This week, we talk about teaching versus micromanaging, or how to give feedback as a manager in a productive and growth-oriented way. In the Sidebar, Marshall shares his tips and tricks for organizing icon systems in Figma.
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The Sidebar:The Sidebar is an exclusive weekly segment for our Patreon supporters. You can subscribe starting at $1 per month for access to bonus content going forward! Sign up at patreon.com/designdetails.
Latest VIP Patrons:This week, we talk about teaching versus micromanaging, or how to give feedback as a manager in a productive and growth-oriented way.
Anonymous asks:
I’ve been promoted to a lead, and I’m managing a few entry-level designers working on small features. When discussing UX flows and sketches, they seem fine. But I randomly popped into their Figma files and noticed that their files are not as organized, and their UI work has some issues with padding, margins, decimal values, etc.
I feel like this is something easily trainable, since it’s UI related. I could jump on a call with them to educate them and show some examples of how to do things. But I have a tiny doubt about if I’m micromanaging, since this role is new to me.
Am I micromanaging if I jump into their files and do padding checks? If yes, how do I do this right? If not, what’s the difference between managing and micro managing?
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324: Interface Design and the Physical World
323: Designing Social Proof
322: Designing App Onboarding Experiences
321: Illustrations and the Side Effects of Free Resources (feat. Meg Robichaud & Ryan Putnam)
320: The Path of a Generalist (feat. Pablo Stanley)
319: Content Strategy and Designing with Language (feat. Jonathon Colman)
318: Death of the Designer Unicorn
317: Designing for Dark Mode
316: The Convergence of iOS and Android
315: Building a Listener-Supported Podcast
314: Beauty, Vulnerability, and Doing Things That Matter (feat. Haraldur Thorleifsson)
313: Design Process Automation
312: Managing a Design Systems Team (feat. Diana Mounter)
311: Visuals in Product Design
310: Work, Culture, and Experimentation at a Product Design Agency (feat. Skyler Balbus)
309: Career Progression for Product Designers
308: Learning Design as a Developer
307: iOS 13 Beta
306: Is Ego Getting in the Way of Accessibility?
305: From Team to Solo Designer (feat. Michie Cao)
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