At a glance
Team: Five designers, two assistants and one manager in a property development company
Starting point: Individual task allocation, uneven workloads and no regular whole-team meetings
Outcome: Weekly planning, improved workload balance and a larger role for designers in client offers
Context
The design department operated as a set of individual contributors. Work was assigned separately, assistance was arranged ad hoc and the team rarely looked at priorities, capacity or client needs together.
The business challenge
The department needed to increase productivity and move from individual task execution towards cooperation—without losing specialist ownership of particular projects.
What the diagnosis showed
- The assessment of managers and board members showed reserves in both productivity and cooperation.
- We examined whether the team had clear goals and whether its work organisation supported those goals.
- We also analysed how the design department cooperated with the rest of the organisation and where information or responsibility was being lost.
What we did
- We ran workshops to define departmental goals aligned with organisational goals.
- The team identified the tasks and working practices required to achieve those goals.
- The workshops increased consistency of attitudes on issues that affected cooperation and decision-making.
- Consulting work focused on increasing the department’s role in preparing and negotiating offers for clients.
Results
- The department introduced weekly meetings to analyse priorities and optimise task allocation.
- Workloads became more balanced and visible.
- Designers joined client offer teams as consultants, bringing technical knowledge into commercial conversations earlier.
- The number of projects handled at the same time increased.
As a team, we feel less stressed and find it easier to handle larger workloads.
Client perspective
What this case shows
Team effectiveness depends on more than relationships. It grows when people have aligned goals, visible workloads, regular coordination and a clear contribution to processes beyond their own department.
