Work Management

In a world of constant technological and social change, we embrace unpredictability. We reflecte this in a non-traditional organizational structure, based on transparency, flexibility, efficiency and continuous improvement: this is what we call anti-fragile operations.

Transparency within an organization fosters more agile and accurate communication between teams and clients, allowing us to quickly identify emerging opportunities and risks. In turn, flexibility allows us to adapt to these changes, avoiding hierarchical and bureaucratic structures and encouraging openness and experimentation. In order to maintain an agile pace in product development, we constantly consider how to optimize the efficiency of internal processes and increase the quality of work, relying on exchange spaces in which to convert individual knowledge into collective knowledge. In short, an anti-fragile organizational structure allows us to do more and better in a sustained manner.

1. Company Structure

The structure of the studio is based on three interconnected pillars: the Productive Area, the Operational Area and the Satellite Areas.

Productive Area:

The Productive area is composed by product design, branding and design systems teams, it is the  heart of the studio. It is composed of three sub-areas:

1. Product Design: made up of designers in charge of conceptualizing and designing compelling products focused on the user's experience.
2. Branding/Visual: builds strong and consistent brands, creating and maintaining the visual identity of our projects and the studio.
3. Design Systems and Operations: establishes reusable design principles and components that streamline processes and maintain consistency in our designs.

Operational Area:

These are the teams responsible for the management and organization of the studio, with the objective of guaranteeing its efficient operation and customer satisfaction. It is made up by these roles:

1. Head of Design: supervises and guides the design teams, establishing the strategic and creative vision of the studio.
2. Head of People: manages the selection, training and career development of team members, and together with the Head of Design, assigns projects.
3. Operations: supervise the resources necessary for the development of projects and the optimization of internal processes to ensure efficiency.
4. Projects & Accounts Management: responsible for project management and communication with clients, connecting the Production Area and operational processes.
5. Finance & Administration: responsible for financial and administrative management, from invoicing and payments to the company's legal processes.

Satellite Areas:

They complement our operations and contribute to team cohesion, developing the product culture we share. Some of these areas are:

1. Culture: fosters the values, principles and identity of the firm, ensuring a positive and creative work environment.
2. Communication: ensures effective and consistent communication both externally and among team members.
3. Community: strengthens our relationships with the creative community through events where knowledge and experiences are exchanged.
4. Training: promotes the continuous learning of the team, providing a quota for in-house training and through workshops and technical skills courses.

2. Organizational model

Under our time management model, each Productive Area profile dedicates 85% of its time to tasks related to its main work activity, and 15% to internal initiatives and activities, such as the weekly Demos, training or being part of a community project. Each team member is responsible for self-managing their time effectively and reporting it through the Airtable tool.

With the recorded data we feed our own Dedication and Profitability Dashboard. In the DDR we can know the status, profitability and other relevant data of each project, which allows us to optimize the processes of the Account Management team and support the business strategy. In addition, it informs us about the team's occupancy, allowing us to correct projections to achieve objectives and better estimate future projects.

Rituals:

To get a holistic view of the company's status, we rely on a set of meetings dedicated to addressing key issues:

1. Strategy Meeting: This half-hour meeting, that kicks off each week on Monday mornings, is led by the Head of Finance and attended by the Operational team. It evaluates the company's financial status, ongoing business proposals and conversations, identifies growth opportunities and defines the key steps to achieve our strategic objectives.
2. Operational Session (Level 10): structured under the ESO Level 10 Methodology, in this session we review operational processes, identify areas for improvement and seek to optimize our efficiency. It lasts between 60 to 90 minutes, is led by the Project Manager and is attended by the core team that includes the CEO as well as representatives from Sales, Finance, Design, People and Operations team.
3. Planning: this 30-minute session is held every Monday and is attended by the Design, Operations, Project Management teams, the CEO and partners. It seeks to organize and prioritize the week's tasks and projects, and to bring together the work of all areas and teams.
4. Leads: an hour-long session on Mondays, led by the Head of People and attended by the Design Leads, Head of Design, Accounts and partners, the aim is to foster collaboration between Lead Designers and make tactical decisions on projects and teams according to the needs that may arise.

5. Leads Training: A Wednesday session that is attended by Leads and partners, and is used to train Leads through project reviews, process improvement initiatives, team member reviews, among other formats.

6. Demo: Our weekly last Friday meeting. This ritual consists of various activities that seek to strengthen the culture of the studio. They can be presentations of projects for clients, technical training, inspirational topics or trends, or even playful activities to encourage creativity.

7. All hands: held on a quarterly basis. The aim is to share the status of achievements from a business point of view with the entire team. We also go over challenges and vision of the company for the next quarter, which serves to update the business strategy.

