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The fast flow organization - using Team Topologies outside of IT and software - Conflux - FastFlowConf 2023

Matthew Skelton
PRO
May 25, 2023
Business
2
520

The fast flow organization - using Team Topologies outside of IT and software - Conflux - FastFlowConf 2023

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! 🤓

---

From a keynote talk at FastFlowConf 2023 https://www.fastflowconf.com/schedule

Video of this talk: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g3Lm9ohrXOQ

Matthew Skelton
PRO

May 25, 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
    FastFlowConf, London | 25 May 2023

    View Slide

  2. 2
    FastFlowConf is the first public event of its kind to focus on the approach and
    methodologies described in Team Topologies,
    by Matthew Skelton and Manuel Pais.
    Our mission is to bring together practitioners, experts and enthusiastic
    beginners to share knowledge and ideas, as well as to grow the community.

    View Slide

  3. 3
    FastFlowConf is the first public event of its kind to focus on the approach and
    methodologies described in Team Topologies,
    by Matthew Skelton and Manuel Pais.
    Our mission is to bring together practitioners, experts and enthusiastic
    beginners to share knowledge and ideas, as well as to grow the community.
    🥰

    View Slide

  4. Photo goes here
    Matthew Skelton
    Founder at Conflux
    Co-author of Team Topologies
    LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/matthewskelton
    Mastodon: mastodon.social/@matthewskelton
    4

    View Slide

  5. 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
    5

    View Slide

  6. 6

    View Slide

  7. 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.
    7

    View Slide

  8. 8

    View Slide

  9. What I have learned about TT
    Team Topologies outside of IT
    What is going on?!
    Summary
    9

    View Slide

  10. What I have learned about
    Team Topologies since
    publication in 2019
    10

    View Slide

  11. Team Topologies is way more
    disruptive and useful than we
    ever imagined … but 🤷
    #sorrynotsorry
    11

    View Slide

  12. Team Topologies
    provides several things
    for organizations…
    12

    View Slide

  13. 13
    Language for dealing with flow,
    boundaries, architecture, dynamics

    View Slide

  14. 14
    Heuristics (clues) for organizing
    teams and software

    View Slide

  15. 15
    Ways for teams to define expectations
    + close gaps

    View Slide

  16. 16
    A focus on fast flow as a key driver

    View Slide

  17. 17
    Deliberate constraints on behaviors

    View Slide

  18. 18
    https://www.linkedin.com/posts/matthewskelton_tea
    mtopologies-activity-7009449368537726976-biXt
    “Team Topologies is … a set of
    constraints to encourage emergent
    behaviours.”

    View Slide

  19. [quick overview]
    19

    View Slide

  20. 20
    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

    View Slide

  21. 21
    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

    View Slide

  22. 22
    Platform
    grouping

    View Slide

  23. 23

    View Slide

  24. 24
    Flow of change

    View Slide

  25. 25
    Cash
    Concept
    Flow of change

    View Slide

  26. 26
    User
    Need
    Flow of change

    View Slide

  27. 27
    Live
    service
    Version
    control
    Flow of change

    View Slide

  28. 28
    Flow of change
    Stream-aligned team
    Stream-aligned team

    View Slide

  29. 29
    Flow of change
    Stream-aligned team
    Stream-aligned team
    😢

    View Slide

  30. 30
    Flow of change
    Stream-aligned team
    Stream-aligned team
    😐
    Facilitating
    Enabling
    team

    View Slide

  31. 31
    Flow of change
    Stream-aligned team
    Stream-aligned team
    😊
    Facilitating
    Enabling
    team
    Complicated
    Subsystem
    team
    XaaS

    View Slide

  32. Platform grouping
    32
    Flow of change
    Stream-aligned team
    Stream-aligned team
    Complicated
    Subsystem
    team
    XaaS
    XaaS
    Collaboration
    UX

    View Slide

  33. Platform grouping
    33
    Flow of change
    Stream-aligned team
    Stream-aligned team
    Complicated
    Subsystem
    team
    XaaS
    XaaS
    Stream-aligned team xN

    View Slide

  34. Platform grouping
    34
    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

    View Slide

  35. 35

    View Slide

  36. flow-centric roles
    36

    View Slide

  37. Almost all decisions need
    to use the twin ‘lenses’ of
    fast flow and
    team cognitive load
    37

    View Slide

  38. Team Topologies indicates:
    Almost ALL roles and teams should be
    focused on either:
    🔀 A flow of change -or-
    👐 Supporting flow(s) of change
    38

    View Slide

  39. 🔀 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
    39

    View Slide

  40. 👐 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
    40

    View Slide

  41. 41
    Continuously ‘untangle’
    business concepts

    View Slide

  42. 42
    Find and adjust team &
    system boundaries for flow

    View Slide

  43. 43
    Minimize hand-offs

    View Slide

  44. 44
    Avoid blocking
    dependencies

    View Slide

  45. 45
    Move some decision-making
    to teams

    View Slide

  46. 46
    Team Topologies exposes any
    lack of clarity in purpose,
    conflict in priorities, or
    misalignment of incentives

    View Slide

  47. Team Topologies outside of IT
    47

    View Slide

  48. Organizations outside IT and
    software are already using TT
    48

    View Slide

  49. 49
    https://mobile.twitter.com/amcunningham/status/1517912010599682052
    “Let's bring Team Topologies to the
    whole of the [National Health Service]!”

