We know that team-based software delivery can be very effective but how can we promote and enable team-based approaches for organisations that are fully remote or hybrid? What should teams think about and what patterns can teams adopt to be effective when most people are not in the office? Based on the ideas from Team Topologies book and the new Remote Team Interactions Workbook, co-author Manuel Pais will present some useful approaches to clarify and evolve inter-team interactions and communication in this remote-first world.

1. TeamTopologies.com
@TeamTopologies
Remote-first
Team Interactions
with Team Topologies
Manuel Pais
@manupaisable

2. Team Topologies
2
Organizing business and
technology teams for fast flow
Matthew Skelton & Manuel Pais
IT Revolution Press, 2019
teamtopologies.com/book

3. “innovative tools and concepts for
structuring the next generation
digital operating model”
Charles T. Betz,
Principal Analyst, Forrester Research
3

4. Remote Team Interactions
Workbook
4
Using Team Topologies
Patterns for Remote Working
Matthew Skelton & Manuel Pais
IT Revolution Press, 2022
teamtopologies.com/workbook

5. “extends the original book with
valuable exercises to setup your
teams effectively for a Remote First
world”
Stefan van Oirschot,
Chief Digital Advisor at Red Hat
5

6. 6
github.com/TeamTopologies

7. Remote Work
+
7

8. Remote Work
+
8

9. Remote Work
tools
+ psychological safety
+ ground rules and practices
10

10. 11
Poor remote interactions
can kill the
“<LATEST> transformation”

11. 13
Team Dependencies
Natural Trust Boundaries
Purposeful Interactions
Next steps

12. Team Dependencies
14

13. 15
In a remote-first context,
it’s vital to understand
who is working on what

14. DON’T: roadmaps only visible
via synchronous touch points

15. Team API
17

16. Team API
19
● Artifacts owned by the team
● Versioning & testing approach
● Wiki and documentation
● Practices and principles
● Roadmap & priorities
● Communication preferences (when/how)

17. 20
https://github.com/TeamTopologies/Team-API-template

18. “For effective team-first ownership of
software, teams need to continuously
define, advertise, test, and evolve
their Team API”
Team Topologies, p.48
21

19. Tracking Dependencies
22

20. Team dependencies tracking
23
https://github.com/TeamTopologies/Team-Dependencies-Tracking

21. “Making Work Visible”
24

22. 25
Eliminate blocking dependencies.
Mitigate slow dependencies.
Keep healthy dependencies.

23. Building Networks
26

24. 27

25. 28
Internal Tech
Conferences
Victoria Morgan-Smith and
Matthew Skelton
InternalTechConf.com

26. 29

27. 30
Informal networks help sustain
increasing system complexity by
providing bridges between teams
to solve future problems or needs

28. 31
Team Dependencies
Natural Trust Boundaries
Purposeful Interactions
Next steps

29. Natural Trust
Boundaries
32

30. 33
The impact of trust boundaries
is even more present in a
remote-first context

31. DON’T: Naïve setup of online
chat tools without concern
for flow, trust &
communication needs

32. 35

33. Group Trust Boundaries
36

34. “an individual’s social network
(meaningful relationships)
is typically in the order of
100–200 individuals”
- Robin Dunbar
37
https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/full/10.1098/rsos.150292

35. 39

36. 40
Trust dynamics can change
when crossing a Dunbar
boundary. Expect different
rules & non-linear effects.

37. 41
From Team Topologies,
chapter 3 (page 53)

38. 42

39. 43

40. 44
Private car sales
Commercial car sales
Car leasing

41. DON’T: People “shout out”
requests in chat tools
expecting quick answers

42. 46
# enabling-test-automation
...
# platform-team
…
# stream-team-1
# stream-team-2
# stream-team-3
...
# st1-platform-monitoring
# st2-enabling-test-automation
...
Mary (Platform
Team Engineer)
# support-environments
# support-logging
…
# marketing
# sales
...

43. 47

44. Team-focused conventions
48
● team channel: team topology and name
● (temp) interaction channel: teams + purpose
● support channel: support + service name
● username: name + role + team + topology

45. 49
Team-focused conventions
increase discoverability and
reduce cognitive load on
communications.

46. 50
Team Dependencies
Natural Trust Boundaries
Purposeful Interactions
Next steps

47. Purposeful
Interactions
51

48. 52
Purposeful, well-defined
interactions are key to
effective [remote] teams

49. DON’T: Expect “cheaper”
collaboration because
we’re all communicating
online now

50. 54
We cannot and should not
expect to talk to everyone
else (person or team)

51. 55

52. 56
Team Interaction Modes
Collaboration: 2 teams working together
X-as-a-Service: 1 provides, 1 consumes
Facilitating: 1 team helps another

53. 57

54. Purpose-driven
interactions
over process-driven
interactions
58

55. Stream-aligned team
59
Example: Teams we currently interact with
Team Name Interaction Mode Purpose Duration
Test Automation
Enabling team
Facilitating Understand test
automation and
data mgmt
examples for iOS
2 months
(from Mar 30
to May 29,
1 day per week)
Monitoring &
Telemetry
Platform team
Collaboration Store and visualize
data on product
features usage
3 weeks
(from Apr 13
to Apr 30,
2h per day)

56. Use awkwardness in team
interactions as a sensing
mechanism for evolution
60

57. Next steps
73

58. Track, visualize, and
remove blocking
dependencies using
simple tools
74

59. Use the Team API
approach to define and
communicate
responsibilities and
team focus
75

60. Leverage natural group
trust boundaries
to setup engaging
online spaces
76

61. Clarify communication
purpose and channels to
reduce cognitive load
77

62. Listen to awkward
team interactions as
they might indicate
unclear communication
patterns
78

63. Invest in building
informal networks
for long term success
with remote work
79

64. 80
Focus on internal
user experience and
satisfaction to keep
teams connected

65. Resources
81
teamtopologies.com/remote-first
(articles, slides, video)
teamtopologies.com/tools
(templates, assessments, etc)

66. Infographics
● Getting Started
● In a Nutshell
82
teamtopologies.com/infographics

67. academy.teamtopologies.com

68. Coming soon
Research and tools for
team cognitive load
assessment over time
85

69. 86
Manuel Pais
Twitter: @manupaisable
LinkedIn: manuelpais
Matthew Skelton
Twitter: @matthewpskelton
LinkedIn: matthewskelton
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