Team Topologies is not enough; you need a management model to match! @ FastFlowConf NL 2025

Team Topologies have crossed the chasm. Folks are using it, and as with any good approach based on patterns, they discover blockers to flow. They discuss those and try to improve. However, there is always some feeling that dark patterns pull away the evolution of teams and their interactions. The organization's design and software architecture don't achieve their potential.

Those dark patterns are related to the management model and can block or enable the organization from achieving its potential. They are the bureaucracy around the teams. We need to be aware of them, and if we want a state of flow and team self-management, we need to use different tools within the management model.

This talk explores different use cases where the flow can be improved by using different tools and busting bureaucracy. Rest assured, we will use Team Topologies to express the constraints and communicate our intended design. If you are in a management position or if it sparks your curiosity, then join me!

Transcript

1. Team Topologies is not enough; you need a management model to match! FastFlowConf NL - Den Bosch 27th of March 2025
2. João Rosa Independent consultant Supporting organizations bridging their strategic ambitions to execution, to create effective organizations
3. Photo by NASA on Unsplash Did you witness Team Topologies failures?
4. in/joaoasrosa Rename the HR org chart The Boss Another boss The other boss Vacant Manager 8 Manager 1 Manager T Managerless You, a manager? Manager?! Kinda of a manager Last manager Other team A team Team B Team 1 ABC team 789 team
5. in/joaoasrosa Rename the HR org chart The Boss Another boss The other boss Vacant Manager 8 Manager 1 Manager T Managerless You, a manager? Manager?! Kinda of a manager Last manager Other team A team Team B Team 1 ABC team 789 team
6. in/joaoasrosa Everyone wants a platform… The Platform 🤩
7. in/joaoasrosa Everyone wants a platform… to dump work on it! The Platform 😭
8. in/joaoasrosa Enabling teams for the rescue… Enabling team
9. in/joaoasrosa Let’s rescue the enabling team… Enabling team Too busy firefighting… Doing operational work that is not part of any other team… Actually, not promoting flow!
10. “ in/joaoasrosa Organizations, who design systems, are constrained to produce designs which are copies of the communication structures of these organizations. Melvin Conway
11. @in/joaoasrosa in/joaoasrosa Team Topologies Matthew Skelton and Manuel Pais - IT Revolution Press 2019 • Defines several patterns for team interactions and team types • Useful for contexts where the fast flow of value is necessary. As it is the case of the digital-first industries! • Takes a humane approach to designing the team interactions, based on cognitive load But, is the organization structure for flow enough?
12. Photo by Michael Krahn on Unsplash
13. in/joaoasrosa Why do we budget?
14. in/joaoasrosa Why do we budget? Budget Target Setting Financial Forecasting Resource Allocation Coordination Performance Management Rewards
15. “ in/joaoasrosa More fiction has been written in Excel than in Word… Unknown
16. in/joaoasrosa Why do we budget? Budget Target Setting Financial Forecasting Resource Allocation Coordination Performance Management Rewards Different purposes, governed by a single number…
17. “ in/joaoasrosa The problem is not that we aim too high and miss, but that we aim too low and hit. Aristotle
18. in/joaoasrosa Why do we budget? Budget Target Setting Financial Forecasting Resource Allocation Coordination Performance Management Rewards The problem is not people's behavior, but rather the system used!
19. in/joaoasrosa Why do we budget? Budget Target Setting Financial Forecasting Resource Allocation Coordination Performance Management Rewards Forget about absolute numbers, we just need relative performance to beat the competition!
20. Photo by Samuel Scrimshaw on Unsplash
21. in/joaoasrosa What if we think Beyond Budgeting? Beyond Budgeting Target Setting Financial Forecasting Resource Allocation Coordination Performance Management Rewards
22. in/joaoasrosa Cool, but how to do target setting effectively?
23. © All rights reserved João Rosa
24. in/joaoasrosa The anatomy of a Balanced Scorecard Financial Customer Internal processes Learning / Growth Measures profitability, revenue growth, and cost efficiency Focuses on operational efficiency and innovation Evaluates customer satisfaction, retention, and market share Addresses employee development, culture, and knowledge management
25. in/joaoasrosa What if we think Beyond Budgeting? Beyond Budgeting Target Setting Financial Forecasting Resource Allocation Coordination Performance Management Rewards Search Conference Balanced scorecards
26. in/joaoasrosa Rolling forecasting, what’s new?
27. Photo by Arthur Chauvineau on Unsplash
28. in/joaoasrosa Static forecasting a.k.a., The Budget ™ Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 The forecast Beginning of the year…
29. in/joaoasrosa Static forecasting a.k.a., The Budget ™ Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 The forecast As the time passes, we have something to look back and “learn”... Actuals
30. in/joaoasrosa Static forecasting a.k.a., The Budget ™ Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 The forecast Here is where it gets interesting… Actuals
31. in/joaoasrosa Static forecasting a.k.a., The Budget ™ Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 The forecast We are preparing the budget for next year… Actuals
32. in/joaoasrosa What if we have a rolling window? Q1 Q3 Q1 Q4 The forecast A window that covers more than 4 quarters… Q2 Q4 Q3 Q2 Year A Year A + 1
33. in/joaoasrosa What if we have a rolling window? Q1 Q3 Q1 Q4 The forecast And as each quarter ends, we create a forecast for the new quarter… Q2 Q4 Q3 Q2 Year A Year A + 1 Actuals
34. in/joaoasrosa What if we have a rolling window? Q1 Q3 Q1 Q4 The forecast And we keep going… Q2 Q4 Q3 Q2 Year A Year A + 1 Actuals
35. in/joaoasrosa What if we think Beyond Budgeting? Beyond Budgeting Target Setting Financial Forecasting Resource Allocation Coordination Performance Management Rewards Search Conference Balanced scorecards Rolling forecasting
36. in/joaoasrosa Resource allocation, a tough nut to crack…
37. Photo by Pete Willis on Unsplash
38. in/joaoasrosa Mobile Banking Payments platform Flow of value: SEPA payments in a European Bank Payments engine Fraud and Anti-Money Laundering platform Engineering foundations platform XaaS XaaS XaaS
39. in/joaoasrosa Mobile Banking Payments platform Flow of value: New Instant Payments regulation Payments engine Fraud and Anti-Money Laundering platform Engineering foundations platform Collaboration Collaboration
40. in/joaoasrosa Mobile Banking Payments platform Flow of value: New Instant Payments regulation Payments engine Fraud and Anti-Money Laundering platform Engineering foundations platform Collaboration Collaboration How do we fund it?
41. in/joaoasrosa With different models for cost management! From “This Is Beyond Budgeting”, page 62
42. Photo by Markus Winkler on Unsplash
43. in/joaoasrosa What if we think Beyond Budgeting? Beyond Budgeting Target Setting Financial Forecasting Resource Allocation Coordination Performance Management Rewards Search Conference Balanced scorecards Rolling forecasting Mindful cost management
44. Photo by Anna Samoylova on Unsplash
45. in/joaoasrosa What if we think Beyond Budgeting? Beyond Budgeting Target Setting Financial Forecasting Resource Allocation Coordination Performance Management Rewards Search Conference Balanced scorecards Rolling forecasting Mindful cost management Holistic performance Team/organization common bonus system Adaptive and effective organization
46. Photo by Vardan Papikyan on Unsplash
47. Follow me on social João Rosa Independent consultant Supporting organizations bridging their strategic ambitions to execution, to create effective organizations Book a call https://joaorosa.consulting/book-a-meeting in/joaoasrosa @joaorosa@mastodon.social @joaorosa.consulting