Remote-first work is the "new normal" for companies around the world. There is no shortage of advice on how individual teams can bond and work effectively remotely. However, there is not much on how to address remote interactions between different teams that need to collaborate remotely, as part of the same value stream. Moving from the physical to the online world can further expose pre-existing interaction problems, increase wait times and slow down delivery and possibly response to incidents. Based on the ideas from Team Topologies, Manuel Pais and Matthew Skelton will present some useful approaches to clarify and evolve inter-team interactions and communication in this remote-first world. Designing Team APIs and virtual communication channels that promote relevant team interactions while minimizing communication overhead will help modern organizations keep a fast flow of delivery once they're past the initial adaptation to teleworking. Following well-defined interaction patterns and architecting for team-first software boundaries will also help reduce communication overhead, clarify expectations on teams, and increase visibility of on-going work and support.

1. TeamTopologies.com
@TeamTopologies
Remote-first
Team Interactions
with Team Topologies
DevOps Perth - 14th July 2022
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
Available to pre-order now
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
https://github.com/TeamTopologies

7. Remote Work ?
+
7

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

9. 10
Poor remote interactions
can kill the
“<LATEST> transformation”.

10. 12
Team Dependencies
Natural Trust Boundaries
Purposeful Interactions
Next steps

11. Team Dependencies
13

12. 14
In a remote-first context,
it’s vital to understand
who is working on what

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

14. Team API
16

15. Team API
18
● Artifacts owned by the team
● Versioning & testing approach
● Wiki and documentation
● Practices and principles
● Roadmap & priorities
● Communication preferences (when/how)

16. 19
https://github.com/TeamTopologies/Team-API-template

17. “For effective team-first ownership
of software, teams need to
continuously define, advertise, test,
and evolve their Team API”
Team Topologies, p.48
20

18. Tracking Dependencies
21

19. Team dependencies tracking
22
https://github.com/TeamTopologies/Team-Dependencies-Tracking

20. “Making Work Visible”
23

21. 24
Eliminate blocking dependencies.
Mitigate slow dependencies.
Keep healthy dependencies.

22. 29
Team Dependencies
Natural Trust Boundaries
Purposeful Interactions
Next steps

23. Natural Trust
Boundaries
30

24. 31
The impact of trust
boundaries is even more
present in a remote-first
context

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

26. Group Trust Boundaries
33

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

28. 36

29. 37
Trust dynamics can change
when crossing a Dunbar
boundary. Expect different
rules & non-linear effects.

30. 38
Private car sales
Commercial car sales
Car leasing
[example]
From Team Topologies,
chapter 3 (page 53)

31. 39

32. 40

33. 41
Private car sales
Commercial car sales
Car leasing

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

35. 43
# 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
...

36. Team-focused conventions
45
● team channel: team topology and name
● (temp) interaction channel: teams + purpose
● support channel: support + service name
● username: name + role + team + topology

37. 46
Team-focused conventions
increase discoverability
and reduce cognitive load
on communications.

38. 47
Team Dependencies
Natural Trust Boundaries
Purposeful Interactions
Next steps

39. Purposeful
Interactions
48

40. 49
Purposeful, well-defined
interactions are key to
effective [remote] teams

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

42. 51
We cannot and should not
expect to talk to everyone
else (person or team)

43. 52
Team Interaction Modes
Collaboration: 2 teams working together
X-as-a-Service: 1 provides, 1 consumes
Facilitating: 1 team helps another

44. 53

45. Let real needs drive
interactions
between teams,
not formal processes.
54

46. Stream-aligned team
55
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)

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

48. Next steps
69

49. Track, visualize, and
remove blocking
dependencies using
simple tools
70

50. Use the Team API
approach to define and
communicate
responsibilities and
team focus
71

51. Leverage natural group
trust boundaries to setup
engaging online spaces
72

52. Clarify communication
purpose and channels to
reduce cognitive load
73

53. Listen to awkward team
interactions as they
might indicate unclear
communication patterns
74

54. Invest in building
informal networks for
long term success with
remote work
75

55. 76
Focus on internal user
experience and
satisfaction to keep
teams connected

56. Infographics
● Getting Started
● In a Nutshell
77
teamtopologies.com/infographics

57. Resources
78
teamtopologies.com/remote-first
(articles, slides, video)
teamtopologies.com/tools
(templates, assessments, etc)

58. academy.teamtopologies.com

59. Use promo code devopsperth for 15% off

60. Coming in 2022:
research and tools for
team cognitive load
assessment over time
81

61. 82
Manuel Pais
FlowOnRails
Twitter: @manupaisable
LinkedIn: manuelpais
Matthew Skelton
Conflux
Twitter: @matthewpskelton
LinkedIn: matthewskelton
Copyright © Conflux Digital Ltd and Manuel Pais 2018-2022. All rights reserved.
teamtopologies.com