Team Topologies#

Article: https://martinfowler.com/bliki/TeamTopologies.html

Notes#

Team Topologies model defines four forms of teams and three modes of team interactions.

  • Stream-aligned team is a primary form.

    • It’s full-stack and full-lifecycle: responsible for front-end, back-end, database, business analysis, feature prioritization, UX, testing, deployment, monitoring

    • It’s small: 5-8 people.

  • Platform team supports stream-aligned teams.

    • It builds a shared self-service platform.

    • The interaction with stream-aligned teams is X-as-a-service.

    • Except when it builds new capabilities. In this case the mode is collaboration.

    • The key benefit of a platform is that it reduces this cognitive load.

  • Enabling teams works in facilitating mode.

    • They are mastering a topic important to many stream-aligned teams, such as security.

    • They provide coaching and education to stream-aligned teams.

  • Complicated-subsystem teams serve stream-aligned teams similarly to platform team, but their product is higher level and server one or few teams.

Complex organizations cannot be broken down into just four kinds of teams and three kinds of interactions. Team Topologies is a tool that impels people to evolve their organization to stream-aligned teams to maximize their flow by lightening their cognitive load.

Conclusion#

Team topologies mostly documents the traditional enterprise structure documenting the efficient state following the Conway law.