your limits and abilities.
Communication is essential when it comes to collaboration, but effective communication, in this case, means being able to say when an idea is not possible early on. If a web designer wants to include a design feature which can not be coded then there is no point to argue. The web developer understands this and therefore communicates this early on.
Understand the roles of everyone, but specialise in yours.
Web designers cannot solely rely on the communication of web developers otherwise they wouldn’t be productive in designing. They know and understand front-end code, like CSS or HTML, and web developers understand prototyping and wireframing. Their skills might not be up to par, but understanding the fundamental principles and purpose of other departments allows a team to collaborate better.
Reporting lines to help speed up your workflow.
The process of web development is laid out clearly as there are many parts to it. The workflow not only establishes clear guidelines of responsibility but also communication channels and reporting lines. This helps keep accountability and improve productivity.
The team’s responsibilities and communication lines are for leaders to set
Great leaders understand the roles of each department, their purpose and how they can work together to achieve the company’s goal. This is not up for the team to decide as competency, accountability and knowledge may lack. As evident from the website-building process, the teams are clearly divided and each member knows what they are responsible for. This is based on their skill and job description.
As remote work is becoming increasingly popular, it is far more important now than ever to set clear expectations of responsibilities, communication channels, reporting lines and workflow in order for your teamwork to be successful.
Accountability to improve, not to punish
Especially in Asian countries where mistakes are often punished in childhood, it becomes difficult for people to speak up about their errors. Effective teamwork is not possible without accountability, meaning teams should be able to speak up when something was done incorrectly. Leaders that are able to create a culture where willingness to come forward when mistakes happen are able to resolve them faster. However, this takes time as the mindset needs to be changed. A team should be comfortable to challenge the status quo and great leaders shouldn’t punish this, they should embrace it in order to improve.
A great website is built with systems, accountability and communication, and so are great teams
The web-building process is not an easy one and requires a lot of teamwork to execute a fully functional website successfully. This is made possible with effective teamwork that is built on understanding the workflow and responsibilities of each department while constantly collaborating and communicating. By implementing proper systems, accountability and reporting lines, perhaps you too can improve the teamwork in your organisation and in life. It can be as simple as remaking your organisational chart to visualise this.