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14THFEBRUARY2016

AgileTeamOrganisation:Squads,Chapters,TribesandGuilds
ACHARDYFSA AGILE,AGILESCALING,SCRUM NOCOMMENTS

AgileTeamOrganisation:Squads,
Chapters,TribesandGuilds
ThereisagrowingtrendaroundagilecompanyorganizationreorganizationwithAgileand
Scrum.

WhyReorganise?
Obviouslybuildingaproductthatisflexible,highqualityandthatcanreacttomarket
demandquicklyisimportant,butformehavingaprocessandorganization
thatemulatesthisisasequallyasimportant.
Dontjustfixtheproduct,fixtheprocesstoo
Ifwelookatreallifeexamplesofcompanyswhohavefailed,whocopewithlegacy
technology,andthosewhoembracechangeandinnovatetheimagespeaksvolumes:

Oneofthekeyreasonsisscalability,asyourcompanygrows,youneedtobeinaposition
toexpandandgroweasilyandpainlessly.Especiallyinsmallercompanies.Forexample
whenyouhaveasmallstartup,usuallyrolesarequitevagueandpeoplegenerallydowhat

everittakestogetthingsdone.Thisisfineintheearlydaysbecauseyouneedtomove
fastanddeliver,butasyougrowthisisnotasustainablemodel.
Youwillfindtherewillstarttobeconflict,peoplesteppingoneachotherstoeswhichis
onlyresolvedusuallybyassigningrolesandresponsibleness.
Scrumpromotesthatyouhavefeatureteams,fullyautonomousteamsthathaveend-toendresponsibilityforwhattheybuild:

Manycompaniesutilizethis;Spotifybeingthemostfamousatthemomentandare
currentlytheposter-boyforAgile,andeveninmyownexperiencethisisoneofthemost
optimalwaystomanageproductdevelopment.Spotifyalsorenamestheirdevelopment
teamsSquadswhichisacoolideatogetoverthestigmathataDevelopmentTeam
shouldonlycontaindevelopers.Ihavelookedintoothercompaniesthathaveadopted
thisnamingconvention,andsomethathaveevencomeupwiththeirownsuchas:
Crew
Party
Unit
Faction
Troop
Lineup
Althoughrenamingyourteamwontautomaticallychangeeverythingandmakeyour
teaminstantlymoreeffective,ifyouaremakingsomeorganizationalchanges,
restructuringoradaptingscrumfromwaterfallitsagoodwaytodetachyourselffrom
theoldwayofdoingthingsandcanmakethechangemoreofanimpact.
SpotifyalsointroducesthetermsTribes,ChaptersandGuilds,whichIhave
experienced(notwiththenamingconvention),buttheobjectivesoftheseteamsisa
greatwaytopromoteteamwork,collaborationandinnovation,aswellasgivingteam
membersownershipandasenseofenablement.

ScalingatSpotify
SeebelowtheexamplefromSpotify:

Toexplain,Spotifysplitsitsteamsupintoverysmallones,thatownacertainpartof
functionalityendtoend,forexamplethesearchorrecommendedartists.Asquad(scrum
team)willhaveadedicatedproductownerwhowillfeedthemuserstoriestobuild.Thisis
theprettystandardsetupforanyorganisationdoingscrum.Thesesquadssittogether
andhaveonelongtermmission.Theyhavealltheskillsandtoolsneededtodesign,
develop,testandreleasetoproduction,beinganautonomous,self-organisingteamwho
areexpertsintheirproductarea.Theyarekindoflikeministartups.
AsIsaid,Spotifygoesquitegranularwithitsteams,sothesesquadsaregrouped
togetherinwhattheycallTribes.Theseareacollectionofsquadswithinthesame
businessarea,forexampletheircouldbeatribefocusingonmobile.Thesquadswithina
tribesitinthesamearea,andthereareusually100orlesspertribe.Spotifyimplements
suchthingsassharedloungestocreateinter-squadinteraction,andregularinformal
teameventsandgettogetherwherethesquadssharewhattheyareworkingon.Thereisa
roleofTribeLeaderwhoisresponsibleforprovidingtherightenvironmentforallthe
squads.

