The AdaptiveOD aims to strengthen the ability to pursue strategic objectives with efficiency and sustainability, allocating resources dynamically and avoiding organizational rigidities.
One of the key aspects is the intrinsic support for cross-learning, which promotes the growth of skills within the company and allows people to work in multiple contexts without losing efficiency.
In today's environment, many companies operate with a traditional project management model, where resources are allocated on a temporary basis to specific projects or initiatives.
This approach, often formalized through a RACI (Responsible, Accountable, Consulted, Informed) matrix, has some limitations, including:
- Discontinuity in knowledge management, due to frequent turnover of resources.
- Difficulty coordinating and aligningbetween different teams.
- Poor optimization of skills, with resources allocated to projects without a vision of long-term growth.
In a reality where a squad cannot be dedicated to a single initiative, it is possible to move to a model in which only the leadership is fixed, while the operational strength varies, although it is always advisable to keep it as stable as possible.
Thus was born an evolution of the more traditional concept of Squad, called Adaptive Squad, consisting of:
- Squad Leadership (stable) is responsible for ensuring strategic vision, technical governance and delivery management. It consists of key roles with continuous responsibility over time:
- Product Owner (PO): Drives product value and direction
- Architecture Owner (AO): ensures technical quality and architecture
- Agile Delivery Manager (ADM): Optimize workflow and collaboration
A Squad without complete leadership becomes ineffective and prone to inefficiencies and failures.
- Squad Force (variable) that adapts to the needs of the initiative, with a controlled sizing and rotation of the players. Includes: developers, QA, DevOps, and other technical specialists.
The Adaptive Squad allows you to balance continuity and operational flexibility, enhancing the social experience developed and managing multiple initiatives without losing efficiency.
The term Squad in the sense presented here will also be used below.
Value Tribe
Ua Tribe, in its essential form, is a set of Squads that work on the same product, service or corporate domain, sharing business objectives and operational strategies.
Its introduction is a direct response to the concept known as Dunbar's Number, which is the cognitive limit of social relationships that each person can manage.
The introduction of Value Tribes makes it possible to scale the organizational structure without losing agility, creating a model more suited to modern market dynamics. The implementation steps are:
- Identify the business domains around which to build Tribes.
- Define the role of Tribe Leads and interactions with the rest of the organization.
- Ensure a balance between the autonomy of the Squads and strategic governance.
The different players that move under the umbrella of a Value Tribe are guided by a common vision:
- Each Tribe has a clear mission linked to a product, service or business environment.
- Promotes coordination between Squads to avoid duplication of work.
- It defines common guidelines, ensuring consistency between the Squads.
In a traditional model, a Squad may have to wait for specifications from the business before implementing a feature, in a Value Tribe, Squads can have decision-making autonomy in releasing iterative improvements without bureaucratic waiting.
The Value Tribes use the Spotify structure for formal organization (minimum hierarchy), but infuse it with the spirit of the Godin Tribes for change management, under the careful guidance of the Tribe Leader (or Tribe Manager), who is responsible for:
- Define the Tribe strategy, in alignment with the company's objectives.
- Coordinate work between Squads, avoiding redundancies and conflicts.
- Ensure transversal support (resources, budget, skills, technologies).
- Facilitate collaboration between Squad and Business Stakeholders.
- Ensuring the continuous improvement and growth of people.
In the following, the term "Tribe" will also be simply used, it will always mean the Value Tribes.
Learning Network: Chapter e Guild
The Learning Network develops a series of relationships and connections that allow the organization to continuously learn and improve.
Two of the typical structures that accompany this action are Chapters and Guilds.
The Chapters aim to support professional growth and the evolution of skills, connecting players to each other through moments of discussion and continuous improvement.
The Chapter is not an operational team dedicated to a specific initiative, but a community of practice, with structured moments of discussion, dedicated to players who have similar roles and skills (e.g. backend developers, UX designers, QA engineers, DevOps, etc.).
Each Chapter acts as a catalyst for professional growth and innovation in modern companies, under the careful guidance of a specific Chapter Leader who is responsible for:
- Coordination and facilitationof the activities of the Chapter.
- Support and mentoringto Chapter members in their professional growth.
- Definition and promotion oftechnical and methodological best practices.
- Alignment with other Chapter Leadsto ensure business consistency.
- Monitoring of the level of competenceof the Chapter and promotion of training plans.
- Contribution to innovationby testing new technologies, methodologies or tools.
Unlike a classic team lead or manager, the Chapter Lead does not have a hierarchical role, but one of leadership and influence. His goal is not to supervise the daily work of people (who answer to their Squad), but to support them in their professional journey.
The Chapter also acts as a promoter and guide for the definition and implementation of best practices and shared standards .
Guilds operate as networks of interests that connect people with common interests, connecting all members of the organization with the aim of promoting the dissemination of knowledge and innovation within the organization.
The discussion and comparison events that are promoted by them represent a fundamental element for a modern organization, as they allow growth without structural constraints.
Creating a guild begins with identifying the topic area of interest, inviting them openly to participate, and defining events and tools to foster discussion on the topic.
