As a long-time creative agency leader, there is something that still sends shivers down my spine and delights what’s left of my soul. Put simply, it's the power of seeing diverse teams come together in full-fat, three-dimensional real life. Of course, it helps if the environment in which this takes place is one of learning and sociability. A place where listening, networking, workshopping and breaking bread together are all available. In short, that’s exactly the environment Clearleft has created for our flagship UX event, UX London 2024.
But why is this team dynamic so important?
Here’s my 5 golden reasons to bring your team.
1. Bond and grow together
This first reason was brought home to me last year by the effervescent Eliza Lawson at DWP Digital. As a human-centred designer with involvement in product management and research operations, her team was distributed across the country and mostly remote. Eliza attended with her wider team, some ten or so folks from across the UK. What surprised me was the revelation that many of them had never actually met in person before. It was delightful to see that team bond and grow over the course of three days, taking full advantage of being in London together. As Eliza herself said:
"Still buzzing from this incredible event. So many great takeaways. Can we do this once a month? 🥺"
2. Deepen industry knowledge at the same pace
How often do we see disparate levels of knowledge within teams? This often leads to frustration, resentment or even anxiety depending on one's experience and access to learning. By immersing your team in the smorgasbord of talent we have assembled means everyone gets an equal opportunity to increase their skill levels and industry knowledge.
3. Shared language adds clarity and effectiveness
As we all know, language counts, words count. UX, like most industries, is prone to its own mystifying array of acronyms, heuristics and biases. What better way to collectively lift the veil and create a shared understanding to take back to the day job. Clarity, as they say, is kindness. It also leads to more effective outcomes and happier teams.
4. Grow your network, grow your brand
This is actually both an individual and team benefit. Returning to Eliza’s example at DWP, it was clear that alongside the individual benefits, having strong team representation created an impact. In the many breakouts and workshops, the DWP’s presence was palpable and recognised. I don't know if they are recruiting, but their attendance spoke volumes to me about their employer brand, which brings me to my last point…
5. Demonstrate investment in individual and team professional development
In the fight to attract and retain great people, supporting a team's growth and development is vital. It's also a powerful sign to the wider industry that you are an organisation that genuinely supports lifelong learning.
As a fan of behavioural economics, I’ll throw in a bonus reason – one of social proof. It's no coincidence that the likes of Auto Trader UK , Naked Wines, Booking.com, HM Courts & Tribunals Service (HMCTS) , Wix , River Island, Co-op , Lloyds Banking Group , Channel 4 and DWP Digital regularly send their teams to UX London .
If releasing that training budget for all three days is the only thing holding you back then there's more good news. Simply select the day most relevant to your team – Research, Product or DesignOps – and a 20% discount will automatically be added on orders of five or more.
I’d like to give Eliza the last word...
"So many amazing things to take away from the conference. But I think the main one for me is “I want to do that. I could do that. I’m GOING to do that…one day".