Team Composition and Allocation
Allocating team members is the process of strategically assigning individuals to Stream Teams based on their skills, experience, and expertise, as well as the specific needs and scope of the team. This practice ensures that each team has the necessary capabilities to achieve its objectives effectively.
Goal
The goal is to create balanced, multidisciplinary teams capable of addressing diverse aspects of their allocated value streams, from idea to satisfied customers. This involves matching the right mix of skills and experiences with the team’s scope to enhance innovation, productivity, and alignment with strategic priorities.
Context
A Stream is responsible for uncovering customer needs, developing solutions, and delivering value to the market. This requires a diverse set of skills and expertise, ranging from technical capabilities to domain knowledge and soft skills. In addition, every value stream has unique requirements and challenges that demand specific expertise and experience. Allocating team members based on these factors ensures that Stream Teams are well-equipped to meet their objectives and deliver high-quality outcomes.
Role Types
| Role | Description |
|---|---|
| Researcher | Conducting user research, market analysis, and competitive intelligence to inform product development. |
| Designer | Identifying solutions, designing experiments, evaluating assumptions, and creating engaging user experiences. |
| Developer | Building and maintaining software solutions, applications, and platforms to deliver value. |
| Marketer | Identifying the go-to-market strategy, creating marketing campaigns, and driving customer acquisition and retention. |
| Operations | Ensuring the smooth operation of the product, managing infrastructure, and supporting customer success. |
| Sales | Engaging with customers, understanding their needs, and driving revenue growth through product sales. |
| Other SMEs | Subject matter experts with specialised knowledge or skills relevant to the value stream. |
Considerations
- Team Size
- Dunbar's number suggests that the optimal team size for effective collaboration is around 5-9 members.
- Allocation decisions should consider the size of the team and the number of value streams they can effectively manage.
- Team Capacity
- The cognitive load increases with the number of value streams a team is responsible for.
- Teams should not be overloaded with value streams, so even though there might be lower priority streams, they should be allocated to ensure a balanced workload.
Inputs
| Artifact | Description |
|---|---|
| Value Stream Budgets | The allocation of financial resources to each value stream, based on strategic importance and resource requirements. |
| Value Stream Success Metrics | A document outlining the specific, measurable indicators of success for the Stream Team. |
| Product Strategy | High-level strategic goals and priorities that inform the allocation of team members to value streams. |
| Product Budget | The financial resources allocated to the product, including budget constraints and funding availability. |
Outputs
| Artifact | Description | Benefits |
|---|---|---|
| Stream Team Scope | A document outlining the scope of the Stream Team. | Fosters clarity, alignment, ownership, and accountability within the team. |
| Stream Team Charter | A document outlining the success metrics, goals, roles, relationships and rules for the Stream Team. | Fosters clarity, alignment, ownership, and accountability within the team. |
Anti-patterns
- Too much scope: Overloading teams with too many value streams can increase cognitive load and reduce the overall effectiveness of the team.
- Too large teams: Teams that exceed the optimal size of 8-10 people are less efficient due to the increased coordination overhead.