Challenge: Misaligned Team Ownership

Misaligned team structures often emerge when existing responsibilities do not align with the user needs and capabilities identified during the User Needs Mapping process. This can lead to confusion, inefficiencies, and delays in delivering value.

Strategies to Improve Team Alignment

1. Overlay Current Teams

Map your existing team responsibilities onto the user needs map. This will help identify overlaps, gaps, or misalignments between team ownership and key capabilities.

2. Use Team Topologies Principles

Apply concepts like stream-aligned teams, enabling teams, and platform teams to realign structures. This approach ensures teams are optimized for fast flow and manageable cognitive load.

3. Engage Leadership

Involve leadership early to secure buy-in and ensure restructuring decisions are communicated clearly to all stakeholders. This prevents resistance and helps teams understand the rationale behind changes.

Practical Tips

  • Start Small: Begin with one team or value stream to test and refine realignment efforts.
  • Clarify Ownership: Ensure each capability and user need has a clearly defined owner.
  • Iterate: Treat team alignment as an ongoing process, adjusting as priorities or needs evolve.

Example: Aligning Teams with Capabilities

Scenario: A mobile ticketing company finds that multiple teams are responsible for overlapping areas, causing delays in delivering updates to their ticketing system.

Approach

  1. Overlay Teams: Map current responsibilities onto their User Needs Map. Identify that both the engineering and customer support teams are partially responsible for “Ticketing System Maintenance.”
  2. Realign Teams: Create a stream-aligned team focused solely on “Ticketing System Maintenance.” Support this team with an enabling team to assist with monitoring tools.
  3. Clarify Dependencies: Clearly define handoffs and collaboration points between teams.

Exercise

To align your teams with user needs and capabilities:

  1. Map current team responsibilities onto your User Needs Map.
  2. Identify overlaps, gaps, or misalignments.
  3. Propose team structures using stream-aligned, enabling, or platform team principles.

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