Experiments in Remote Design Leadership — Month 3

Month 3 at Babylon Health as the Interim Director of Research has passed by in a blink. If this was a permanent role, it would be time for my probation review. It feels like all I have done for the last three months is to sit in one to ones and team meetings. I’ve certainly been busy but what have I actually achieved so far? I’ve been reflecting on this during the last few weeks. To help make sense of things I looked again at Bruce Tuckman’s team model.

Sean Conner’s illustration of Bruce Tuckman’s team model.

In 2019, Babylon went through a sustained period of growth as the research team was ‘forming’. Hiring a group of individuals for siloed roles across different product tribes does not necessarily translate to a well functioning team. Before I joined, there was some turbulence as the team entered the ‘storming’ phase.

I’ve been amazed at how many times I have been thanked over the past three months for just doing my job. I talked about holding the team steady in my first post and it’s only now that I realise how important this was. The impact of having someone who listens to you, who cares about your progress and actively helps fight fires and gets shit done for you can’t be underestimated. As someone who has a very critical inner voice, it was important that I acknowledge this to myself. I was given a great new mug for my birthday to help on the days when the voice gets too loud.

When I first started the role, I bought myself a New Manager Care Package. It felt slightly indulgent but after a couple of years away from management as an individual contributor, I wanted to arm myself with some new tools and ideas.

I flicked through Lara’s book and ate the beautifully iced biscuit but didn’t really absorb much. Three months in, I have found it useful to revisit the book and dip in and out of the chapters. Now is the perfect time to take stock and set new goals for the next couple of months.

I’m not new anymore and I can see clearly where the gaps are. I can’t necessarily fill them though as I’m not permanently in the role. What can I do to start to turn the ship towards where it needs to go without rocking the boat? Lucky for me, the team are amazing and don’t need too much encouragement. We’ve kicked off some cross chapter programmes of work. People are collaborating outside of their Tribes and we’re all helping each other to be better.

I’m still holding them steady but I’m gently nudging and guiding the team towards a better course. I can’t help but think how lucky I am to be doing this.