How to lead people with more technical background than you

Original author: Julie Zhuo
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imageJulie Zhuo is Facebook's vice president of product design.

Question: How do you manage to lead people with more experience or deeper knowledge in a particular area? What are the important differences? In face-to-face conversations with experts, how much do you delve into technical details?

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Usain Bolt is a Jamaican athlete who specialized in short-distance running, an eight-time Olympic champion and an 11-time world champion.

Only a few years after graduating from college, when I became a design manager. Due to the fact that I studied computer science in college, and then began working as an engineer at Facebook, I mainly studied design at work. In the days of startups in the company, the tradition of quick decision-making implied that I rarely engaged in deepening my knowledge and honing my skills. Often it seemed that I was an imposter among real designers.

As a result, at the beginning of my managerial career, I got along well with college graduates in whom I saw a younger version of myself. But I was worried that someone with real experience in design would not respect me. In the end, how can I be a boss for people who are not only several years older than me, but also are professionals in their field? How can I teach them something they don’t know yet?

Once I shared this experience with my husband when we watched the Olympic Games. He said: “Do you really think that Usain Bolt’s coach runs faster than him?” Before, I didn’t think about the fact that Glen Mills - the head coach of the Jamaican running team, who is responsible for the most successful sprinters - is not that he is not very fast, but he is not a runner at all.

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Glen Mills is the head coach of Jamaica's running team.

Do not pretend to be perfect.

If you work as a design manager, this does not mean that you are “the best designer”. As well as the fact that your work as a coach does not mean that you are “the fastest runner”. The point is in different roles.

If tête-à-tête talks consist solely in news about work without offers of help or interaction because of the fear that you will look inexperienced or lose your well-deserved trust, then in this case you will not only earn it, but it’s also of no value to you will add.

There is power in vulnerability. The best way to undermine your team’s trust is to pretend that you know all the answers. Be honest with your older colleagues about what knowledge you have and what you don't, and together you can work out a plan for how you can support them. You may not be so good at design, but you can help people solve problems and discuss them after they are solved. You may not have in-depth technical knowledge to go hand in hand with this area, but you can inspire people to more specific goals and help them divide the big work into small segments between team members. You may be able to bring together some people with other people with similar skills to encourage a critical process within the organization.

There is always something you can help with. Be prepared to have open and somewhat awkward conversations to find out. As for me, I know that I am not as strong in design as my colleagues, but I understand the concept of design on Facebook and can support members of my team by setting ambitious goals and setting goals for effective work with partners.

Salute the opportunity to learn from elders.

As a manager, your goal is to maximize the impact of your team. The easiest way to increase the contribution of the team is to have the most qualified and talented employees in it. And one of the worst mistakes made by managers is to hire young employees who they think can be controlled.

One of the questions that we always discuss after interviews about hiring senior employees: “Will they ever be my bosses? Will I work for this person? ” The answer “yes” means that this candidate has a value that will help him become a member of the team.

Without a doubt, over the years I have become a better designer thanks to the contributions of senior designers. Working with people who are better than you professionally is a privilege, because it is the fastest way to learn. As a manager, inspire them to use their strengths to help other colleagues improve their professional skills through mentoring, training, and setting the bar high for the whole team.

No need to take everything on yourself. Just make sure the work is done.

A good manager, like a good coach, helps his team focus on the most important aspects.

Maybe I can’t do the work of the same quality as my more experienced colleagues, but due to the fact that I provide control in many areas, I can direct the attention of employees to where their skills are most useful; including finding opportunities for senior team members to work with other designers.

Even when you are not sure whether the design is good, you can always ask questions or share your opinion.

You are all on the same team and working to support shared goals. There should not be a competition "who is the best designer." On the contrary, you must join forces and work together in search of a better solution.

Leaving senior team members without leadership, believing that they are “experienced, they can do it themselves” does not bring them closer to success. Clarification of situations and questions like “How did you come to this decision?” or "Why do you think this is a good way out of the situation?" can help them formulate the thought process and find areas that require re-viewing. Even an expression of personal concern such as “I think people will be confused by this interface” can lead to a healthy discussion about improving performance or attracting practicality to confirm assumptions.

You are the sum of the people around you.

To be a great design manager, you need to develop a clear understanding of what it means to be a great designer. If you can’t create a design yourself, you need to know how it looks, and also understand the habits and qualities of highly qualified designers. The ability to develop is your eyes.

I came to the conclusion that the best way to grow as a design manager is to lead the most qualified designers as much as possible. My first direct experience of observing the work of great designers developed an understanding of what a really good design looks like and helped our team work more efficiently and better. Therefore, if you are lucky enough to have your Usain Bolt in the design team, then use this and go get your gold.

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The translation was supported by EDISON Software , a company that professionally develops software for large customers (for example, a city lighting control system or an electronic medical examination system ).

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