Brad B. Cto

The work in Product is very team oriented, this is most obviously demonstrated in the way we manage our goals and outcomes. We favour setting team level outcomes over individual level goals to stress the importance of working as a team towards shared outcomes. At PageUp, teams succeed or fail together....

The structure of the wider Product team is effectively a team of teams, most individual contributors form part of what we call a "Squad", which is a semi-autonomous cross functional Agile software team. (a "2 pizza" team).

Multiple squads form broader teams we call Valuestreams, which are where most of the product outcomes are driven from. Valuestreams are usually 2 to 3 squads, and these 2-3 squads usually are working towards the same outcomes with a lens of 6-12 months.

The final and largest group is the Product team itself, currently around 70-80 people where all the Valuestream outcomes typically rollup / contribute to Product Team wide goals.

We have various ceremonies amongst each of these groups that work towards building a cohesive team at every level.

For individual contributors in squads, working in the team usually means contributing to daily standups on the progress toward the teams sprint goals, collaborating on continuous improvement activities in sprint retros and ensuring everyone is on the same page in sprint planning. It also often involves regular pairing with other developers in your squad to assist each other or unblock work that is contributing to the team goal.

At a Valuestream level, working as a team usually means aligning Squads delivery and priorities with Stream and product level outcomes, collaborating with CFT members (representatives from the wider business such as sales, customer success and Growth who form part of Valuestreams) and creating a level of shared ownership of the Streams outcomes through a regular cadence of discussions.

At a Product team level, working as a team involves creating opportunities to share knowledge and align on shared goals across valuestreams. We do this though regular Product wide sessions such as our "Platform & Product showcases", our Engagement survey review sessions, and also through our custodian DevOp's model which provides the opportunity for individuals to work with team members that often are part of other Valuestreams, aiding in addressing any "Siloing" that may occur working solely in a single squad and value stream.
It's important to us that our team identity is formed from all three levels of this team structure in Product. This in-turn creates more collaboration and empathy across the group, which is exactly what we need to be successful, as In the end, we are all working towards the same outcomes.

27 July, 2022 04:22