Case Study: GOV.UK Design System – Embedding Learning, Culture and Confidence at Scale
Client: GOV.UK Design System Team
Sector: Government / Digital Services
Focus: Team Coaching, Culture Change, Confidence in Complexity
Duration: 6 months
Context & Challenge
The GOV.UK Design System team sits at the heart of UK government digital delivery—high-impact, high-visibility, and high stakes. The scale and reputation of the work creates both pride and pressure, with team members often feeling exposed in the “limelight.” While the team was delivering well, there was untapped potential in how they collaborated, reflected, and grew together.
Traditionally, learning and development had been treated as an individual responsibility. But with shifting demands, cross-functional complexity, and a renewed strategy, the team leads saw the opportunity for something deeper: a collective investment in confidence, culture, and capability.
Approach
The coaching engagement began with 1:1 diagnostics across the team to surface key themes, challenges and opportunities—particularly around confidence, collaboration, and readiness to step into ambiguity. These insights were shared openly with the leadership group, creating psychological safety and shared ownership from the start.
Together, we designed a bespoke 6-month coaching programme, combining whole-team workshops, reflective ceremonies, and leadership coaching. Sessions were embedded into delivery rhythms to ensure they supported—not interrupted—core work. A deliberate emphasis was placed on gratitude, peer recognition, and surfacing collective strengths alongside areas for growth.
Team leads also participated in dedicated leadership coaching sessions to strengthen their own coaching capability and ensure coherence across the change journey.
The Coaching Journey
Over six months, the team worked through a tailored programme built on the Performance Circle and G.R.O.W.T.H.frameworks, exploring:
Psychological safety and vulnerability in high-stakes environments
Confident communication and collaboration across roles
Leadership behaviours for a culture of reflection and learning
Collective L&D as a strategic enabler—not an individual bolt-on
Creating the conditions for sustainable delivery pace and autonomy
Workshops were complemented by structured reflection, integrated into new delivery rhythms such as a three-week cycle with a dedicated “reflection week.” These innovations allowed the team to consolidate learning, share skills, and align more intentionally as a unit.
Outcomes
Stronger culture of openness and peer-to-peer learning
Increased confidence, clarity and pace in delivery
Wider team stepping into spaces they had previously avoided
Greater cross-functional collaboration on complex releases
Coaching behaviours embedded into team ceremonies and rhythms
Reflections from the Team
“This has been one of our most productive years to date. Coaching helped us move faster by stepping back and sharpening how we work together.”
— Kelly Lee, Delivery Manager
“We’ve grown as a team—this wasn’t about fixing individuals but building something shared. It’s changed how we collaborate, reflect, and deliver.”
— Steve Messer, Senior Product Manager
What Made It Work
A mature team mindset open to challenge, feedback, and reflection
Leadership committed to building confidence, not just capacity
Coaching positioned as a strategic investment, not a side project
Honest, human facilitation—anchored in understanding the complexity of digital government work
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An executive coach who specialises in helping good people lead great things.
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