Once stakeholder buy-in was secured, the next big challenge was building bridges between siloed teams. In large organizations or government contracts, teams often operate in isolation with little incentive (and sometimes active disincentives) to share information. This makes cross-functional alignment incredibly difficult.

Why Communication is Hard

  • Teams are often competing for contract renewals, which can foster secrecy rather than transparency.
  • Designers and developers may never interact with their counterparts on parallel teams.
  • The lack of shared tools or processes makes it difficult to sync on decisions and styles.

How We Tackled It

1. The Tiger Team
We established a “tiger team” that had one dedicated designer from each product team tasked with resolving design system issues and aligning on design decisions. This wasn’t just a working group; it became a space for trust-building. Meeting biweekly, this team reviewed components and collaborated on solutions.

2. Design System Sprint
Once the tiger team was functioning well, leadership wanted to accelerate results. We launched a focused design system sprint. The sprint fast-tracked alignment by setting clear, short-term goals and concentrating full team efforts on shared outcomes.

3. Workshops
We ran workshops for design audits, process retrospectives, and implementation planning. These sessions not only yielded useful feedback but also strengthened bonds between team members who rarely had the chance to collaborate directly.

Key Takeaway

Communication wasn’t just about Slack messages or meetings. It was about creating shared rituals and safe spaces to solve problems together. Breaking down silos required more than process. It needed a people-first approach.

Note: This article was co-written with the help of AI to improve clarity and structure.