Task: Identify core value streams and functional value of teams, assign roles for both value creation and adherence, set up a matrix structure of responsibilities to foster collaboration, as well as to ensure efficient and effective task performance.
My roles: Team lead, organizational coach
Skills applied: Value Stream Setup, Organizational Development, Team Development, Coaching
In order to establish our team with a clear mission and purpose, while also utilizing individual skills, roles and experience in an optimal way, we found it vital to identify our core value generating streams as well as the individual contributions of different roles. Our hope was that the team purposes and values to the company were also the outcome of the team's value streams. As this was not entirely the case, purpose, outcomes and company expectations had to be realigned (see Strategy and Goal Alignment) and a new set of goals and desired outcomes was agreed upon. Finally, the roles contributing to the value streams were identified and - as there were overlaps or gaps in covering the generation of value - realigned in order to achieve a clear and unambiguous set of responsibilities for each team member serving in one or more roles.
Besides the overall alignment on purpose, value stream outcomes and role contributions, this setup also provided advantages in the operational structure within and across teams. Within the team, the roles for both value stream execution and individual contributions across streams ensured an ongoing collaboration and also evolution of standardized interaction points and supporting repositories like e.g. design or research operations. Across teams, the organization alongside overarching value streams ensured a handover or collaboration based on agreed-upon interim outcomes, and also provided opportunities to streamline interfaces, ensure outcome quality and foster better mutual understanding of the contributions to the value generation processes overall.