Short Lived Venture Teams

short lived venture teams in code lead succeed

Problem Definition

In rapidly evolving tech landscapes, organizations often need to quickly form teams to explore new opportunities, validate ideas, or deliver critical projects within tight timeframes. These short-lived venture teams face unique challenges in terms of team cohesion, knowledge transfer, and maintaining focus on deliverables while operating under time constraints.

Solution Overview

Implement a "Special Forces" team model: Assemble a cross-functional team of high-performing individuals with complementary skills. Empower them with clear objectives, autonomy, and direct access to resources. Establish a fixed timeframe and well-defined success criteria.

Benefits

  1. Rapid ideation and execution
  2. Focused energy on critical initiatives
  3. Increased innovation through diverse skill sets
  4. Reduced organizational overhead
  5. Quick validation of new concepts or markets

Applicability

  • Startup incubators or innovation labs within larger organizations
  • Time-sensitive market opportunities or competitive responses
  • Proof-of-concept projects for new technologies or business models
  • Minimum viable product (MVP) builds as part of a consultancy with short timeframes

Implementation Guide

  1. Team Formation

    • Select 5-7 high-performers with diverse, complementary skills
    • Include roles covering product, engineering, design, and subject matter experts
    • Why: A small, cross-functional team ensures agility and covers all necessary expertise

  2. Mission Definition

    • Clearly articulate the team's objective, constraints, and success criteria
    • Set a fixed timeframe (typically 2-12 weeks)
    • Identify the minimum viable product (MVP) using frameworks like Inception, or Lean Canvas
    • Why: Clear goals and timelines create focus and urgency

  3. Empowerment and Resources

    • Provide direct access to necessary resources (budget, tools, data)
    • Establish a single point of contact for external dependencies
    • Why: Autonomy and resource availability accelerate decision-making and execution

  4. Agile Methodology Adaptation

    • Implement daily stand-ups and weekly demos
    • Use shorter sprint cycles (1-2 weeks) for increased flexibility and reporting to stakeholders
    • Utilize Kanban instead of story points or day estimation to keep focus on top priorities
    • Why: Frequent communication and flexibility are crucial for rapid progress. Teams that haven't formed for a long time and disband after surgical delivery have no use for story points. The story points are no longer representative of the team when the next team members are different

  5. Autonomy and Decision-making

    • Empower the team to make decisions without excessive oversight
    • Establish a RACI matrix for critical decisions
    • Why: Empowerment fosters ownership and speeds up the decision-making process

  6. Knowledge Capture and Transfer

    • Maintain thorough documentation throughout the project
    • Schedule regular knowledge-sharing sessions
    • Why: Continuous documentation ensures learnings are retained and can be shared

  7. Metrics and Evaluation

    • Define and track key performance indicators (KPIs) aligned with objectives
    • Conduct mid-point and end-of-project retrospectives
    • Quantify key success metrics and drive towards those improving those metrics publicly
    • Why: Clear metrics provide focus and allow for course correction

  8. Team Dissolution and Reintegration

    • Plan for team dissolution from the outset
    • Conduct thorough handover sessions with relevant stakeholders
    • Reintegrate team members into their regular roles or new projects
    • Why: Proper closure ensures continuity and knowledge transfer

Case Study

Spotify's "Squad" model, introduced in 2012, provides an insightful case study on implementing autonomous, cross-functional teams in a rapidly growing tech company. While initially celebrated, the model's long-term outcomes offer valuable lessons on the complexities of organizational structure.

Initial implementation:

  1. Small, cross-functional teams (Squads) of 6-8 people
  2. Each Squad had end-to-end responsibility for a specific feature or service
  3. Squads were organized into Tribes (collections of Squads working in related areas)
  4. Chapters and Guilds were introduced for knowledge sharing across Squads

Early perceived successes:

  1. Increased autonomy: Teams felt empowered to make decisions
  2. Faster feature development: Some features were shipped more quickly
  3. Improved employee satisfaction: Engineers appreciated the autonomy and clear ownership
  4. Scalability: The model seemed to support Spotify's rapid growth

Challenges and trade-offs:

  1. Coordination difficulties: As the company grew, coordination between Squads became more complex
  2. Inconsistent implementation: Not all Squads achieved the same level of autonomy or efficiency
  3. Knowledge silos: Despite Chapters and Guilds, some expertise became isolated within Squads
  4. Product cohesion: Maintaining a consistent user experience across independently developed features proved challenging

Lessons learned:

  1. One size doesn't fit all: Organizational structures need to be adaptable to different team needs and company stages
  2. Balance is key: Autonomy must be balanced with coordination and overall product vision
  3. Culture over structure: The principles behind the model (autonomy, cross-functionality) were often more important than the specific structure
  4. Continuous evolution: Organizational models should be regularly reviewed and adjusted

While Spotify eventually moved away from the strict Squad model, the experiment provided valuable insights into team autonomy, cross-functional collaboration, and the challenges of scaling organizational structures in fast-growing tech companies.

Spotify's ex-VP of Engineering, Kevin Goldsmith, reflected: "The Spotify model was a moment in time for us. It solved certain problems we had then, but as we grew, our needs changed. The key is to focus on principles rather than specific structures, and to be willing to evolve."

This case study demonstrates that while the Special Forces team model can bring benefits, it also comes with challenges. The key is to understand the trade-offs, adapt the model to your specific context, and be prepared to evolve your approach as the organization grows and changes.

References:

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