I recently wrote an article1 about a way to consistently decompose your development organization into user-focused teams to optimize value creation. Despite numerous previous attempts, I felt that no one had adequately addressed how to achieve this, even though there is general agreement that most teams should be product or stream-aligned, at a ratio of 6:1 to 9:1 compared to other team types. If you’re also frustrated by the lack of guidance on how to decompose your organization, I suggest you read my first article on this topic.
While I wrote that article, I realized that I had more to contribute to the, in many ways, a great book on team topologies by Skelton & Pais (S&P)2, as well as other work in this area.
In this article, I’ll share experiences that can clarify and extend the understanding of enabling, platform, and complicated-subsystem teams.
In my experience, achieving the recommended ratio of product teams in established IT organizations is quite challenging. As a result, it’s difficult to deliver the level of value to users that would be possible with a complete shift towards a user-first mindset.
Continue reading “What ‘Team Topologies’ becomes with a user, rather than systems, focus”