Tao’s business challenge
Tao is a social entrepreneur. Last year, he built a digital audio transcription solution for two friends with hearing impairments. He started a company with his friends and began selling the solution online. Since then, they have received funding to improve the solution and turn it into an app for telecommunication operators. The app would allow their customers with hearing impairments to access their products and services.
Tao spent the last few months growing his team and developing his new project. His team has grown from just Tao and his two friends to a team of developers, sales people and designers – and the money is burning fast. Tao is excited to see his idea become a reality but he is noticing that this fast growth has led to unclear internal processes and company goals. This has caused his team to lose time that could be better spent on improving their solution.
How Tao used Design Thinking to overcome his business challenge
Tao knows that a strong team is crucial to the success of his business. To foster a culture of respect and collaboration, Tao held a team meeting to create a shared company vision. Everyone in Tao’s team was given the opportunity to contribute. The meeting revealed similarities and differences in points of view, but also a shared desire to fight for inclusion.
The team mapped their shared values in the form of a manifesto, which helped them formulate a shared vision: “To promote inclusion of people with hearing disabilities through technology that increases their ability to communicate, connect and interact with others.”
Impressed by the positive effects of collaborative and creative teamwork, Tao initiated more brainstorming sessions that welcomed all team members to share new ideas and solutions.
Tao also made it a priority to foster a culture of feedback. He asked his team to vote on ideas for feedback systems, and implemented the top ideas across the organisation. One of these ideas was a feedback walk that encourages stronger personal connections between team members in an informal way. The other top idea was a monthly pizza meeting where the team would come together to reflect on the internal processes of the business, share lessons learned, discuss challenges and commit to solutions and actions to tackle these challenges.
Through this new Design Thinking approach, Tao noticed a change in his leadership style, from directive to facilitative. Tao also saw a significant improvement in the team’s cooperation, energy and motivation. Everyone is more open to listening to each other, to making mistakes and to contributing their ideas. As a result, moments of success and recognition of hard work are encouraged and regularly celebrated.
