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The fast flow organization - using Team Topologies outside of IT and software - Matthew Skelton - Conflux

The fast flow organization - using Team Topologies outside of IT and software - Matthew Skelton - Conflux

Keynote delivered at RebelCon 2023 - https://rebelcon.io

Description

Since the book Team Topologies was published in 2019, it has gained widespread adoption within the software/IT sector as the “go-to” reference for organizing business and technology teams for fast flow. Organizations of all sizes have found that the language, patterns, practices, ideas, and deliberate constraints of Team Topologies (TT) has helped them to move to a more humane, flow-oriented approach to building and running software-enriched services.

But can industry sectors outside software and IT also benefit from TT ideas and practices?

In this talk, Matthew Skelton (co-author of the TT book) explores how organizations in many sectors have begun to use the TT patterns to help with team-based knowledge work of all kinds. We explore the use of TT in sectors including: legal services, accountancy, clinical care in hospitals, COVID-19 emergency response, sales and marketing, HR/People, higher education, venue services (audio-visual equipment).

New tools such as TeamOS and TeamForm are also emerging in the market that explicitly use the TT principles to help organizations design and evolve the teams and dynamics for fast flow.

In effect, the core software engineering principles underlying Team Topologies - including Team API, decoupling, service boundaries, team interaction modes, Conway’s Law, organizational sensing, etc. - are being applied and tested in novel knowledge-work contexts. This presents a tremendous opportunity for people with software engineering awareness to help shape the future dynamics of digital-savvy organizations.

The talk closes by looking at some key principles around an operating model for fast flow organizations. Join the Team Topologies (r)evolution! 🤓

Audience: C-level and Exec teams, organization design practitioners, managers, plus people involved in the design, delivery, and operation of business-critical software systems.

Key take-aways: the ideas and patterns in Team Topologies (TT) are being applied worldwide not just in software/IT but increasing in non-IT contexts like legal services, healthcare, education, and HR. These applications of TT point the way to an operating model for fast flow organizations.

Length: 30-40 mins

Talk ref: K24

https://confluxhq.com/fast-flow

Matthew Skelton

April 24, 2023
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Transcript

  1. The fast flow organization - using Team Topologies outside of

    IT and software Matthew Skelton, Conflux - co-author of Team Topologies RebelCon, Cork, IE | 25 April 2023
  2. Photo goes here Matthew Skelton Founder at Conflux Co-author of

    Team Topologies LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/matthewskelton Mastodon: mastodon.social/@matthewskelton 2
  3. Team Topologies Organizing business and technology teams for fast flow

    Matthew Skelton & Manuel Pais IT Revolution Press, September 2019 Order via stores worldwide: teamtopologies.com/book 3
  4. 4

  5. Team Topologies is the leading approach to organizing business and

    technology teams for fast flow, providing a practical, step-by‑step, adaptive model for organizational design and team interaction. 5
  6. 6

  7. What I have learned about TT Team Topologies outside of

    IT What is going on?! Applying this back to software/IT 7
  8. Team Topologies is way more disruptive and useful than we

    ever imagined … but 🤷 #sorrynotsorry 9
  9. 18 Stream-aligned team ➔ Long-lived ➔ End-to-end care and evolution

    of the service ➔ No hand-offs to other teams ➔ Mix of skills (“cross-functional”) ➔ Small: around 8 people
  10. 19 Stream-aligned team ➔ Long-lived ➔ End-to-end care and evolution

    of the service ➔ No hand-offs to other teams ➔ Mix of skills (“cross-functional”) ➔ Small: around 8 people Flow of change
  11. 21

  12. Platform grouping 30 Flow of change Stream-aligned team Stream-aligned team

    Complicated Subsystem team XaaS XaaS Collaboration UX
  13. Platform grouping 31 Flow of change Stream-aligned team Stream-aligned team

    Complicated Subsystem team XaaS XaaS Stream-aligned team xN
  14. Platform grouping 32 Flow of change Stream-aligned team Stream-aligned team

    Complicated Subsystem team XaaS XaaS Collaboration Stream-aligned team xN ⚠ Team Topologies diagrams are always just “snapshots in time”, never fixed designs
  15. 33

  16. Almost all decisions need to use the twin ‘lenses’ of

    fast flow and team cognitive load 35
  17. Team Topologies indicates: Almost ALL roles and teams should be

    focused on either: 🔀 A flow of change -or- 👐 Supporting flow(s) of change 36
  18. 🔀 A flow of change: • Software changes to a

    service/app • Config changes to COTS software • Onboarding a new employee • Reviewing legal contracts • Installing A/V equipment 37
  19. 👐 Supporting flow(s) of change: • An infrastructure platform for

    cloud services/apps • A data platform for analytics • A wiki or How-To guide • Real-time data for decision-making 38
  20. 44 Team Topologies exposes any lack of clarity in purpose,

    conflict in priorities, or misalignment of incentives
  21. 48 “the concepts discussed in the book are very much

    applicable to other working environments and teams [outside software]” https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/team-topologies-matthew-skelton-manuel-pais-tara-hopkins/ “Certain activities needed to be provided as a service that employees could easily access and get a quick and accurate result from. On other occasions we worked with a manager in a facilitative way, helping that manager to become better able to manage a situation in the team. In other situations we worked collaboratively with another team to pool resources and problem solve together, coming up with a better solution than either team would have arrived at on their own.”
  22. 50 Challenges for legal services Real-world cases span legal specialisms

