This handy guide to structuring an engineering team presents a step-by-step overview of the actions you can take to create a team that performs well and meets your requirements.
Assemble Froups Around Products.
Gone are the days when Waterfall was used to build products, and new versions were released every few years. Many businesses now use continuous deployment, in which software is updated numerous times each day.
The ability to get a product to market quickly has become a significant source of competitive advantage for many successful businesses. So, how are you going to get that speed?
By purposefully forming teams around products (or micro-products) that include all of the necessary functions for the product to succeed within the team. For example, if you were creating a simple app, the ideal team would include the following members:
- Software engineering: These guys will construct the app.
- Product Management: To assist in prioritizing what should be built next.
- UX: To design and refine the user’s experience within the app.
- Design: To make the app appealing to the eye.
- Data Science: To provide input on what’s working and what isn’t, as well as to help steer the product in the right direction.
Implement a Pod Structure — Product-focused Teams
What’s the point of forming teams around separate products?
Several fantastic things happen when you form a team around a product.
1. Team Acquires Autonomy.
After the goals and metrics have been established, the team is free to make decisions as long as the overall product development is moving in the proper direction.
Almost all decisions may be taken within the team without involving an external stakeholder, which speeds up the process. Because context is not lost between the team and an outside decision-maker, the team makes better decisions.
2. Create Stronger Teams.
When people work together for a long time, they learn to work as a team more successfully. They build trust and become aware of one another’s strengths and flaws. They have each other’s backs and are there for each other in good times and bad. This team not only has a greater ability to predict delivery, but they also stay together for longer periods with lower attrition.
As a manager, you’re in charge of assembling a well-balanced team of people that complement one another.
3. Sense of Responsibility and Accountability.
The team has entire ownership of the products they have created thanks to this framework. They’re not simply making a component and handing it off to another team like an assembly line, but they’re making the entire thing. The team begins to care about their product genuinely; it takes on a life of its own. This shift in thinking not only increases the quality and speed with which things are provided but also enhances the customer experience.
What do you do first?
Adopting a pod structure could be a difficult transition if your organization is vast and your teams aren’t organized. This structure may be easier to seed on a greenfield product.
Teams Organized by Function
When it comes to forming a product-based team, there are three things to consider.
1. Establish objectives and benchmarks.
Make sure you know what you want the team to accomplish, then construct metrics to help you track your progress toward that goal. Make a list of intermediate objectives or milestones. Include your team in the process so they don’t feel like the goals were set from the top down. You want a group that feels in command of its fate. Allow them to help you set it up.
2. Employ the appropriate personnel.
People will, in the end, be the ones who drive this and make it successful. You must ensure that the team is well-balanced, with the appropriate archetypes and capabilities. These variables vary depending on your stage of development and the type of product you’re creating.
It’s crucial to keep your teams small. Six individuals is the perfect number, with three developers. More than that, and decision-making suffers.
3. Let the team manage itself.
Above all, allow the team to run with the goals. Allow them to decide what they want to make and how they want to build it. Although it may be tempting to step in, you pay knowledgeable people to tell you what works, not the other way around.
As their manager, your position shifts, and you’ll spend a lot more time on the people side, ensuring that the team has all of the resources it needs to succeed, as well as decision-making autonomy. You’ll also want to make sure that the objectives and goals stay consistent with the rest of the company throughout time and that the measurements continue to assist you in tracking progress toward those goals.
Insurance for Engineers
Engineers’ insurance, at its most basic level, is designed to safeguard engineers’ professional risks while also keeping everyone safe.
Engineers are covered by professional indemnity insurance for the advice they offer. In contrast, engineers are covered by indemnity insurance if they are held accountable for any third-party injury or property damage while on the job.
However, because engineering is such a diverse profession (including industries like Chemical, Mining, Forensic, Landscaping, and Communication), you should endeavor to have a firm grasp on the specific types of engineering services and activities that need to be covered to find the best insurance policy.
Conclusion
Give it a shot if you operate software engineering teams and don’t already have a pod structure based on products. It produces happier, more motivated teams that produce better, more predictable software, minimizes collaboration and management overhead, and ultimately leads to better business outcomes.
