Organizing business and technology teams for fast flow: book | training | consulting
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Key Concepts

Core concepts & ideas in Team Topologies

 

Key Concepts

 
 

Four fundamental topologies

Four fundamental topologies shown with the flow of change

 
 

Four fundamental topologies

  • Stream-aligned team: aligned to a flow of work from (usually) a segment of the business domain

  • Enabling team: helps a Stream-aligned team to overcome obstacles. Also detects missing capabilities.

  • Complicated Subsystem team: where significant mathematics/calculation/technical expertise is needed.

  • Platform team: a grouping of other team types that provide a compelling internal product to accelerate delivery by Stream-aligned teams

Four fundamental topologies - with the flow of change

The flow of change is shown left-to-right. Stream-aligned teams own an entire slice of the business domain (or other flow) end-to-end. The Stream-aligned teams are “You Built It, You Run It” teams. There are no hand-offs to other teams for any purpose.

This diagram is a snapshot in time. The team relationships WILL change as new goals are set and the teams discover new things.

 
 

Three team interaction modes

 
 

3 team interaction modes

There are only three ways in which team should interact:

  • Collaboration: working together for a defined period of time to discover new things (APIs, practices, technologies, etc.)

  • X-as-a-Service: one team provides and one team consumes something “as a Service”

  • Facilitation: one team helps and mentors another team

 
 
 

Guided enablement workshops

 

For those seeking swift adoption of cutting-edge strategies, these enablement workshops offer an unparalleled opportunity to catalyze change and drive success. Team Topologies Guided Workshops present an expedited route for organizations eager to integrate Team Topologies methodologies swiftly. Crafted and endorsed by the visionaries behind Team Topologies, Matthew Skelton and Manuel Pais, these workshops distill years of consultancy into dynamic 3-hour sessions, delivering immediate, tangible results. By prioritizing interactive group dynamics, attendees are empowered to grasp concepts firsthand, accelerating organizational understanding and implementation.

Team Topologies Academy

The self-paced Team Topologies Distilled course on the Team Topologies Academy gives you all about the key ideas from Team Topologies in 3 hours.
Learn about the four types of teams, the three core interaction modes, the Platform-as-a-Product approach, or how to align teams with true value streams, have a look at the .

The Team Topologies for Managers is the best start for leaders looking for ways to to accelerate flow with a healthy ecosystem of teams aligned to streams of value and non-blocking, capability-based dependencies.

 
 

Key tools explained

Infographics on Team Topologies


What is a Thinnest Viable Platform (TVP)?

What are the core team types in Team Topologies?