Enabling Teams
Enabling teams are small, functionally aligned teams that streamline the performance of Stream Teams by defining what good looks like in terms of skills, processes, and tools, and helping to upskill the team members within Stream Teams to meet these standards.
Purpose
The primary purpose of Enabling Teams is to provide specialized support and services that enhance the operational capabilities of Stream Teams, allowing them to improve their product development.
Context
Industry Context
There is often a ceiling for how high an individual contributor can rise in their career without moving into management. This can lead to a loss of expertise in the organization as the most senior people move into management roles. Enabling Teams provide a way for these experts to continue to contribute to the organization using their wealth of knowledge and experience without moving into management.
ZeroBlockers Context
ZeroBlockers advocates for a cross-functional team structure because it allows companies to deliver products more efficiently and effectively. But one major challenge with the cross-functional team structure is that it can be difficult to maintain a high level of expertise in all areas because functional experts are distributed around the organization. Enabling Teams provide a way to upskill Stream Teams in areas where they may not have expertise and distribute knowledge across the organization.
Methods
| Method | Description | Benefits |
|---|---|---|
| Funding Enabling Teams | Identifying the core functions that will be supported by Enabling Teams. | Ensures all critical roles are filled and responsibilities are clear. |
| Incentivizing Productization | Encouraging the productization of services to enhance efficiency and effectiveness. | Streamlines the delivery of support services to Stream Teams. |
| Internal Pricing | Establishing internal pricing mechanisms for Enabling Team services. | Ensures that Enabling Teams remain customer-focused and accountable. |
| Reviewing Enabling Team Funding | Regular reviews of funding allocations to align with changing market conditions. | Maintains alignment of Enabling Team strategy with market realities. |
Anti-patterns
- Underfunded Teams: Not allocating sufficient resources to Enabling Teams, leading to poor quality and slow progress.
- Irregular Reviews: Not regularly reviewing Enabling Team funding and team structure, leading to misalignment with market conditions.
Case Studies
Implementing Product Health Frameworks for Enhanced Product Operations
How Google Cloud improved product outcomes by adopting a structured product health framework, integrating cross-functional data, and aligning teams on consistent measurement practices.
Continuous Discovery through Research Ops at Kiwi.com
How Kiwi.com enhanced its product discovery process by establishing a comprehensive research operations (research ops) infrastructure.
Kiwi.com
