Heidi Helfand, author of “Dynamic Reteaming”, discusses team changes and the five patterns of dynamic reteaming. Topics covered include onboarding, offboarding, maintaining company culture, ideal team size, and leadership role in dynamic teams.
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Quick takeaways
Team change is inevitable and should be embraced rather than resisted for better adaptation and resilience.
Dynamic re-teaming involves five common patterns of team changes: onboarding, splitting, isolating, merging, and switching.
Maintaining team culture during team changes requires clear communication, patience, inclusion, and nurturing of values, symbols, and traditions by leaders and managers.
Deep dives
Embracing Team Change
Team change is inevitable and it is important for teams to embrace it rather than resist it. Traditional wisdom that suggests long-lived stable teams may not always be applicable in fast-changing organizations. By leaning into team change, teams can adapt better and become more resilient.
The Five Patterns of Dynamic Re-Teaming
Dynamic re-teaming is the concept of team change, and there are five patterns that teams commonly experience during periods of change. These patterns include onboarding new team members one by one, splitting teams when they become too large or unproductive, isolating teams to enable innovation, merging teams for synergy, and switching patterns where individuals gradually move between teams.
Nurturing Team Culture
Maintaining team culture during team changes is crucial. Values, symbols, and traditions play an important role in preserving team culture. Clear communication, patience, and inclusion are key qualities for leaders and managers to nurture team culture and create a supportive environment during periods of change.
Leadership in Dynamic Re-Teaming
Leaders and managers play a vital role in facilitating team change. They should encourage career development, give employees opportunities for growth, and provide guidance during periods of change. Building strong relationships, anchoring to purpose, and creating an inclusive climate are essential qualities for effective leadership in dynamic re-teaming.
Best Practices for Technical Leadership
Technical leaders can promote collaboration, anchor to a shared purpose, and create an inclusive environment. By fostering collaboration, emphasizing purpose, and creating a supportive climate, technical leaders can help teams thrive and achieve their goals.
“A lot of the traditional wisdom said the best teams are the ones that stay stable or the same; you need long-lived stable teams. The fact is, team change is inevitable. So let’s get better at it."
Heidi Helfand is the author of “Dynamic Reteaming”. In this episode, we discussed dynamic reteaming concept, or team changes in simple words. Heidi explained how her experience working in various startups and scaleups led to her coming up with the dynamic reteaming idea. She also explained how dynamic reteaming differs from the common advice of having long-lived teams. We then discussed the five patterns of dynamic reteaming as outlined by Heidi in her book. Our discussion also covered various other topics, such as onboarding, offboarding, maintaining company culture, ideal team size, and leadership role in dynamic teams.
Listen out for:
Career Journey - [00:03:34]
How Dynamic Reteaming Idea Came About - [00:08:30]
Dynamic Reteaming - [00:12:08]
Social Dynamics - [00:13:51]
Dynamic Reteaming vs Long-Lived - [00:18:14]
One by One - [00:26:19]
Onboarding New Joiners - [00:27:42]
People Leaving - [00:30:54]
Maintaining Culture - [00:37:18]
Grow & Split And Merging Patterns - [00:42:42]
Ideal Team Size - [00:45:51]
Isolation Pattern - [00:51:43]
Role of Leader/Manager - [00:54:56]
3 Tech Lead Wisdom - [00:57:47]
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Heidi Helfand’s Bio Heidi Helfand is author of the book Dynamic Reteaming and SVP of Strategy & Innovation at Artium. She’s passionate about helping companies build great products and high-performing teams, and she’s particularly interested in the people side of engineering. With over 20 years of experience in the tech industry, including roles at AppFolio, Procore and Expertcity/GoToMeeting, Heidi has gained a deep understanding of how to help organizations successfully navigate change and scale their teams. She lives in Southern California, where she enjoys spending time with her family and exploring the outdoors.
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Show notes & transcript: techleadjournal.dev/episodes/149
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