    Fee earner lawyer prevents team ownership Per-hour billing encourages busy work Law-as-a-service?
  23. 52 Flow of change Stream-aligned team Stream-aligned team 😊 Facilitating

    Enabling team Complicated Subsystem team XaaS Cross-border M&A “Fee-earner”
  24. Platform grouping 53 Flow of change Stream-aligned team Stream-aligned team

    Complicated Subsystem team XaaS XaaS Collaboration M&A info managed as part of a flow platform Make the XaaS interaction more useful
  25. Platform grouping 54 Flow of change Stream-aligned team Stream-aligned team

    Complicated Subsystem team XaaS XaaS Stream-aligned team xN Teams making supporting workflows and checklists, etc.
  26. 57 Challenges for clinical care Real-world cases span medical specialisms

    > Pregnant car accident victim with COVID-19 Consistent care over time without handoffs Managing team cognitive load
  27. 59 Flow of change Stream-aligned team Stream-aligned team 😊 Facilitating

    Enabling team Complicated Subsystem team XaaS X-ray or MRI scan Consultant surgeon
  28. Platform grouping 60 Flow of change Stream-aligned team Stream-aligned team

    Complicated Subsystem team XaaS XaaS Collaboration Make the XaaS interaction more useful X-ray or MRI scan managed as part of a flow platform
  29. Platform grouping 61 Flow of change Stream-aligned team Stream-aligned team

    Complicated Subsystem team XaaS XaaS Stream-aligned team xN Teams making supporting workflows and checklists, etc. X-ray or MRI scan itself may have “inner” teams
  30. Case Study NHS Digital - pandemic response software teams working

    with international healthcare experts used Team Topologies principles for rapid rollout of COVID-19 testing 62 https://axiologik.com/news-and-insights/delivering-digital-services-at-scale-in-a-crisis
  31. 64 Challenges for news and media Changing consumption of news

    and media > TikTok, ChatGPT, AI/ML Remove editors from publication critical path Rapidly offer new digital products & tech
  32. Platform grouping 65 Flow of change Stream-aligned team Stream-aligned team

    Complicated Subsystem team XaaS Facilitating Enabling team Editors help to build capability in publication teams Editorial Editors help to define auto- approval systems
  33. Platform grouping 66 Flow of change Stream-aligned team Stream-aligned team

    Complicated Subsystem team XaaS XaaS Collaboration Shape the content boundaries a data structures Content platform provides composable media consumable by … Product …an ecosystem of digital products
  34. 68 Challenges for education design Technology changing the relevance of

    ideas > ChatGPT for essay questions Long cycles (course description as ‘contract’) Avoid ‘big batch’ validation by committee
  35. Platform grouping 69 Flow of change Stream-aligned team Stream-aligned team

    Complicated Subsystem team XaaS XaaS Collaboration Discuss ruleset for auto- approval Chemistry Computer ethics
  36. 71 Challenges for HR / people mgt Rigidity in people

    placement prevents agility > 7 months to move someone to new dept Individual bonuses work against teamwork Conway’s Law
  37. Platform grouping 72 Flow of change Stream-aligned team Stream-aligned team

    XaaS HR as a platform with internal “customers” Onboarding Move department XaaS XaaS
  38. 78

  39. 81 legal services clinical care / healthcare news & media

    accounting education design HR/people OS ?
  40. Hypothesis: Team Topologies provides vital language, patterns, and constraints for

    almost all knowledge work situations in the context of fast flow and team ownership. 90
  41. Almost all decisions need to use the twin ‘lenses’ of

    fast flow and team cognitive load 92
  42. Team Topologies indicates: Almost ALL roles and teams should be

    focused on either: 🔀 A flow of change -or- 👐 Supporting flow(s) of change 107
  43. What I have learned about TT Team Topologies outside of

    IT What is going on?! Applying this back to software/IT 108
  44. Almost all decisions need to use the twin ‘lenses’ of

    fast flow and team cognitive load 109
  45. Hypothesis: Team Topologies provides vital language, patterns, and constraints for

    almost all knowledge work situations in the context of fast flow and team ownership. 110
  46. 111 Masterclass: Success patterns for fast flow and Team Topologies

    In association with: Expert-led group learning online with co-author of Team Topologies, Matthew Skelton 21 & 22 June 2023, 13:30-16:30 GMT+1 (2x 3-hours)
  47. thank you confluxhq.com Copyright (c) 2017-2023 Conflux group of companies.

    All Rights Reserved. The name “Conflux” and the filled C device are Registered Trademarks ® in multiple jurisdictions.