Why Design Thinking Workshops Matter for Your Team’s Growth

Imagine you’ve just hired a handful of new product managers and developers at your CRM agency, all eager to crack the code on improving the BigCommerce integration. Your challenge? Getting these folks to think together, not just individually—because great products aren’t built in silos. This is where design thinking workshops shine.

Design thinking is more than a buzzword; it’s a problem-solving process centered on empathy, experimentation, and collaboration. For CRM software teams working with BigCommerce clients, it opens up fresh ways to understand user pain points, ideate solutions, and test quickly. And when you apply design thinking through workshops, you’re not only solving product challenges—you’re shaping team dynamics, building trust, and leveling up skills.

A 2023 McKinsey survey found teams that regularly use design thinking methods reported a 25% increase in cross-functional collaboration and a 17% boost in product adoption after product launches. Numbers like that show workshops don’t just add fluff—they build muscle.

Let’s explore five practical ways to get the most out of design thinking workshops as a mid-level product manager in a CRM agency focused on BigCommerce users.

1. Set Clear, Purpose-Driven Goals That Connect to Team Growth

A common pitfall: kicking off a workshop with vague ambitions like “let’s brainstorm.” Instead, anchor every session to a specific outcome tied to both the product and team development. For example:

• Improve onboarding flows for BigCommerce merchants in your CRM platform
• Identify gaps in multi-store management from agency feedback
• Develop fresh hypotheses for upselling automation features

This focus helps everyone understand the why behind the workshop and how their input shapes both product direction and team skill-building.

Before the workshop, ask yourself:

• Which product challenge aligns with current agency priorities?
• How can this workshop stretch the team’s empathy or experimentation skills?
• Will all participants feel their unique experience matters?

You could even send out a quick survey to gauge expectations. Tools like Zigpoll, Typeform, or SurveyMonkey work great here.

For example, one agency team running a workshop to simplify the BigCommerce data sync process saw their conversion of trial users to paid customers jump from 2% to 11% within two quarters. Why? Because the session helped surface overlooked customer pain points—and team members bonded over solving them.

2. Build Team Diversity: Mix Roles and Seniority for Richer Outcomes

Design thinking thrives on varied perspectives. If your workshop lineup is just PMs, or just engineers, you’re missing out on a key advantage.

For your CRM agency, a balanced team might include:

• A product manager focused on BigCommerce integrations
• UX/UI designers familiar with agency webshops
• Customer success reps who hear direct client feedback
• Engineers who build API connections between your CRM and BigCommerce
• Sales or marketing staff working with agency partners

Mixing junior and senior staff encourages mentorship and fresh ideas alike.

Take it from a mid-level PM at an agency who invited a junior developer and a senior customer success lead into their design sprint. The junior dev’s familiarity with the latest BigCommerce API features combined with the CSM’s real-world client stories sparked ideas the PM alone wouldn’t have had.

If your team is remote or hybrid, consider asynchronous prep work like short video intros or collaborative docs so folks start with some context.

3. Use Hands-On Exercises That Mirror Real BigCommerce Scenarios

Design thinking isn’t a lecture. It’s a workshop where participants roll up their sleeves and experiment.

For CRM teams dealing with BigCommerce, make exercises concrete:

• Empathy Mapping: Have participants step into the shoes of a BigCommerce agency client trying to set up automated email campaigns through your CRM. What frustrates them? What delights them? Chart it visually.
• Customer Journey Mapping: Map out every touchpoint—from when an agency hears about your CRM to launching their first BigCommerce client campaign—to identify friction points.
• Rapid Prototyping: Use simple tools like Figma or Miro to sketch wireframes of new dashboard features that simplify store syncing.
• “How Might We” Questions: Frame challenges as “How might we reduce the time agencies spend troubleshooting BigCommerce orders?” This sparks creative ideas grounded in specific problems.

One team’s empathy mapping session revealed that agency clients struggled most with syncing inventory data, a discovery that shifted priorities for both product and onboarding teams.

4. Facilitate Open, Structured Communication to Build Trust and Psychological Safety

Workshops can easily go off the rails if some voices dominate while others stay silent. As a mid-level PM, your role partly becomes moderator—making sure the environment invites genuine sharing.

Try these tactics:

• Kick off with a “meeting contract” where everyone agrees to listen, suspend judgment, and step up/step back.
• Use silent brainstorming phases to avoid groupthink—everyone writes ideas individually before sharing.
• Rotate who speaks first in discussions.
• Use “dot voting” on ideas so all opinions contribute to prioritization.
• Check in using quick pulse surveys (Zigpoll or Slido) about group sentiment mid-workshop to adjust pacing or tone.

A CRM agency found that after implementing these communication rules in their design thinking workshops, team members reported feeling 40% more comfortable sharing wild ideas—a huge win for innovation.

5. Embed Workshop Learnings into Your Hiring, Onboarding, and Development Cycles

The best design thinking workshops don’t end when the session does. Use insights and team dynamics as a springboard to shape how you hire and grow your CRM product teams working with BigCommerce users.

Here’s how:

• Hiring: Look for candidates who demonstrate empathy and collaborative problem-solving, not just technical skills. Ask about experiences in cross-functional teams or design sprints.
• Onboarding: Integrate mini design thinking exercises to immerse new hires in the agency’s BigCommerce product challenges. This builds both domain knowledge and team connection from day one.
• Skill Development: Run regular follow-ups or “refresher” sessions to practice techniques like customer journey mapping or prototyping. Encourage participation in external design thinking courses.
• Retrospectives: After each workshop, gather feedback via tools like Zigpoll to refine future sessions and track team growth metrics.

One agency reported that after embedding design thinking principles into onboarding, their ramp-up time for new CRM PMs working on BigCommerce integrations shrank from 3 months to 6 weeks.

Common Mistakes and How to Avoid Them

Mistake: Running Workshops Without Clear Outcomes

A vague agenda leads to disengagement. Always define concrete goals—whether it’s improving a feature or building empathy for agency users.

Mistake: Overloading Sessions With Too Many Participants

More than 12 people can dilute focus and limit participation. Keep groups small or split into breakout teams.

Mistake: Skipping Follow-Up

Workshops without follow-up feel like one-offs. Commit to action plans and revisit workshop insights regularly.

Mistake: Neglecting Psychological Safety

Without trust, people won’t share real pain points or creative ideas. Set ground rules and monitor group dynamics carefully.

How to Know Your Design Thinking Workshops Are Paying Off

Look beyond just product improvements. Here are signs your team-building efforts through workshops are working:

• Increased cross-role collaboration—engineers, PMs, and customer success folks are chatting more in Slack or meetings.
• Faster problem-solving cycles for BigCommerce-related CRM issues.
• Higher employee satisfaction scores related to teamwork and innovation (survey using Zigpoll or Culture Amp).
• New hires ramp up faster and feel confident contributing early.
• Clear, prioritized backlog items from workshop outputs get implemented.

If you find your team stuck in the usual debates without fresh ideas, or your workshops feel like a checkbox, it’s time to revisit your approach using the steps above.

Quick Reference Checklist for Product Managers

Design thinking workshops, when done thoughtfully, don’t just solve product puzzles—they create strong, adaptable teams ready to take on BigCommerce challenges with fresh eyes and deep collaboration. You’ve got the tools—now watch your team grow.