The ways teams choose to interact can make or break the effectiveness of any operating model.

• The ways teams choose to interact can make or break the effectiveness of any operating model. 👇🏽

In the context of operating model design, teams can be organised around 𝗮𝘀𝘀𝗲𝘁𝘀, 𝗲𝘅𝗽𝗲𝗿𝘁𝗶𝘀𝗲, 𝗼𝘂𝘁𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗲𝘀, 𝗼𝗿, 𝗴𝗲𝗼𝗴𝗿𝗮𝗽𝗵𝘆. 💡 Choosing the optimal 'organising principle' for your teams is crucial:

• 𝗢𝘂𝘁𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗲𝘀-𝗕𝗮𝘀𝗲𝗱: Teams organised to achieve specific outcomes, such as Event, Mission, and Project Teams.

• 𝗔𝘀𝘀𝗲𝘁𝘀-𝗕𝗮𝘀𝗲𝗱: Teams centred around managing or developing assets, including Product/Service, Component, and Platform Teams.

• 𝗘𝘅𝗽𝗲𝗿𝘁𝗶𝘀𝗲-𝗕𝗮𝘀𝗲𝗱: Teams focused on specialised knowledge or skills, such as Phase, Business Function, Customer Segment, Customer Journey, Processes, Channel, Value Stream, and Capability Teams.

• 𝗚𝗲𝗼𝗴𝗿𝗮𝗽𝗵𝘆-𝗕𝗮𝘀𝗲𝗱: Teams organised by location, like Geographical Teams.

Equally important is defining the communication and collaboration protocols between teams. 💡

This is often overlooked, resulting in a chaotic post-transformation phase for organisations, where teams struggle to collaborate and consume services effectively from each other. 👀

Teams can use different interfaces to collaborate effectively when working across multiple assets or requiring expertise beyond their core capabilities. Here are some of them:

• 𝗧𝗵𝗿𝗼𝘂𝗴𝗵 𝗣𝗿𝗼𝗷𝗲𝗰𝘁𝘀: Team A needs Team B. They collaborate through formal projects with defined scope and timeframes.

• 𝗔𝗴𝗶𝗹𝗲 𝗜𝗻𝗰𝗿𝗲𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁𝘀: Team A needs Team B. Team A creates a request for Team B and hopes it will make it into their next regular iteration (Sprints/Product Increment), which could mean waiting up to 12 weeks or more.

• 𝗔𝘀 𝗮 𝗦𝗲𝗿𝘃𝗶𝗰𝗲: Team A needs Team B. Team B has a service catalogue with a clear service-level expectation for each service. Team A looks at it (e.g. 30 days or less with 85% confidence) and plans their work accordingly, considering there's an 85% probability of on-time delivery by Team B.

• 𝗖𝗿𝗼𝘀𝘀-𝗙𝘂𝗻𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝗮𝗹 𝗧𝗲𝗮𝗺𝘀: Team A needs Team B. Team B allocates a dedicated SME to be embedded for a period of time into Team A so they have the capacity and capability necessary to progress their work.

❗️The insight is that the ways teams choose to interact can make or break the effectiveness of any operating model.

💬 How are your teams currently interacting? Are Agile Increments the primary method? 👇🏽