8. Summit: this is the firm's largest face-to-face event and is held twice a year, in summer and winter. Each Summit brings together the teams of all the companies of the Modulor Group during a full day: mendesaltaren, minimumrun, Tailor Hub and NocodeHackers.
   
   Read more about summit in culture

Types of projects:

Depending on the needs of our clients, we offer different project models:

1. Ongoing: we work on a long-term basis in the development and improvement of the client's product, providing continuous support.
2. One Shot (Start and End): a specific and timely collaboration to achieve specific objectives within a specific time frame.
3. Internal Projects: we also carry out internal projects to explore new ideas, develop prototypes and experiment with new technologies.

Invoicing:

Our billing policy is designed to offer flexible options to our customers:

1. Closed: a fixed fee is established that covers all services and deliverables required, regardless of the number of hours or resources invested.
2. By deliverables: specific milestones or deliverables are established and billed based on their completion. It is suitable for projects with clear objectives and well-defined deliverables.
3. By hours: billed according to the hours spent on the project. It allows for greater adaptability, making it suitable for projects where the requirements and scope may vary.

4. Contracted hours: this flexible option allows the client to manage the use of hours according to their needs at different stages of the project.

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3. Project Management

The management of each project in the studio is carefully planned in different phases and key steps:

1. Closing of the sale and activation of the contract:

The Business Developer, together with the partners, Head of Design and Leads specialized in the client's business area, make an evaluation of the time and resources required for the execution of the project and present an economic proposal. Once accepted, Sales informs Finance, which drafts and sends the contract to the client for review and signature. Throughout this process, Sales, Head of Design and Head of People communicate to assign the most suitable talent to each project.

2. Project Kick-off:

We follow the following steps in this phase:

1. Team definition: Head of Design and Head of People assign a Lead and a team for project development, and an Account Manager for client communication, performance tracking and administrative management.

2. Setup: Sales and Head of Design share the proposal and economic estimates with the Lead and Account Manager. The Account Manager will then create the project sheet and collect all the necessary information in the Notion and Airtable.

3. Pre-Kickoff: before the meeting with the client, Sales, the Account Manager and the team assigned to the project meet to get the context of the project and get aligned.

4. Kickoff: the team meets with the client to establish the first steps to be taken, agree on follow-up meetings and establish communication channels.

5. Communication channels: the Account Manager opens two channels in Slack, the communication platform we use: an internal channel, #proj-project-name, for the team members assigned to the project; and a shared channel, #proj-project-name-shared, where the client is invited to maintain fluid communication with them.

3. Delivery and project follow-up:

While the design team works on developing the project according to the guidelines established in the kick-off and follow-up meetings with the client, the Account Manager checks in with the Lead and reviews its profitability.

4. The end of a project:

We follow the following steps in this phase:

1. Final Delivery: The Lead notifies the client about the project closure and shares the final deliverables, also informing Finance and the Account Manager.
2. End-of-project Report: The Account Manager drafts a report detailing the project duration, milestones achieved, and deliverables.
3. Feedback: The Account Manager requests feedback from the client about their experience via a phone call or an online form.
4. Contract Closure and Billing: Once the details are verified with the project leads, Finance sends the final invoice to the client.

4. Communication with collaborators

When we require the services of external collaborators, we take great care in our communications with them. Here are some points on how we manage it:

1. Channels: We seek equal and unified communication, regardless of the type of collaborator. To achieve this, we use an active internal communication channel, Slack, which allows us to resolve doubts, coordinate activities, and follow projects in real-time, smoothly and efficiently. We also use other external shared channels, such as Gmail or Slack itself, to keep our collaborators aligned with the client.
2. Confidentiality and protection: Before starting any project, we require our collaborators to sign a Non-Disclosure Agreement (NDA), which safeguards the privacy of project details and the intellectual property involved.
3. Service contract: To establish shared foundations of expectations and objectives from the beginning, we draft a personalized contract that defines roles, responsibilities, deadlines, deliverables, and budget.
4. Caring for the relationship: We believe in the value of strong and long-term relationships. Therefore, we strive to understand their needs and goals to cultivate a relationship based on transparency and mutual respect.
5. Constant quality pursuit: We promote the exchange of constructive feedback and encourage open communication about any aspect that can improve the experience or results.
6. Problem resolution: We keep communication open to address any challenges that may arise and seek joint solutions.

The success of a digital product design studio largely depends on its ability to efficiently organize its resources and processes. Our focus on time management, the use of tracking tools and metrics, and our operational framework enable us to optimize our operations and deliver results to our clients.