Anti-patterns for supportive team dynamics

Project-based teams: If teams are structured around short-term projects rather than being aligned with products or services, it can prevent them from taking ownership of the value stream. Project-based teams tend to focus on completing tasks and moving on to the next assignment, rather than fostering long-term ownership, accountability, and continuous improvement. This can impact delivery speed, quality, and maintainability of resulting products. Shift the focus towards product-aligned teams that have ownership of their entire value stream. This encourages teams to take responsibility for the full lifecycle of the product, from idea to delivery and ongoing maintenance.

Restrictive tool support: If supporting teams support a limited set of tools, frameworks, or programming languages, it can discourage individual teams from adopting new tools or choosing the best tool for specific use cases. Requiring teams to use a standardized tool, which may be the wrong tool for the specific use case, can lead to sub-optimal solutions and decreased developer productivity. To overcome this, supportive teams should take a more flexible approach by creating solutions that are inclusive of using multiple tools, frameworks, and programming languages. This encourages teams to choose tools for their specific needs, creating an adaptable development environment that fosters a culture of experimentation and learning.

Rigid hierarchical structures: Traditional rigid hierarchical organizational structures can hinder the flow of information and introduce unnecessary dependencies between teams. When decisions are always made by executive leadership and individual teams lack autonomy, it can suppress innovation, delay time to market, and deter accountability. These structures can also discourage teams from collaborating freely, due to potential political dynamics or fear of overstepping boundaries. To address this, create an environment where teams have the autonomy to make decisions that align with their goals and the organization's business objectives. Encourage open channels of communication across all levels and departments.