Team Topologies: The Organizational Architecture Transforming Our Tech Teams
If you've ever experienced that moment of vertigo looking at your tech team org chart resembling a plate of spaghetti carbonara, you're not alone!
For years, I searched for THE solution to effectively structure product and tech teams in complex environments. The answer came in the form of a book that transformed my vision: Team Topologies.
From Frustration to Clarity
Remember that time (or perhaps it's still your daily reality?): teams working in silos, the "and at the same time" approach where everything is a priority, a project funnel rather than a problem funnel, and the famous default "YES" to all requests without considering actual capacities.
The result? Frustrated stakeholders, declining quality, and technical debt accumulating faster than January resolutions.
This is exactly what I encountered when taking over tech & product leadership at Unify (which belonged to the TF1 Group at the time). The challenge seemed immense: unify while preserving each brand/product's DNA. How could we structure teams that deliver value quickly while maintaining technical coherence?
Team Topologies: When Organization Reflects Desired Architecture
The revelation came with Matthew Skelton and Manuel Pais's Team Topologies, coupled with the Lean Engineering approach. The fundamental principle is based on Conway's Law: "Organizations design systems that mirror their communication structure."
In other words, if you want a modular, fluid, and scalable technical architecture, your organization must be the same. It's the "reverse Conway maneuver": deliberately restructuring the organization to reflect the desired system architecture.
The 4 Organizational Pillars That Change Everything
Team Topologies offers an elegant and pragmatic approach with 4 clearly defined team types:
Stream-aligned Teams: Aligned with specific value streams (product, feature, customer segment), they are autonomous, cross-functional, and responsible end-to-end. Their KPIs? Those related to impact on end users. They must also understand the terrain of Platform teams.
Platform Teams: They provide services and tools to Stream-aligned teams to accelerate their delivery. Their goal? Reduce the cognitive load of other teams (in other words, hide the underlying complexity of third-party services so Stream-Aligned teams can focus on delivering value). A KPI to follow? The satisfaction of the Stream-Aligned teams they serve, but there are plenty of other interesting ones around productivity, velocity, etc. In any case, they don't call all the shots; they must understand the challenges facing Stream-Aligned teams.
Enabling Teams: They temporarily support other teams to help them acquire new skills or overcome obstacles. Often working on cross-cutting and strategic issues for the company.
Complicated Subsystem Teams: They manage complex components requiring specific expertise. Often ad-hoc, temporary teams whose participants will return to their original teams or form a new permanent team.
Clearly Defined Interaction Modes
The magic also happens in the 3 interaction modes between these teams:
Collaboration: Close and temporary work between teams: "We work together to bring the best of both worlds"
X-as-a-Service: One team consumes another's service autonomously. A kind of SaaS software publisher responsibility, for example.
Facilitating: One team helps another acquire new skills. We train them! We help them! We upskill them!
This clarity in interactions drastically reduces organizational friction and blocking dependencies.
Concrete Impact at Unify and Bpifrance
At Unify, applying Team Topologies allowed us to clarify each team's positioning:
Stream-aligned teams using SCRUM methodology for brands (AuFeminin, Marmiton, Doctissimo...). This brought clarity to brand teams thanks to the sprint rhythm with regular value delivery.
Platform teams using Kanban for common technical foundations (CMS, forums, analytics...) following a continuous improvement approach perfectly understandable by Stream-Aligned teams.
At Bpifrance, this approach transformed the Digital Factory with spectacular results: productivity multiplied by 4, stability improved by a factor of 10 to 100, and most importantly, a true platform generating 75% savings.
The Three Fundamental Transformation Axes
Implementing Team Topologies isn't just reorganizing boxes in an org chart. It required three areas of work at Unify:
Organization & Roles: Clear definition of responsibilities (e.g., distinction between a more strategic Product Manager and a more tactical Product Owner). Depending on team sizes, this can translate differently.
Methodology: Adapting the approach to each team type (SCRUM for Stream-aligned teams, Kanban for Platform teams)
Communication: Establishing sharing rituals like Product Review (every 2 weeks) and Brand/Product committees (every 6 weeks).
Lessons Learned
Here's what I take away:
Think big, start small - Share the vision but first focus on concrete first steps.
Perfect is the enemy of good - First find a good organization and method; excellence will come through continuous improvement.
Listen, adapt, and support - An organizational transformation is a marathon, not a sprint. Change management is crucial.
Each team type has its own technical challenges - Stream-Aligned teams aren't less technical; they're differently technical. This was a point often raised to me that absolutely must be debunked!
The biggest revelation? Understanding that tech teams aren't code-producing machines, but living systems that create and circulate knowledge.
#TeamTopologies #TechLeadership #TechOrganization #LeanEngineering #ProductManagement