ChaptersareanotherwaythatSpotifypromotesteamcollaborationandinnovation.
Chaptersareagrouporteammembersworkingwithinaspecialarea.Soforexamplea
squadmightbemadeupoffrontofficedevelopers,backofficedevelopers,database
administratorandtesters.Soachaptercouldbeafrontofficechapter,wherefrontoffice
developersgettogetherandexchangeideas,gethelponchallengesanddiscussnew
technologies.ForexampleonedevelopermightstartusingAngularJSonanewfeature,
andwillrelaytotherestofthechapterhisexperienceanddiscussonhowothersquads
canuseit.Thisisagreatwaytopromoteinnovationandcrosspollinationofideas
acrossteams.ThereisaroleofChapterLeadwhoisthelinemanagerforchapter
members,theyareresponsiblefordevelopingpeopleandsettingsalaries,butthey
remainpartofasquadandstilldoday-to-daywork.
Finally,thereistheconceptofaguild.Aguildisacommunityofmemberswithshared
interests.Theseareagroupofpeopleacrosstheorganizationwhowanttoshare
knowledge,toolscodeandpractices.Eachguildhasaco-coordinator,andsuchguilds
include:webtechnologyguild,testautomationguildorevenanagilecoachingguild.
Therecanalsobeguildsonsuchthingsasphotography,designoranyother
commoninterest.

HowCanYouImplementinyour
Team?
Thisconceptworkswellifyouhaveaquitelargeorganization,andyouhavemature
scrumteams.Spotifywasbornanagilecompany,somostofthesethingsaresewninto
theirDNA,butforcompaniesorteamstransitioningtoscrumitcanbealotmore
difficult,thisconceptneedsanotofbuy-inandandmotivationfromtheteam.
Althoughyoumightnotbeabletoimplementthismodel,therearesomethingsthatyou
cantakeawayfromit:

RenamingyourTeams/Squads
AsIsaidbefore,ifyouwanttoremovethestigmaofDevelopmentTeamsonlycontaining
developers,youcanrenameyourteamtooneofthesuggestionsearlierinthepost.Ilike
theideaofacrew;remindsmeofthecrewonashipeachhastheirroletoensurethe
shipstaysontracktotheirdestination;itsagoodmetaphortouse.
However,yourteammustrepresentthis,theyneedtobeafullyautonomous,cross
functionalteamthathasfullresponsibilitiesandlittletonodependenciesonothers.
Ideallyteamsshouldbearound5to7peopleinsize.Thisensuresthattheycanbeeasily
managedandanymeetingscanbekeptefficient,anysmallerandthereisnorealvalue
andanylargertheteambecomesmoredifficulttomanage.

Chapters
Mostcompanieswillprobablyhaveasmallervariationofthis,youwillhaveateamof
developersreportingtoamanager,andateamofQAreportingtoadifferentmanager.In
theteamsthatIworkwithIactuallyliketoflattenthehierarchyandremoveManager
wherepossible.Youcanadoptthismodelbyhavingyourfrontofficedevelopersreporting
toalead,backofficedevelopersreportingtoaleadandtesters/QAreportingtoalead.
Ifyouhavefullstackdevelopersthenitmightbealittlemoredifficult,butitcanstillbe
done.

Guilds
Guildscanbealittlemoredifficulttoimplement,theyrequiremotivationfromtheteam
andcanrequiresomedegreeofcoordination.Iwouldadvisetostartwithsomething
small,identifyaproblemorsomethingthatcanbeimprovedandgettogetherasmall
groupofteammemberstogethertosolveit.Assignaleadtothegroup(doesnothaveto
bealeadormanagementfigureitsactuallybetterifitsnotbecauseitcangive
opportunitytoteammembers)andusethisasyourpilot.Chosesomethingtechnical
ideally,somethingthattheteamwouldenjoytoworkon,thiswaywhenotherteam
membersseetheresultsandoutcome,otherguildswouldeasiertoform.Youcanstartin
suchareasas:
Performancemonitoring/optimization
Testingautomation
Security&vulnerabilities.
Services&Architecture
Documentation&Centralizedinformationcenter(Wiki)

