As of April I am now head of both the design department and the product development department. This means that I now have 55 staff under me who are divided into 9 teams:

• Product designers
• Graphic designers
• Sculptors
• Digital sculptors
• Industrial engineers
• Tool makers
• Model makers
• Research and development
• Packaging designers

I now control all new product from brief to factory. It’s going to be very challenging getting my head around it all. The product development department is in desperate need of some project management structure. Plus all the industrial engineers resigned under the previous department head so I will need to hire and train a new team urgently as they are the key link between design and the factory. There is a company priority to bring all the launch dates together into 2 seasonal launches which effectively means churning out two seasons worth of product designs, samples and trial runs in just 6 months. So I really have my work cut out for me. I also just became a father so I’m not getting much sleep either!

I am proud that the MD of the company has the confidence in me to undertake this. But it’s going to be tough, and I hope to write next about how I successfully navigated these challenges.

Obviously the pandemic was difficult for everyone. And I’m sure there are thousands of blog entries out there on how to be productive whilst locked down. My team had a surprisingly productive pandemic despite the fact that we were absolutely not prepared for remote working (relying on desktop computers and physical sculpting).

Here are some of my takeaways from trying to manage a product design team during the lockdown:

Trust your team.

Remote micro-managing will drive you crazy as a manager. When locked up at home everyone is going to find their own rhythm to suit their home environments. Some people keep their normal work hours, some people are super productive at night, some work longer days with more breaks so they can attend to their kids. As a manager, it’s out of your control. Set the the deliverables and check in regularly, but you have to trust in your team to come through for you. I found that putting faith in was returned with interest. Some teams were more productive remotely than in the office!

Limit the size of the video call

Keep video conferences to as small a number as possible. Ideally under 5 pax. If you think people can tune out in a big meeting, it’s even more pronounced in a big zoom call. For better engagement I found that keeping the call attendees to as small of a group as possible meant that everyone participated and engaged better. I did this even if it meant effectively splitting a meeting group into two and chairing an almost identical meeting twice. I needed my staff to be engaged, so this worked for me. And I’ve taken this attitude back into the office now hosting more, but smaller, meetings with my teams.

Use delivery services

As a company that makes physical products collaboratively, lockdown was extra challenging. We had sculptors creating sculpted masters at home and then sending them to mould makers. We had designers taking home the 3D printers and then sending prototypes to other designers for review. At one point I was receiving samples almost daily for approval/feedback which I would then sent onwards to the next team member. When we couldn’t leave our house we got a lot of value out of Malaysia’s cheap motorbike delivery services for keeping physical workflow moving.

Be flexible and patient

In the crazy circumstances that were the 2020 to 2022 pandemic the big things were out of our control. Trying to manage deadlines with changing regulations on whether we had to stay home, have limited people on site, social distances etc etc meant that often you just had to roll with the circumstances. As a manager I found it best to try to keep plan A as best on track as possible, but calmly expect that it would either be delayed or deviate massively as restrictions adjusted on a week by week level.

Mental health is key

For most of us we’d never been through such a challenging couple of years, and certainly hope not go through something like that again. I personally found my mental health taking a hit with the claustrophobia of being at home so long and the disappointment of having to cancel my wedding. I started therapy during this time and it really showed me how important it is to keep on top of your mental health. A few therapy sessions quickly untangled some thought-balls that I was struggling to get past in my day to day. It really helped give me perspective and to appreciate the mental health difficulties of my team as well as my own, which in term I hope made me a kinder boss.

It’s been a big year of change for me going from running a small start up consultancy to a 22 person department in a large established company. I’m also the only non-Malaysian in the company and the youngest senior manager. I’ve also come in on an agenda of change for my department which has been harder than expected as a big company isn’t agile like the startups I’ve been in the 8 years previously.

Below are a few of the lessons I’ve learned from my first year in the role.

Change comes from the bottom up. The ‘old-timers’ are resistant but I’ve been able to get the young and new staff on to my agenda by being being open and sharing my values and motivations with them. I need them to bring and take ownership of any change for it to be impactful and long-lasting.

Change comes from routine adjustments. I’ve found that small adjustments to everyone’s routines have allowed much bigger changes to take place. Especially with setting weekly checkpoints and communication sessions.

Small culture changes go a long way. I’ve set up committees to improve the work environment and organise social events (but I’m not enforcing it myself, see first point). These small things really help with morale, team spirit and empowerment and I’m hoping also productivity and staff retention.

Designers are proud people. I need to work with this to make it work for me.

Share and celebrate all the small positives. This goes for life in general. It’s easy to take the good for granted and dwell on the bad. I make a point to share good news whenever possible. Happy and appreciated designers are better designers.

