People

The core goal of Enabling Teams is to streamline the operations of the Streams Teams in their aligned ecosystem. One of the core ways of doing this is to improve the skills, knowledge and capabilities of the Stream Teams. This is done by defining what good looks like, providing the necessary training and support to upskill and encouraging the sharing of knowledge and best practices.

Purpose

Functional specialists can become isolated in cross-functional Stream Teams, which limits their ability to upskill. Enabling Teams can help to bridge this gap by providing a centralised hub for learning and development, as well as a platform for sharing knowledge and best practices across the ecosystem.

Principles and Practices

Effectiveness

Principle	Context	Practice
People need to know what good looks like to achieve it	We need to ensure that people know the expectations for their role and have the necessary skills to meet them.	By establishing capability standards and communicating expectations with people we can help them to understand what is required to be successful.
You can't see the wood for the trees	When Stream Teams are focused on delivering features they can fail to see the process and performance issues that are holding them back.	By running regular check-ins Enabling Teams can identify areas for improvement and make recommendations for improvement.
The skills of the people building the product are the most important factor in the quality of the product	We need to ensure that the Stream Teams have the necessary skills to build high quality products.	By defining training curricula and the associated courses for different roles and levels of experience Enabling Teams can ensure that Stream Teams have the necessary skills to build high-quality products.

Efficiency

Principle	Context	Practice
Repetition reduces productivity	We need to encourage sharing of knowledge across teams to avoid repeating the same mistakes.	By designing and running running communities of practice we can ensure that knowledge is shared across the company.

Sustainability

Principle	Context	Practice
Cost Centers are the first to be cut	We need to ensure that Stream Teams actively seek out the support of Enabling Teams.	By making strong recommendations for improvement during the regular check-ins and providing the necessary training and support Enabling Teams can ensure that Stream Teams actively seek out their support.

Table of Criticisms

Criticism	Description	Mitigation
Insufficient Role Clarity	When shifting from functionally aligned teams to cross-functional Stream Teams, the expectations on people change. People may not have a clear understanding of what is expected in their roles, which can lead to inefficiencies and reduced effectiveness.	Clearly define role expectations, particularly in the context of a cross-functional team, and communicate these regularly to ensure all team members understand what is expected of them.
Overdependence on Enabling Teams	Stream Teams might become too reliant on Enabling Teams for direction and support, hindering their ability to operate independently.	By defining a Facilitating interaction mode we set the expectation that the Enabling Teams will not do the work for the Stream Teams but will provide the necessary training and support to enable them to do it themselves.
Training Not Aligned with Actual Needs	There is a risk that the training provided does not align with the actual needs or gaps within the Stream Teams.	By linking the funding of Enabling Teams to the adoption of the training and support provided we can ensure that the training provided is aligned with the actual needs of the Stream Teams.

List of Anti-Patterns

Overgeneralised Training: Implementing a one-size-fits-all training approach that fails to address specific needs of different Stream Teams.
Underutilising Expertise: Not leveraging the full range of skills and experiences of Enabling Team members, who are the most senior in the organisation, by making the role more administrative than strategic.