Here's a 5-step guide to pitch team learning benefits and successfully convince your company to pay for it.

Step 1. Do your homework

Before you introduce all the benefits of investing in your team’s growth and development, find out how your company approaches this task now. Things to investigate before the meeting include:

  • What's your company's current approach to UX team training?
  • How does your company evaluate skill growth?
  • Does your company have a formal training budget?

Even if you're the first to ask, don't be hesitant - you're looking out for your professional growth and your team's best interests.

Step 2. Prepare your arguments

Begin the conversation by presenting your reasons for bringing up UX team training and skill evaluation.

  • Get personal. Start with your personal story and explain to your manager what Uxcel courses you would like to take first and how the obtained knowledge would help you in your work. For example, if you don't have UX writers on your team and designers are currently responsible for adding UI copy, describe how much time you spend struggling to find the best words that adhere to your brand voice. Demonstrating your enthusiasm to learn UX writing or other disciplines can win your manager over.
  • Speak of business goals. Think of the company's major objectives and shortcomings and explain how your design team's skill growth can help achieve those goals. Mention that companies that encourage a continuous learning culture appear to be more progressive and flexible. It demonstrates the company's willingness to cultivate people's skills and retain employees.
💡 By investing in UX team training, companies can reduce the cost of hiring new employees with design skills.

Step 3. Explain why Uxcel for Teams is worth it

Now, it's time to prove why Uxcel is the best choice for your team's training. We've come up with the idea of introducing teams on Uxcel to evaluate the growth of our content team over time. We are certain that this approach will be beneficial for other organizations too. Observing team development and working on skill gaps can undeniably stimulate the team's effectiveness and increase revenue.

Here are the most crucial Uxcel Teams features you may want to include in the conversation with your manager:

  • Broad catalog of interactive courses: These come with real-world examples and verified resources on a broad range of topics such as UX Design Foundations, UX Writing, Typography, Color Psychology, Design Accessibility, and other essential disciplines for designers and non-designers.
  • Skill tests:  These comprehensive assessments allow you to assess the acquired knowledge from our courses and spot any skill gaps you might have.
  • Learning recommendations: Custom study recommendations are provided based on a team member's performance.
  • Track team performance: Team managers can see the activity of their designers — what skill tests and courses each member takes and how often.
  • Skill Graph: This is a powerful tool for visualizing designer skills around critical areas like: UX Research, Visual Design, Interaction Design, Content Strategy, Leadership, and Core Qualities. A team leader needs just one glance over a designer's skill graph to get a full picture of their skills and progress over time.
💡 People love numbers — sometimes, they speak volumes. Mention that over 300 companies are using Uxcel Teams to upskill their UX teams members.

Step 4. Speak of benefits for a team

Regardless of your team size, UX team training is essential. It's a great investment in the professional growth of each member and the overall company's success.

Here are some team benefits you can highlight:

  • Incorporated design thinking across the team: Inviting all team members to Uxcel and giving them access to learning materials promotes design thinking across the whole team, including developers, the marketing and sales teams, and QA engineers.
  • More flexible problem solving: With new skills under their belts, people can approach problems differently. Plus, team members may feel more confident diving into areas that seemed too intimidating and "design-ish" previously.
💡Professional UX designers who practice continuous learning are always in high demand. Companies that invest in the professional development of their employees are more likely to foster top talent and build more successful products.

Step 5. Talk finances

Finance is the most delicate topic, but the good news is that Uxcel Teams allow you to start a free 14-day trial. Team members can take skill tests and assessments to build their skill graphs, and managers will be able to see their activity. The Learn seats that you can assign to your team members — opens the door for accessing all learning material with certificates for completed courses. Team leaders can evaluate designers' skills and address any gaps by guiding them to take relevant courses. Once the trial is expired, the price is more than fair — $12 per month for one seat when paid yearly.

Email your manager

Whether you work remotely or onsite, you would need to schedule a meeting with your manager. However, if your manager's schedule is overbooked, all you can do is pitch your idea via email. It is much more difficult to convey emotions via email correspondence, but on the bright side, you can lay out your thoughts more rationally.

The structure of your presentation can remain the same: start by explaining your personal interests, talk about the benefits for a company and a team, mention Uxcel's features, and finish with pricing.

The only difference is that the email should be more concise, straightforward, and snappy. Use plain words, avoid slang, and add enough white space between paragraphs to help your manager scan your email faster. Here's a sample email (make sure to add your boss's name and contextual details about your team):

To: manager@manager.com
Subject: Requesting [company’s name] to cover costs for UX Writing Course

Hi [manager’s name],

Hope you're doing well!

Recently, I found myself slammed with UX writing tasks, an area where I feel like I don't have enough expertise. A while ago, I came across Uxcel — an app that offers a great course on UX Writing. The course is packed with best practices and real-life examples that I think I'll be able to use for our work. Their resources are based on credible sources and user research findings.

Here's the link to the course: https://app.uxcel.com/courses/ux-writing

I think goal-oriented and cleaner copy can help engage our users and strengthen our brand voice. It might significantly increase our conversions, too. Instead of hiring a UX Writer, we can learn how to write strong copy ourselves.

Moreover, Uxcel offers a wide range of design courses and has a Teams account for companies like ours. So, our design team can take courses, check our existing knowledge with skill tests, and build our skill graphs. You'll even be able to track our progress over time and learn what skills we need to improve.

From my personal observations, the platform seems truly remarkable. Due to the interactive and gamified experience they provide, I think our team will be able to learn faster and retain information for longer. If that isn’t convincing enough, how about the fact that over 300 companies are currently using Uxcel Teams to upskill their teams?

Priced at $12 per seat (paid yearly), I think the Uxcel membership is a great deal. Can our company cover these expenses? I’d be happy to schedule a meeting to answer any questions that you may have.

Best,
[Your name]