6. Have a multidisciplinary team

It’s important that people who are involved in decision-making are part of the team, so they’re accountable to the team - and the team as a whole can respond quickly to what they learn about users and their needs.

Start with the assumption that you’ll need a broad range of expertise and that a diverse team is more likely to come up with the best solution.

How you do it

Make sure the team has the right mix of skills
Build a team based on the needs of the service and stage of delivery, co-located as far as possible
Make sure the team covers all aspects of the service
Making sure the expertise is in place to look at offline and online channels and the backend systems the service will need to integrate with
Establish ways of working
Help the team understand what’s being delivered, making sure team members know how to work together and manage their day-to-day work
Promote co-production
Include all parts of the team (for example policy and frontline advisors) in the definition of user needs and decision-making
Provide access to expertise where needed
Bring in specialist knowledge to cover gaps in the team
Create a sustainable team to manage the service
Move key roles in the team to permanent staff (reducing reliance on contractors and third party suppliers) as the service goes into production