    View Slide

  50. 50
    “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.”

    View Slide

  51. Legal services
    51

    View Slide

  52. 52
    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?

    View Slide

  53. 53
    Flow of change
    Stream-aligned team
    Stream-aligned team
    Client A
    Individual vs
    Company

    View Slide

  54. 54
    Flow of change
    Stream-aligned team
    Stream-aligned team
    😊
    Facilitating
    Enabling
    team
    Complicated
    Subsystem
    team
    XaaS
    Cross-border
    M&A “Fee-earner”

    View Slide

  55. Platform grouping
    55
    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

    View Slide

  56. Platform grouping
    56
    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.

    View Slide

  57. [Accountancy]
    57

    View Slide

  58. Clinical care / healthcare
    58

    View Slide

  59. 59
    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

    View Slide

  60. 60
    Flow of change
    Stream-aligned team
    Stream-aligned team
    COVID-19
    complications
    Malnourished

    View Slide

  61. 61
    Flow of change
    Stream-aligned team
    Stream-aligned team
    😊
    Facilitating
    Enabling
    team
    Complicated
    Subsystem
    team
    XaaS
    X-ray or
    MRI scan Consultant
    surgeon

    View Slide

  62. Platform grouping
    62
    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

    View Slide

  63. Platform grouping
    63
    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

    View Slide

  64. Case Study
    NHS Digital - pandemic response
    software teams working with
    international healthcare experts
    used Team Topologies principles
    for rapid rollout of COVID-19 testing
    64
    https://axiologik.com/news-and-insights/delivering-digital-services-at-scale-in-a-crisis

    View Slide

  65. News and media
    65

    View Slide

  66. 66
    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

    View Slide

  67. Platform grouping
    67
    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

    View Slide

  68. Platform grouping
    68
    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

    View Slide

  69. Education curriculum design
    69

    View Slide

  70. 70
    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

    View Slide

  71. Platform grouping
    71
    Flow of change
    Stream-aligned team
    Stream-aligned team
    Complicated
    Subsystem
    team
    XaaS
    XaaS
    Collaboration
    Discuss
    ruleset for
    auto-
    approval
    Chemistry
    Computer
    ethics

    View Slide

  72. HR/People
    72

    View Slide

  73. 73
    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

    View Slide

  74. Platform grouping
    74
    Flow of change
    Stream-aligned team
    Stream-aligned team
    XaaS
    HR as a platform
    with internal
    “customers”
    Onboarding
    Move
    department
    XaaS XaaS

    View Slide

  75. Venue services
    (e.g. audiovisual equipment)
    75

    View Slide

  76. 76
    Challenges for venue services
    Rapid deployment at scale
    Courtrooms, music venues
    Testing and validation

    View Slide

  77. The team-based
    operating system
    77

    View Slide

  78. 78
    TeamForm
    teamform.co

    View Slide

  79. 79
    TeamOS
    teamos.is
    Disclosure: Matthew Skelton has invested
    personally in the company behind TeamOS

    View Slide

  80. 80

    View Slide

  81. WTF is going on?!
    81

    View Slide

  82. 82
    Time for some
    reverse engineering!

    View Slide

  83. 83
    legal services
    clinical care / healthcare
    news & media
    accounting
    education
    design
    HR/people OS
    ?

    View Slide

  84. knowledge
    work
    84

    View Slide

  85. language
    85

    View Slide

  86. interactions
    86

    View Slide

  87. ownership
    87

    View Slide

  88. boundaries
    88

    View Slide

  89. cognitive load
    89

    View Slide

  90. flow
    90

    View Slide

  91. 91
    language
    interactions
    boundaries
    ownership
    cognitive
    load flow

    View Slide

  92. Hypothesis:
    Team Topologies provides vital language,
    patterns, and constraints for almost all
    knowledge work situations in the context
    of fast flow and team ownership.
    92

    View Slide

  93. Summary
    93

    View Slide

  94. Almost all decisions need
    to use the twin ‘lenses’ of
    fast flow and
    team cognitive load
    112

    View Slide

  95. Hypothesis:
    Team Topologies provides vital language,
    patterns, and constraints for almost all
    knowledge work situations in the context
    of fast flow and team ownership.
    113

    View Slide

  96. 114
    What’s your perspective?
    Which aspects resonate?
    Which things feel incorrect?

    View Slide

  97. 115
    18 & 19 July 2023 @ 13:30-16:30 UK time
    confluxhq.com/events

    View Slide

  98. 116
    expert-led group learning for adopting
    fast flow and Team Topologies
    confluxhq.com

    View Slide

  99. 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.

    View Slide