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 1 | # Design Systems Office Hours Playbook
 2 | 
 3 | As our company and system scales, it’s important that Design System team members
 4 | have a common approach to attending and operating office hours. Office hours are
 5 | our most direct channel of input from the product teams we serve, making it an
 6 | important part of our work. Below are some of the themes and behaviors you
 7 | should bear in mind when you participate in or run office hours.
 8 | 
 9 | ## Be Attentive
10 | 
11 | Office hours are dedicated time for product teams to get face-to-face with the
12 | Design System teams—but that can only happen if our faces aren’t buried in our
13 | laptops and phones.
14 | 
15 | When attending office hours, refrain from using your phone or laptop to do work.
16 | Some exceptions are when you’re taking notes, or pulling up some work to share
17 | with the attendees. In these cases, just let the attendees know what you’re
18 | doing so that they know they still have your full attention.
19 | 
20 | This applies to everyone in the room, even if you’re not giving direct feedback.
21 | If you’re too busy not to be on your phone or laptop for half an hour, you
22 | should find someone who can take your place.
23 | 
24 | ## Be Supportive
25 | 
26 | The teams that come to office hours are some of our most devoted colleagues:
27 | they were able to recognize the importance of the work we do and want to give us
28 | the chance to work with them. For this reason, we should expect that all the
29 | work we see in office hours deserves our support and was produced with good
30 | intentions.
31 | 
32 | In cases where teams are in clear violation of guidelines we provide, try to
33 | understand how they arrived at their solution, and work with them to find a
34 | suitable compromise that puts them back on the right track.
35 | 
36 | ## Be Clear and Direct
37 | 
38 | Just like any other feedback channel, the best feedback we can give to teams
39 | coming to office hours should be succinct, clear, and actionable. Avoid simply
40 | telling teams that their work isn’t Design System-compliant—that’s probably the
41 | reason they’re present—and avoid sugar-coating your feedback. Make your feedback
42 | concise and clear, provide actionable suggestions, and remember that this is
43 | their time to talk to us, not the other way around.
44 | 
45 | Sometimes getting to good feedback is hard without the right context, so make
46 | sure you have all the necessary facts you need to confidently make suggestions.
47 | 
48 | ## Defer and Observe
49 | 
50 | It’s wonderful when we have a strong Design System presence at office
51 | hours—that’s a sign that our team is excited to see the work going on across the
52 | company!—but it can quickly become off-putting for product teams when several
53 | people have feedback to give.
54 | 
55 | Don’t feel as though your being in office hours means you have to contribute
56 | feedback: use the time to observe and take note of the work being presented so
57 | we can better anticipate similar work coming down the pike.
58 | 
59 | Similarly, let other people drive the feedback if it’s clear they have a good
60 | handle on it, and try to defer to other people if you’re not confident you’re
61 | the best person to support the attendees.
62 | 
63 | ## Share Your Findings
64 | 
65 | The final thing to talk about is about what happens after office hours. Take a
66 | moment to chat with the other Design System representatives about the work
67 | you’ve seen to make sure you’re on the same page.
68 | 
69 | If there wasn’t someone taking notes during the office hours, make sure you
70 | agree on who will be responsible for writing notes for the rest of the team to
71 | see.
72 | 
73 | Additionally, just because people weren’t in the room doesn’t mean they aren’t
74 | interested in the work being shown: take the work back to your team to share
75 | with them in case they have their own relevant information or action items to
76 | share.
77 | 


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