Why did we create sub-teams (subcircles)?
We wanted to make the specialization of certain groups of roles even more visible. This would allow us to better manage the time spent on tasks related to group-specific priorities.
How does the process of subdividing the team work?
- In the case of a product team working for a single client, such a division can take place according to the type of project carried out for the client. One team will maintain the current version of the application, while the other team will focus on developing new features.
- The reason for the split may also be a separate budget and billing model. The customer is still the same, but the stakeholders who represent the customer and with whom the teams work on a daily basis are different.
Who is in charge of this process?
- Role Master decides on the assignment of a person to a role (a role is also a team) based on the needs of the designed structure and the result of the refinement accomplished. This is also how the role is distributed in consultation with the team, usually during the so-called refinement.
- Role Master is the role responsible for designing the structure of the team to ensure the best possible match of people to roles in relation to the current needs and capabilities of the team.
- Role refinement is a tool that helps us to keep the roles up to date and to assess the development of the level of advancement within the groups of competencies created in the organization. It takes the form of a regular meeting, usually held at least once a quarter.
Roles – one more time
- Role responsibilities reflect the interests, talents, and needs of the organization.
- Role responsibilities often change when there is a change in the way the role is performed (e.g. if a role starts keeping records, this should be included in the responsibilities).
- Roles are defined based on the current state (current needs) rather than based on potential future events.
- Roles do not determine a fixed level of seniority (in one area I am a mentor in another I am a student; this regulates ego and interpersonal relationships).
We are constantly reviewing our structure and making changes where necessary, while maintaining efficiency and transparency in our operations. As Frederic Laloux writes in his book “Reinventing Organizations”: “Change in nature happens everywhere, all the time, in a self-organizing urge that comes from every cell and every organism, with no need for central command and control to give orders or pull the levers”, so here at SYZYGY Warsaw, we follow suit.
