Design Leadership at Scale: Operations

10 Days

·

Cohort-based Course

Learn best practices to build a durable design organization operating system.

Previously at

Expedia Group
Chase
Capital One
Microsoft

Course overview

Design Your Organization's Operating System

An advanced-level course for senior and rising design leaders ready to address the most common challenges Design Leaders face.


Learn how to build your durable design operating system to withstand scale, restructuring, evolution, and growth.


Establish mechanisms and high-leverage activities that maintain quality and effectiveness for your teams and for the business.


Course Topics + Content


Build and activate high-impact teams

Apply effective organizational design, strategic planning, and performance measurement


Define and optimize your operating system

Establish rhythms and rituals, shape a positive design culture, streamline processes and workflows, and build a robust reporting and communication strategy


Identify the most effective design team structures

Learn how to choose the right team structures for your organization


Activate your team’s strengths through organizational design

Anticipate common challenges within and across teams and learn strategies for effectively addressing them


Create your organization’s ideal design team

Together, we’ll design and build your design team and organization


7 Live, Interactive Sessions, with timezone-friendly options for most APAC/EMEA/AMER locales


- One Welcome Kickoff Session

- Three Live, Interactive Learning Sessions including Q&A sessions with guest experts

- Two Office Hours / Q+A sessions with Kristin for personalized guidance

- One Reflection/Wrap-up Session

Who is this course for

01

Directors+ of Design and Operations leading teams across a portfolio of products and services.

02

Senior Leaders and Practitioners who are establishing, evolving, and leading a Design Operations practice.

03

Operations leaders who want to sharpen skills, learn new approaches and methods, and accelerate their organizations.

What you’ll get out of this course

Best practices to build infrastructure that scales

You'll learn how to establish mechanisms, routines, and high-leverage activities that maintain and enhance culture, quality, and community as you grow.

Build and activate high-impact teams

  • Design and structure a high-performing design organization.
  • Effectively prioritize and plan work to maximize impact.
  • Utilize visual staffing tools to manage resources efficiently.
  • Implement accountability measures to maintain high-quality standards.

Define and optimize your operating system

  • Establish effective rhythms and rituals that enhance team productivity and alignment.
  • Shape a positive design culture that fosters innovation and collaboration.
  • Optimize processes and workflows for greater efficiency.
  • Develop and implement robust reporting and communications

Identify and anticipate the most common team and organizational challenges 

  • Learn approaches and tactics that address common organizational and team challenges
  • Mitigate these challenges via a fixed vs. flexible framework
  • Gain new strategies to keep your team focused and thriving

Access to first-hand experience and guidance customized to your unique situation

Guest Experience: Experienced leaders will join to share their stories and give examples of how they navigated similar challenges


Instructor Experience: You'll learn directly from Kristin's first-hand experience establishing and leading multiple large-scale global design orgs

Q&A Sessions with industry experts

Included are multiple, moderated Q&A sessions with Kristin and other industry leaders so that you can get expert advice on your unique challenges and aspirations.

This course includes

7 interactive live sessions

Lifetime access to course materials

10 in-depth lessons

Direct access to instructor

15 projects to apply learnings

Guided feedback & reflection

Private community of peers

Course certificate upon completion

Maven Satisfaction Guarantee

This course is backed by Maven’s guarantee. You can receive a full refund within 14 days after the course ends, provided you meet the completion criteria in our refund policy.

Course syllabus

Week 1

Jan 28—Feb 2

    Jan

    28

    Kickoff + Welcome to Design Leadership at Scale: Operations

    Tue 1/285:00 PM—5:30 PM (UTC)

    Jan

    28

    Session 1: Build and Activate High-Impact Teams

    Tue 1/285:30 PM—6:30 PM (UTC)

    Module 1: Build and Activate High-Impact Teams

    7 items

    Module 1: Resources

    1 item

    Jan

    29

    Office Hours / Q&A with Kristin

    Wed 1/295:00 PM—6:00 PM (UTC)
    Optional

    Jan

    30

    Session 2: Define and Optimize Your Operating System

    Thu 1/305:00 PM—6:30 PM (UTC)

    Module 2: Define and Optimize Your Operating System

    7 items

    Module 2: Resources

    1 item

Week 2

Feb 3—Feb 6

    Feb

    4

    Session 3: Identify and Address Common Challenges

    Tue 2/45:00 PM—6:30 PM (UTC)

    Module 3: Identify and Address Common Team Challenges

    8 items

    Module 3: Resources

    1 item

    Feb

    5

    Office Hours / Q&A with Kristin

    Wed 2/55:00 PM—6:00 PM (UTC)
    Optional

    Feb

    6

    Reflection + closing discussion

    Thu 2/65:00 PM—6:00 PM (UTC)
    Optional

What people are saying about DLS

        "Design Leadership at Scale - Executive" is an exceptional masterclass that delivers on its promise of cultivating effective design leadership in large-scale settings. It is a must-attend for any design executive looking to elevate their leadership capabilities and drive impactful organisational change.
Andrea

Andrea

Head of Design & Research, Kroo Bank
        "Design Leadership at Scale - Executive" is a jam packed intensive that brings frameworks together with real world experiences. A good mix of content and discussion. Rachel and Kristin generously shared their experiences and wisdom. I was delighted that in addition to the powerhouse instructor duo, we also had industry guests as a force multiplier.
Deanne

Deanne

Director, Service Design

Meet your instructor

Kristin Skinner

Kristin Skinner

Kristin Skinner is a design executive and global leader in organization design and leadership. She is co-author of Org Design for Design Orgs: Building and Managing In-House Design Teams, the first book dedicated to the organization, management, and operations of in-house design teams.


Kristin's in-house executive experience includes leadership roles at Expedia Group, Chase, Capital One, Microsoft, and Adaptive Path.


She is the founder and Chief Experience Officer at &GSD, an Executive Advisory, where she guides executive leaders at Nike, Grab, Adobe, Zendesk, Wells Fargo, Grubhub, the Institute of Design for Ireland, and many others, on Executive Leadership, Design Leadership, and Organization Design.


A frequent conference keynoter, Kristin cofounded and led curation of the DesignOps Summit series, and curated the Leading Experience conference.

A pattern of wavy dots

Join an upcoming cohort

Design Leadership at Scale: Operations

Cohort 03

$1,800

Dates

Jan 28—Feb 6, 2025

Application Deadline

Jan 25, 2025

Cohort 04

$1,800

Dates

Feb 5—14, 2025

Application Deadline

Feb 1, 2025
Free resource

12 Qualities of Effective Design Teams

Learn about the 12 qualities of effective design teams to better understand what it takes to make the most of your design team.

Get this free resource

Learning is better with cohorts

Learning is better with cohorts

Active hands-on learning

This course builds on live workshops and hands-on projects

Interactive and project-based

You’ll be interacting with other learners through breakout rooms and project teams

Learn with a cohort of peers

Join a community of like-minded people who want to learn and grow alongside you

A pattern of wavy dots

Join an upcoming cohort

Design Leadership at Scale: Operations

Cohort 03

$1,800

Dates

Jan 28—Feb 6, 2025

Application Deadline

Jan 25, 2025

Cohort 04

$1,800

Dates

Feb 5—14, 2025

Application Deadline

Feb 1, 2025

$1,800

10 Days