Teams and Organizations

There are several important basic requirements for efficient and sustainable collaboration in a larger organization. In addition to the technical basics, such as CI/CD, there is also a lot to consider on the organizational level.

When working together within the team, it is especially important to avoid the 5 typical problem areas: Lack of trust, fear of conflict, lack of commitment, avoidance of responsibility ( Five Dysfunctions of a Team)) and the lack of focus on results ( The Illusion of Progress).

Once the organization is large enough that work is spread across multiple teams, there are new challenges to overcome. Even if the teams work harmoniously within themselves, friction and conflicts can quickly arise at the touch points between the teams.

This can be mitigated by reducing the amount of interaction by choosing a better split and by thinking about the mode collaboration between the teams.

By sorting teams into certain categories, e.g. stream-aligned teams and determining the type of collaboration, e.g. ' X-as-a-Service’ the expectations for each team can be clarified, which prevents friction and conflicts ( Team Topologies).