The core goal of Enabling Teams is to streamline the operations of the Streams Teams in their aligned ecosystem. Tools and technologies are a key part of this. Enabling Teams can help Stream Teams by taking away the overhead of analysing and assessing different tools to evaluate their effectiveness. By providing Stream Teams with a pre-selected set of tools and technologies that are known to work well in their context, Enabling Teams can help Stream Teams focus on delivering value to their customers.
Purpose
There is a difficult balance to strike between providing Stream Teams with the autonomy to choose the tools and technologies that work best for them and ensuring that they are not wasting time evaluating tools that are not fit for purpose, or ones that only fit a very narrow set of use cases versus ones that are more general purpose. Enabling Teams have a broader understanding of the needs across multiple Stream Teams and can provide guidance on the best tools and technologies to use.
Principles and Practices
Effectiveness
| Principle | Context | Practice |
|---|
| Work smarter, not harder | We need to ensure that teams are using the best tools to make it easier to deliver value to customers. | By using their breadth of knowledge across the entire product ecosystem, Enabling Teams are best positioned to evaluate which tools are fit-for-purpose and will deliver the most value to Stream Teams, and avoid the situation where teams choose tools that deliver local optima but are not the best for the whole ecosystem. |
| Contexts change | We need to ensure that the tools that Stream Teams are using are the best for their context. | By monitoring the support and maintenance of tools across the ecosystem, Enabling Teams can ensure that the tools that Stream Teams are using are the best for their context and are not being left behind by newer tools that are more fit-for-purpose. |
Efficiency
| Principle | Context | Practice |
|---|
| It takes time to evaluate new tools | We need to limit the time that Stream Teams spend on work that is not focused on building products. | By taking away the burden of assessing tools, Enabling Teams can ensure that Stream Teams remain focused on delivering value to customers. |
| Death by a thousand cuts | We need to ensure that the costs of the tools are justified by the benefits that they provide. | By understanding the ecosystem-wide needs of the tools, including integration points, Enabling Teams can ensure that the tools they evaluate are providing the most value to the Stream Teams and help to avoid the never-ending proliferation of tools across the ecosystem. |
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 demonstrating the efficiencies delivered by reviewing and monitoring the tools that are used across the ecosystem, including sunsetting old tools and negotiating tool licences for preferred tools, Enabling Teams can quantify the value that they deliver to the ecosystem. |
Table of Criticisms
| Criticism | Description | Mitigation |
|---|
| Inflexible Tooling | Tools chosen by Enabling Teams might become quickly outdated or inflexible, not adapting to the evolving technological landscape. | By enabling Stream Teams to choose tools that have not been reviewed or recommended by Enabling Teams we allow them to keep their flexibility. |
| Cost over Value | Tools recommended by Enabling Teams may be more driven by cost than value, leading to suboptimal tool choices. For example, a jack-of-all-trades tool might deliver more coverage but less depth than a more specialised tool. | By enabling Stream Teams to choose tools that are not recommended by Enabling Teams, we can motivate Enabling Teams to balance the prioritisations of cost and value. |
List of Anti-Patterns
- One-Tool-Fits-All: Assuming one tool can meet all needs across different teams, ignoring the specific contexts and challenges of each team.
- Neglecting Training: Failing to provide adequate training on new tools, which can lead to underutilsation or incorrect usage.
- Ignoring Tool Lifecycle: Not considering the full lifecycle of tools, from adoption and peak usage to eventual sunset.