Team Management: Difference between revisions

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Team management is all about how our teams work. Our biggest challenge for team management is how to provide context given the scenario we face:</br>
Our Team Management process is all about '''how our teams work.'''
* Our teams are growing at a very fast pace</br>
 
* We are selling a niche product</br>
We already established that we want to enforce Strategic Management in our business. We also mentioned that we believe in providing Context, Not Control and that our Leadership style enables us to do that.  
* Our customers are distributed worldwide</br>
 
</br>
Our teams are growing at a very fast pace and we sell a niche product to a global audience. In this situation, it can be a challenge to provide everyone with the right context. How can we address this challenge?
We already established that we want to enforce [[Strategy#Strategic_Management|Strategic Management]] in our business. We also mentioned that we believe in providing [[Strategy#Context.2C_not_Control|Context, Not Control]] and that our [[Leadership|Leadership]] style enables us to do that. But in practice, it's what we call: Strategic Management vs. Leadership.</br>
 
</br>
The way we manage our teams is by having a balance between Strategic Management and Leadership. Our leaders need to be strategic and manage with goals in mind. They must follow some basic principles for this:
This is all about managing with goals. To achieve that there are some key principles to follow:</br>
 
* There is a need for accountability to meet deliverables</br>
* There is a need for accountability to meet deliverables
* Deliverables must be followed up</br>
* Deliverables must be followed up
* Leaders exist in our structure to help and coach.</br>
* Leaders exist in our structure to help and coach.
</br>
 
At the same time, our Managers must:</br>
At the same time, they must provide context to employees by:
* Identify employees in need of help or who are underperforming</br>
 
* Recognize and encourage high performers and possible future leaders</br>
* Identifying employees in need of help or who are underperforming
* Encourage teams through empowering, not micromanaging.</br>
* Recognizing and encouraging high performers and possible future leaders
</br>
* Motivating teams through empowering, not micromanaging.
 
Another challenge to the management process is the risk of data breaches and information leaks. Therefore, we need to have accountability between teams and individuals, through processes which are not enabling any risks to data.


To manage our technical engineering teams we follow some Agile principles and Scrum practices.
'''Why some?'''</br>
In a world where hackers and data-collectors threaten the integrity of technology and society as a construct, to be at the forefront of mobile security, we need to constantly evaluate that our processes are not enabling any data breaches. Yet within this context, we also want accountability between teams, and for individuals to be mentored. For more information regarding our Leadership roles please check [[Leadership|here]].</br>


= Teams Structure =
= Teams Structure =
When understanding our Team Management strategy there are some concepts related to teams, divisions, and departments which have different definitions based on specific areas of activity and responsibilities.
Our team structure is made out of Divisions, Departments, and Teams.
== Department ==
* Composed by a group of frameworks
* Managed by a Tech Lead who is responsible for the department's processes maintaining all the documentation in the relevant Confluence space and Jira project


== Division ==
== Division ==
* Managed by a Level 2 Manager who is responsible for performance and people's growth
A Division is composed of teams and departments and acts as a separate entity. It is managed by a Level 3 or Level 4 manager who ensures optimal performance and helps and coaches employees.
* In some cases a division has a team or multiple teams, in some cases a division has no team
 
== Department ==
A Department is composed of a group of frameworks separated into teams. It is managed by a Level 2 manager who is responsible for growing the teams and for maintaining its documentation in the relevant Confluence space and Jira project.


== Team ==
== Team ==
* Teams compose a division
Teams compose a Department. For example, the HR team and Operations team form the HR & Operations Department. Teams are managed by a Level 1 manager (responsible for coordinating the processes) and a Level 2 manager (who handles the team’s growth).
* Managed by two levels: Level 1 manager who is responsible for coordinating processes and Level 2 manager who is responsible for the team's growth
</br>
</br>
[[File:Team_Div_Dept.PNG|center|600px]]
</br>
</br>
</br>
To promote accountability and avoid micromanagement we decided that the best way to keep our leaders, departments, teams and divisions informed about everything happening in the teams would be through structured touchpoints called ceremonies.


= Ceremonies =
= Ceremonies =
* Ceremonies:
To ensure communication and accountability and to minimize micro-management, we use structured touchpoints (also known as ceremonies) to keep our leaders, departments, teams, and divisions informed about everything happening in the company. The ceremonies help us to avoid chaos, broadcast information to all the members of a project, bring common goals and vision, share progress, and reduce dependency and communication issues.
Our Ceremonies are touchpoints for leaders and teams to get aligned and it helps to avoid chaos, to broadcast information to all team members, to bring common goals and vision, to share team progress, and to reduce dependency and communication issues.
Most traditional companies have a hierarchical, top-down structure of communication, in which the lower-level employees communicate with their leader/manager, who then shares information to their superior and to other managers connected to the project. This leads to slow communication and can result in some information being lost or changed in the process.
In Secure Group, we don’t use intermediaries and message carriers. Instead, every employee has the chance to talk directly to every other employee-related to their project to share information and updates, regardless of rank or Level. The role of the leader in this structure is not to pass messages around, but to guarantee that both parties reach an agreement that will help Secure Group reach its goals.


