The challenge
The Colleague Experience function had grown into a complex internal organization with many systems, processes, artifacts, engagement methods, and partner relationships. That complexity affected intake, handoffs, project visibility, consistency, and how the team was perceived across the enterprise.
My role
I was the first and most senior Experience Strategist and participated on the leadership team. I drafted, proposed, and championed new operating practices; brought proven methods and artifacts from earlier work; mentored staff; and helped people develop a shared voice for explaining the work.
The operating model
- Introduced a structured project and initiative intake/onboarding framework so requestors understood what successful collaboration required.
- Standardized project tracking and repositories around Atlassian tools including Jira, Confluence, and Trello.
- Developed shared artifact templates tied to the team’s operating practices.
- Created and socialized common terminology so team members could discuss work with greater consistency.
- Clarified engagement expectations and how cross-functional partners worked with the function.
What became different
The goal was not faster intake for its own sake. Intake became substantially more informed, which let the team understand and estimate effort earlier and more cleanly. Work became more visible, outputs became more consistent, and the function developed a more unified way of communicating with partner teams.
Why this case matters
This is operating-model work rather than product-interface work. The intervention changed the system by which a function received work, organized itself, collaborated, and represented its value across the enterprise.