Communication @ Celo
Redesigning Celo's communication ecosystem & how messages flows between teams.
Design Research | Organization Design | Usability Testing
The traditional, branch-style company is very common in our day to day lives where the power dynamic is often at play within its organization. Meanwhile, there are also companies that do not operate by conventional rules, and Celo is one of them.
2 Month + 4 Weeks
Junyan Li - User Research | Prototype
Tess Hannel - User Research | Communication
Monica Poddar - User Research | Graphic Design
Purva Takkar - User Research | Project Management
Sanuree Gomes - User Research | Media Design
Adobe Suite
Kumo.io
Observation
Survey Inquiries
User Interviews
Co-design Sessions
Usability Testing
- Prototype & proposed an interactive organization chart and non-violent communication training.
- Conducted in-depth user research to identify opportunities and guide prototype iterations.
- Built and iterated prototypes with key stakeholders through co-design sessions and usability testings.
- Understanding the current working environment at Celo through in-depth research with individual employees.
- Assessing its current shortcoming & advantages through design research and devise a fitting solution.
- Leveraging available resources and develop an implementation process within Celo’s organization framework.
After many research and iteration, we arrived at a concept that not only addresses the issues on the surface, but a complete process for our partner to implement holacracy in its company structure:
Starting from the Communication Handbook, the process would cover the employees’ experience from onboarding to the daily operations.
During onboarding, employees are presented The Gold Book of Values, we proceed to expand the book to be the go-to manual for communications at Celo, which include the following:Basics of a Teal organization and holacratic structureHow to navigate through the Organization ChartActionable ways to practice Non-violent Communication
Based on the feedback from the employees, we’ve developed a few tips to help shape difficult conversations as smooth as possible:
- It’s okay to share your emotions in the workplace.
- Have an open mind and heart. Empathize.
- No judgments, please!
- Get on the same pageMake requests, not demands.
- Actively listen to talk it out.
- Send written acknowledgments and actually follow through with what was decided.
We recognize the importance of clarifying the innovative organization structure, therefore, an interactive organization chart was created using kumu.io, a powerful online visualization tool to help the employees understand the company’s structure and how communication can flow in-between different circles.
At Celo, members reside in different circles by profession, yet are oftentimes playing multiple roles and cross paths with each other; the interactive organization chart can be easily updated to helps everybody quickly identify their teammates and basic information as the company grows.
Going further than the words on the handbook, we proposed a few ways to make NVC becomes second nature to the employees so that everyone can benefit from a shared vision and a healthy, direct, and compassionate work environment.
A post it note, placed on the rest area’s fridge with changing topics to invites people taking some time off to talk to each other and share thoughts and stories.
A calendar-style flip book with different emotions and moods listed on each page, placed on everyone’s desk as a status indicator to open up (sometimes turn away) conversations.
Available as part of the employee resources, the template helps its users to accurately assess and communicate their thoughts and concerns at the workplace.
Reside on SLACK, the Chatbot can guide you to the best available NVC as well as organizational resources on demand.
"I appreciate the kind note, the update on the project, and the work you have put into our school's transportation planning.
Yes, the challenges of shelter-in-place and reopening are real, and - at times - daunting. I'm thankful for your flexibility as we both moved through these uncertainties."
---- Ryan Chapman, Head & Co-founder of The New School SF
As the end result, we were able to...
Acquire a 95% commitment rate for the transportation plan from the new school students' families.
390 students will be utilizing the bus program when the school reopens.
During the research phase, we were introduced to different types of organizational structure, and the concept of non-violent communication.
We also conducted interviews with multiple stakeholders and design experts before diving into synthesis and concept development.
Before diving deep into the research, we created a timeline that both us and our partner at Celo can agree upon to keep track of the progress (and sanity).
We started by educating ourselves on the different Organizational Structures, the concept of Teal Organization, and Non-violent Communication. Finding out how are these strategies get implemented in the real world, in companies such as Airbnb, REI, and Patagonia.
By looking into Teal organizations like Airbnb and REI, we managed to see how holacracy is practiced and how does it functions differently from a hierarchical one.
Meanwhile, the idea of Non-violent Communication really sparked some questions in how would it takes place in a Teal Organization practicing holacracy.
- Holacracy solution needs to be scalable as the organization grows
- Teal education can be a critical part for the new hire onboarding
- A teal system can takes form in different ways
Moving into primary research phase, our research plan took place over the course of 1 months and is consists of 3 major approaches: Immersive Observation, Survey, and Interviews.
We choose to first observe how social interactions and physical environments can influence the communication by spending time with Celo’s San Francisco team.
66% of those surveyed are inclined to say they don’t have the access to information they needed
50% of those surveyed said they have a professional growth plan at celo
Only 33% of those surveyed said they know who to communicate with to set expectations and accomplish goals
We interviewed 2 employees from the SF office and 1 from the Berlin office, along with many informative conversations with others.
“ I wonder how holacracy could scale.”
“ I wish there were less bureaucracy.”
“ I think tensions can be discussed before circle meetings.”
“ I couldn’t pinpoint who were responsible for what.”
As we proceed to digest the data from our field studies, we used sorting to identify themes across Celo’s communication system and began to draft frameworks that best represent its internal communicate structures.
Prototyping
Our initial prototyping efforts started by sketching out different ways to depict Celo’s organization structure to create an easy to understand organization chart for the new and current employees.
Many iterations were made before we finally decided how to clearly represent Celo’s organization structure through a diagram.
A couple rounds of iterations later, we made the V1 of Celo’s Organization Chart.
Embraces the holacratic “circle” concept, members within the circles are equal while communication flows through dedicated channels.
With the first organization chart in hand, we hosted the first co-design session with out partners at Celo to get some feedbacks. It revealed some surprising findings, showing us where our concept falls short:
1. An Organization Chart alone is not enough to bring clarity to Celo’s communication structure.
2. We need a system that not only accurately represent, but facilitate a friendly and effective communication environment for the employees.
Knowing that a systemic approach is necessary, we developed the 4 design principles that will make our communication system better understood and accepted at Celo.
We then defined the conceptual framework for the system: A interactive organization chart, supported by a comprehensive “user manual” for the employees, and facilitated by different implementation practices.
This is one of the first few project where I get to work with an outside partner and pitching our final concept to them. I treat it as a valuable experience in both project management and prototype development. During the process, I learned to zoom out and view the subject matter from a new angle, reframing problems into opportunities, as well as the decision-making skills to push the project forward.
My Takeaways:
1) Product Design =/= Making an App: An App, whether on mobile, tablet, or desktop, is not the silver bullet for every pain points we encounter in our design career. One of the biggest takeaway my curriculum has taught me the App is merely a part of the bigger system that requires its presence, not the other way around.
2) Reframe Before It's too Late: Reframing is part of the design process, and the later it takes place, the bigger its impact will be. In this case, our first concept sparked some surprising feedback from our partners, which in turn, let us reconsider our approach and expand the scope.
3) Mutual agreement of commitment: Service design is a group efforts among all parties - the product team and their client. I found it is immensely helpful for both sides to be upfront about their capabilities and level of commitment in the early on so there's a clear channel of communication and visible boundaries&limitations.