Youcanevenaddbadgesorlogosforyourteamstoaddabitoffuntoit.
Belowareexamplestakenfromanonlinegaming/bettingwebsite:

Clans:

Teams:

Guilds:

Tribes
Tribesareabitmoredifficult,andIwouldnotadviseyouimplementunlessyouhavea
largecomplicatedinfrastructurethatneedstobesplitthisway.Ifyouhavedifferent
applicationssuchasweb,mobileweb,nativeclient/nativeapplicationornativemobile
application,donotsplitthese.Youareintroducingdependenciesthen,itsforbetterto
haveanautonomousteamthatcanbuildafeatureanddeployitonallchannels,andnot
havetowaitforanotherteamtocomplete.Thismayrequirechangesinyourarchitecture
orprocess,butinendIthinkitsthebestwayforward.

GUILDCON
Ifyoureallywanttogetcreative,youcanarrangeeventsforyourguilds.OneconceptI
cameupwithwasGuildCon,thiscouldbeadaywhereeachoftheguildspresentstothe
othersonwhattheyhavebeenworkingon,sharetipsandknowledgeoreventrytorecruit
peopletojoin.

Youcouldalsoarrangehackdaysorteamchallengesforyourguilds,tocomeupwitha
newconcept,ideaorprototypetobejudgedattheendofthedayforaprize.
Bydoingsomethinglikethis,givetheguildsmoreofasenseofpurpose,andcanbegreat
forteambuilding

Summary
Therearemanywaysyoucanreorganizeandrestructureyourteams,butremember
renamingandchangingwherepeoplesitwillnotsolveallyourproblems.Your
architectureandorganizationshoulddictatehowyouwanttowork,nottheotherway
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around.Remember,thegoalistobeabletodeliverquickly,highqualityproductsandbe
abletoscale.Modelonhowyouwantyourteamstobehaveandthecultureyouwantto
promote.
Somequestionsyoushouldaskyourselfare:

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Canyourteamsscalewithgrowth?Thinkaboutdifferentscenarios;whatidyour
companyneedstoproduceanewtypeofproduct?Whatifyourcompanygoesintoa
newmarket?Whatifyourcompanybuysanothercompany?
Canyoumakesureeachoneofyourfeaturesordepartmentsgetstheattentionand
developmentcapacitytheydeserve?
Canyoukeepbureaucracyataminimum(seeSpotifyforMVBitsagreatconcept)?
Thisisimportantforscalingsodesigning,releasinganddevelopingdoesntbecome
painfulandpolitical.
Canyouensurefastplanningandacleanreleaseprocess?
Althoughthismethodisgreatandveryidealistic,ittoocomeswithitsdifficulties.
Forexample,withsomanymicroteams,itcanbecomedifficulttoensureknowledge
doesgettransfered,andtheteamsdontbecomesiloed.Thisforsureisneedediffor
exampleonesquadneedstodosomeworkonanothersquadscodebase,andevenona
productlevel.Everyonestillneedstobeinsyncandgoingtowardsthesamestrategic

goal.10squadsgoingintheirowndirectionisntgoingtohelpanyone.Thisiswhyvision
issoimportant,whichIwillcoverinaseparatepost.
IfyouwanttoseemoreabouthowSpotifydoesthis,youcangohere:
https://labs.spotify.com/2014/03/27/spotify-engineering-culture-part-1/

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FullstackagileSquadsChaptersTribesandGuildsfromAshley-ChristianHardy

Ashley-ChristianHardy
full-stackagile.com
Processhacker,optimizerandteammotivator.Bloggingmyideas,initiativesand
innovations.CertifiedScrumMaster/ProductOwner&AgileProjectManager
Pleasedontforgettoaddorfollowmeonthefollowingsocialmedia!

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