Be disturbable. Malaysia suffers from the world’s biggest gap between company tiers. I try to be approachable and always make time to guide staff when they ask for help. Sometimes it’s really annoying but my success relies on their success.

Voice decision the decision making process out loud. I’ve found that stating my logic and reasoning when making a decision on something that’s new to me has helped my decision be respected.

Sell the reasons behind my designs. Similar to the last point, sharing the reasons and journey for a design helps it get the support from other departments.

Never raise your voice or lose your cool. I work in design, it needs to be a safe space to explore and create. I don’t believe in scolding designers, but some of my managers do. I don’t believe that this gets anything done faster or helps any design related situation.

The next thing I want to work on is charisma in leadership. While I am confident in what I am saying, how I say it can make more of a difference. This is something I will take steps to improve this year.

It has been just over a year since I transitioned from running a startup to being a department head at an established international company. It has been a huge learning experience and I’ve experienced massive change in the last year both professionally and personally (I also moved in with my girlfriend and got engaged!)

The new role.

My job is to oversee the design and development of around 150 products a year. Four teams report to me; products designers, sculptors, graphic designers and bespoke product designers for custom corporate orders.

I have to come up with the briefs for (hopefully popular) new products that meet the market requirements of the different countries we sell in. I have to ensure all the teams work together so they are launched on schedule, this includes the visual marketing assets as well as the design and engineering of the products. I also have to create and enforce the department budget and report at quarterly board meetings.

Challenges and achievements.

One of my biggest challenges as a young, new department head is to get my middle managers on board with my ideas for change. They are 10 to 20 years older than me and have been with the company as long. These seasoned managers have seen many department heads over the years and are naturally resistant to my agenda of change.

My biggest achievement in the last year was setting up the digital design studio. I hired a digital sculptor, invested in 3D scanners and 3D printers and trained the designers on the new technologies. The results of this are i) faster product development through faster iterations and ii) interesting designs that push the boundaries for pewter product design. The company is already on the forefront of pewter manufacturing and this new technology is allowing us to push it further into exciting new directions.

I’ve also put a huge effort on community and culture development in the department. I’ve set up a committee to organise regular social events and completely redecorated our floor to look more like a buzzing design studio. When I arrived both the culture and environment could be described as stale, but no it feels much more energetic. Culture and work environment seem to be primarily Western values, so as the only non-Malaysian in the company I am a front-runner in pushing for these types of  developments that don’t directly result in financial benefit.

I have initiated a product to rethink the companies packaging. We are moving towards 100% biodegradable packaging and reducing the size and amount of material used. Once in motion this will make a huge environmental impact as current solutions are large and use a lot of plastic foam.

The products that my team are creating are popular within the company (mostly still pre-launch) and I’m receiving comments about the cleverness of the designs and the nice new styles, which, as the head of design, is what I am striving to achieve.

I’m now getting into my stride with running the department and am focusing on creating exciting design efficiently.

It’s been 18 months since I last posted and made my declaration of my new company, so I figured I should update on how it’s progressing. I also feel like I am about to turn a new chapter with the company, so perhaps this is a good time to reflect.

It has been scrappy. The key for a new consultancy business like this (no funding, no investment) is to keep income coming in. This has meant accepting a large number of small projects, whilst trying to build reputation. The ends have always met in the end, but going through month by month it was not always a certainty that they would.

I have had over 15 projects in this time, some long, most short. And I must mention that I have done next to zero promoting of my business. Most business has come from word of mouth or organic search – with gives me confidence in what I have been delivering and in the website I built.

To ensure I win the projects I have been charging less than I could have to my clients. This has helped secure the work, but now that I am building a decent reputation I believe I am able to raise my prices.

Lesson 1 – Minor Pivot.  I originally started off trying to provide two services: 1)Product design to Malaysians and 2)Asian manufacturing to the West. Most of my business has been in point 1. Being based in Malaysia I have been able to market that service more, and also I have fewer competitors and more experience in this area. I also enjoy the creative output of this work more. I will continue to offer the manufacturing outsourcing, but it will not be as much of a priority in the short term.

Lesson 2 – Interns have been champions. I have had 3 (paid) interns since January and they have helped me so much. Their creative energy and talent has really helped keep the work load manageable and clients happy! Managed well, interns can add incredible value.

Lesson 3 – Take money up front. On at least three occasions I have not been paid/paid in full for work. I now insist on taking some money up front to ensure the client is serious and to minimise my exposure.

Going forward. I am now in a position to secure a couple of large, longer term projects that can be my bread and butter. These will more than take care of basic overheads. And I am getting a growing demand  for small projects for which I am looking to employ my first non-intern staff member to manage.

I am very excited for the next year. If it develops like it is hinting to then I can continue to work on a large range of exciting projects and have the funds to expand the business as well as keeping myself fed and watered!