In most traditional teams, the lower levels communicate with their leaders to align tasks and obtain approvals and maybe with their partners when it comes to the operational side of the projects. In Secure Group, on the other hand, every employee communicates with every employee related to their project in order to share information. The role of the leader, in this case, is to guarantee that both parties reached an agreement that will help Secure Group reaches its strategic goals.


[[File:Ceremonies.JPG|800px|center]]
[[File:Ceremonies.JPG|800px|center]]
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* Strategic Sessions
* Strategic Sessions
The objective of strategic sessions is to solve problems and spark ideas and innovation to achieve business goals. The outcome of a strategic session always leads to a strategic improvement. Such sessions are conducted by a manager and consist of:</br>
This ceremony refers to how teams collaborate and exchange ideas. The objective of these sessions is to solve problems and spark ideas and innovation to achieve our business goals. They are conducted by a manager and consist of two stages.
- Discussion stage 1: Problem Framing</br>
- Discussion stage 1: Problem Framing</br>
The goal is to walk out with a single (yes: single) problem statement.</br>
The goal of this stage is to define a single problem statement, which needs to answer these questions:
# Who - Who has this problem? Have you validated that the problem is real? Can you prove it?</br>
* Who - Who has this problem? Can they validate that the problem is real? Can they prove it?
# What - What is the nature of the problem? What research or supporting evidence do you have? </br>
* What - What is the nature of the problem? What research or supporting evidence can be provided?
# Why - Why is the problem worth solving? What is the impact on the customer? </br>
* Why - Why is the problem worth solving? What is the impact on the customer?
# Where - Where does this problem arise? Have you/your team observed this problem occurring? </br>
* Where - Where does this problem arise? Has someone observed this problem occurring?
 
 
- Discussion stage 2: Analysis of strategic goals and definition of initiatives to address the problem</br>
- Discussion stage 2: Analysis of strategic goals and definition of initiatives to address the problem</br>
This stage deals with defining how the problem impacts our strategic goals and how to find the best way to solve it.
</br>
</br>
</br>
</br>

Latest revision as of 08:47, 7 January 2022

Our Team Management process is all about how our teams work.

We already established that we want to enforce Strategic Management in our business. We also mentioned that we believe in providing Context, Not Control and that our Leadership style enables us to do that.

Our teams are growing at a very fast pace and we sell a niche product to a global audience. In this situation, it can be a challenge to provide everyone with the right context. How can we address this challenge?

The way we manage our teams is by having a balance between Strategic Management and Leadership. Our leaders need to be strategic and manage with goals in mind. They must follow some basic principles for this:

  • There is a need for accountability to meet deliverables
  • Deliverables must be followed up
  • Leaders exist in our structure to help and coach.

At the same time, they must provide context to employees by:

  • Identifying employees in need of help or who are underperforming
  • Recognizing and encouraging high performers and possible future leaders
  • Motivating teams through empowering, not micromanaging.

Another challenge to the management process is the risk of data breaches and information leaks. Therefore, we need to have accountability between teams and individuals, through processes which are not enabling any risks to data.


Teams Structure

Our team structure is made out of Divisions, Departments, and Teams.

Division

A Division is composed of teams and departments and acts as a separate entity. It is managed by a Level 3 or Level 4 manager who ensures optimal performance and helps and coaches employees.

Department

A Department is composed of a group of frameworks separated into teams. It is managed by a Level 2 manager who is responsible for growing the teams and for maintaining its documentation in the relevant Confluence space and Jira project.

Team

Teams compose a Department. For example, the HR team and Operations team form the HR & Operations Department. Teams are managed by a Level 1 manager (responsible for coordinating the processes) and a Level 2 manager (who handles the team’s growth).

Ceremonies

To ensure communication and accountability and to minimize micro-management, we use structured touchpoints (also known as ceremonies) to keep our leaders, departments, teams, and divisions informed about everything happening in the company. The ceremonies help us to avoid chaos, broadcast information to all the members of a project, bring common goals and vision, share progress, and reduce dependency and communication issues.

Most traditional companies have a hierarchical, top-down structure of communication, in which the lower-level employees communicate with their leader/manager, who then shares information to their superior and to other managers connected to the project. This leads to slow communication and can result in some information being lost or changed in the process.

In Secure Group, we don’t use intermediaries and message carriers. Instead, every employee has the chance to talk directly to every other employee-related to their project to share information and updates, regardless of rank or Level. The role of the leader in this structure is not to pass messages around, but to guarantee that both parties reach an agreement that will help Secure Group reach its goals.



  • Strategic Sessions

This ceremony refers to how teams collaborate and exchange ideas. The objective of these sessions is to solve problems and spark ideas and innovation to achieve our business goals. They are conducted by a manager and consist of two stages.

- Discussion stage 1: Problem Framing
The goal of this stage is to define a single problem statement, which needs to answer these questions:

  • Who - Who has this problem? Can they validate that the problem is real? Can they prove it?
  • What - What is the nature of the problem? What research or supporting evidence can be provided?
  • Why - Why is the problem worth solving? What is the impact on the customer?
  • Where - Where does this problem arise? Has someone observed this problem occurring?


- Discussion stage 2: Analysis of strategic goals and definition of initiatives to address the problem
This stage deals with defining how the problem impacts our strategic goals and how to find the best way to solve it.