Team Topology: a silver bullet for chaotic organisations?
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Team Topologies, a concept led by Matthew Skelton and Manuel Pais, is considered a leading approach to organising business and technology teams for fast flow. Offering an adaptive model for organisational design and team interaction, is it the silver bullet every organisation is looking for?
Team topology is one of those concepts that where the more structured, the more well-coordinated and more clear teams get on their ownership, the organisation becomes more productive.
This can’t be achieved without a healthy organisational culture and mindset is a must in making the change management process easier, as well as the leadership team setting a clear vision of where the organisation needs to go and goals to support teams with autonomy, mastery and purpose and drive excellence.
But how do you make this happen when business needs to run as usual?
Rutuja Joshi , a principal transformation lead and coach, has been working in the HR, OKRs and team topology space for more than a decade. Her approach is to look at the symptoms first.
“Whenever we are talking about adopting a framework, or the change management process, we should always start with symptoms of the organisation.”
A non-lean, chaotic organisation will always exhibit some signs of where things are going wrong.
These symptoms include:
To name a few…
The impact of these symptoms is significant, all the way from top line KPIs being affected to bottom-line results.?
And this is where the concept of Team Topology comes into play.
Team Topology
Team topology is based on the concepts outlined in the book, “Team Topologies” by Manuel Pais and Matthew Skelton. It is a combination of:
When you start the Team Topology process, it is important to map the team topology for each team.
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The process works in three stages:
In order for the process, all teams need to be onboarded on the concepts of team topology, including all the definitions and concept applications. These concepts need to be consistent and with the same definitions so that everyone is speaking the same language.
Once this has been outlined, start drawing out each team’s topology. Whether the team is stream-aligned, enabling or collaborative – note down the interactions and the services produced and consumed, so that there is clarity on where ownerships lie and where they sit against the Value Stream.
It is important to note that at this stage, organisations will have teams wearing multiple hats and without clear boundaries. In order to move to a lean structure, there need to be clear boundaries as well as assignment of resources, coaching and mentoring to support the teams in taking ownership of their individual categories.
Much like a spider’s web or even a messy bowl of spaghetti, Rutuja likens team interactions of this nature to them, and the chaos that can ensue if this is not corrected.?
Feels simple enough, right?
However, when it comes to the practicalities of applying team topology, it doesn’t always feel that way.
It can be overwhelming for managers and can feel like a huge task to untangle the web of dependencies and interactions. Which is why it is so important to define individual team topologies and understand how individual teams interact amongst themselves, as well as their interaction with another team.
Taking small and steady steps to chip away at the inefficiencies of a non-lean organisation is a great way to make big strides towards the bigger picture.?
If we take the example of Ferrari or Formula 1 in general, there is often a likeness between how the pit stop operates and how organisations expect teams to operate. A team that is mastered in their own responsibility.?
Fast, efficient, no time to lose in a dynamic and time-pressured environment.
Although it is important to note that the Principles of Agility don’t require speed as a success metric, in a productive organisation, having clearly defined roles and expectations (like those of a Ferrari pit stop crew), can lead to positive results where the entire team is working together for a collective goal.
Similarly, the application of the Team Topology concepts require a common goal, engaged team and clear outcomes and accountabilities for organisations to become more productive, leaner and more agile.?
In order to achieve this dream scenario, organisations and their leaders need to reflect and understand what their dream setup looks like.?
Each organisation will have its individual goals and aims, ones that need to be communicated with a robust vision, as well as allowance of resources that supports the team types in achieving them.?
Team Topology can only work if with the right mindset and culture, teams are given an environment to evolve and thrive. One where process governance and technical governance in its place to give it a chance for success.