Relax, It’s Just A Re-Org
A lightweight guide for designers managing organizational change
You should expect to see and even experience a few reorgs in your career. How you address them is essential because they reflect your ability to handle situations that are likely out of your control. Based on my personal experiences with workplaces undergoing transformations, I have some advice for my fellow designers:
Don’t Overreact — Change happens
Timing is all the things so wait before taking action
Identify the Type of Reorg you are facing
Identify the impact on you and your career
I have worked in corporate and consulting/agency environments as a designer or researcher for over 20 years. I witnessed my first reorg when Beyoncé was merely another member of Destiny’s Child. The most recent was about a year ago. I have been fortunate to have maintained my role throughout most reorgs.
Yes, I said ‘most reorgs,’ as I have also lost my job due to corporate restructuring. I have learned quite a few lessons — some of them the hard way — here are just a few:
Change happens, but not always at scale
With change comes opportunity. Designers should embrace change; we tend to be advocates for it after all. Designers tend to drive change in our work — we push to be as progressive as possible with our solutions. And if you think about it, is there anything as progressive as an organization-wide change?
Reorgs are inevitable. Organizations tend to shrink or grow and rarely remain static. Think about it this way: at companies of any size people are always joining or leaving. This process of expanding and contracting is as organic as breathing. Companies live on if they can evolve.
Based on the above logic, reorgs are neither good nor bad. They represent an organization’s attempt to allocate resources efficiently (and resources are people, too).
When changes happen at scale and affect large groups of people, they tend to be because leadership has identified a degree of unmet potential with the status quo.
The best thing you can do is continue to deliver on your craft until you know the specifics.
Timing is all the things
Good things can happen slower than you would want, or faster than you are comfortable with. The same is true of when bad things happen — we have all seen that slow-motion managerial trainwreck play out for a lot longer than you had anticipated. It’s almost scarier when bad things happen all at once with speed.
Time is strongly related to the perceived level of a reorg’s impact. Something is happening or has happened, but its speed will multiply its effect if you let it. From what I have seen, there is no ideal time to reset an organization because there are so many variables. So slow it down and be more rational than emotional. Be more Spock than Kirk when a reorg comes around.
Reacting without taking time to process things leads you to think about ‘what happened,’ which is a distraction. Until you have clarity on the timing and who will be affected, you should keep doing your job. I’m not saying that this is easy to do, as some reorgs progressively disclose their impact.
After communication about the group you report into has been made, you can estimate the effect it may or may not have on you. Even post-official e-comms or town hall it’s your best guess. I would strongly advocate in waiting to see how things fall into place before declaring victory or defeat. Churn is disruptive and results in some people feeling vulnerable and threatened while others are encouraged.
Identify the type of reorg
These categories reflect my experiences to date. These buckets aren’t perfect, but they can help you better understand what’s going on around you.
a) I totes get it
This reorg makes sense. Even the timing seems about right. Besides, you and your Slack buddies were thinking ’something big’ was overdue. You now owe Vishanti lunch because Van den Berg made VP, just like you expected.
Just because you predicted a change doesn’t mean it’s going to work out the way you want it to.
b) Oh shit here we go again.
The last reorg just clicked into place. You JUST found out how to manage relationships with the development team. The project was at its midpoint, and the scrum was no longer a shitshow. Damn it.
Don’t take it personally — your project was likely one of many, and its success may have been unusual.
c) …Wait what?
This reorg was a total surprise to both you and your peers. Befuddlement reigns supreme. It could have been due to the organization missing its sales numbers or the loss of that high- profile client.
Tread lightly, as it’s unlikely that there is only one contributing factor in play here.
If you are facing a Type A reorg, congratulations but don’t get too cozy with the new state of the state. If you are looking at something that aligns with either Type B or C, please take a deep breath and continue reading.
These types of reorgs may be initiated by a seemingly abrupt departure of a high-level executive. Please don’t get caught up in the why of it all. It might seem as if someone is flipping tables without taking the time to understand why things were structured the way they were. There also might be a rotten egg who doesn’t recognize that people aren’t just resources.
Either of these scenarios is dangerous because people tend to assume the worst and the rumor mill quickly hits ‘I can’t believe they wore that to the high school homecoming dance’’ levels. Emotions run high.
The best thing you can do regardless of type is to estimate the impact. Not that of your boss, or your bosses boss. Just you as an individual. After all, it’s your career.
Identify the impact
Once you know how people are moving around (and to where), there are many questions to ask yourself. It’s more of a recipe than an equation, and each item below has a good or bad answer.
The questions you should ask to determine the impact a reorg has on you include, but are not limited to the following:
Does this impact how I do my job?
Good: Things were not so fantastic with my former director or manager anyways.
Bad: Does the person I now report to understand what I actually do?
If it affects how you do your job, how substantial is the impact?
Good: A different account wouldn’t be a bad thing. I was kind of doing the account manager’s job 1/2 the time anyway.
Bad: This new boss person might be taking over our team to reduce headcount.
Do I have to move my desk or floor or building or family?
Good: Wait, does this mean no more ‘microwaved fish Mondays?’
Bad: They are consolidating operations to a suburb I have never heard of, about 45 minutes outside of a city I never considered living in.
How much did I like what I was doing before?
Good: I loved the dynamic of that team but that release kept slipping into the future.
Bad: I spent the last five years of my life working closely with the same dozen people and I will miss most of them. Yes, even ‘Affable Pat.’
Is it time to start looking for a new job?
Good: This might be what that gypsy woman warned me about with her dying breath.
Bad: I’m going to be seen as responsible for 1/2 the team leaving because no one likes working for Robert. I can’t blame them.
^You can see a pattern emerge above without looking too closely. If a dying gypsy mentioned anything about missing your old team and that you would move across the country only to have a cutthroat boss who doesn’t understand what you contribute, then you might want to find a new job. Sometimes the answer is “it’s time to leave,” but you don’t want to make that call without context.
Reaction Time
Reorgs are going to happen, so don’t overreact. It’s best to slow things down, identify the type you are facing, its impact, and size up what your options are. Until you have clarity on those items, you should keep doing your job.
Once you get the facts, you can estimate the impact a reorg may or may not have on you. The goal is to make an informed decision; a combination of data and intuition. This goal will prevent you from making a career move that you might regret.
Oh — and one last reflection from experience…if you like your co-workers, don’t be too quick to leave.