👩‍🏫 The Art and Wisdom of Changing Teams: Insights from Heidi Helfand

“Reteaming is hard. Reorgs are hard. You can't lump them all into one thing with, you know, oh, it's all great all the time. No, it's not. If we could just build the software, deliver to the customer, get the product market fit. Hey, have we delighted them or not? If only it could be that easy. No, we have the people layer.“

In this Podcast, Heidi Helfand, an expert in team organisation and reteaming, explores the various scenarios that cause businesses to restructure, how you can prepare for it and deliver it well.

📆 Published: January 18th 2024

Estimated Reading Time: <2 minutes. Time saved 76 minutes 🔥 

🎙️ Listen to the full episode here

🧠 The Five Types of Reteaming

Heidi Helfand's book, "Dynamic Reteaming: The Art and Wisdom of Changing Teams," explores the different patterns of reteaming. Here are the five types she discusses:

1. One by One: This pattern refers to individuals joining or leaving a company. When someone joins, it's important to help them feel a sense of belonging and provide a smooth onboarding experience. When someone leaves, it's crucial to ensure knowledge transfer and minimize the impact on the team.

2. Grow and Split: As teams grow larger, they may reach a point where it becomes necessary to split into smaller teams. This allows for better focus and specialization. However, it's important to address any dependencies that may arise from the split.

3. Merging: Merging occurs when two or more teams or companies come together. This can happen due to business decisions, acquisitions, or downsizing. It's essential to facilitate communication and create a shared vision to ensure a smooth transition.

4. Isolation: Isolation involves creating a separate team to work on a specific project or innovation. This pattern allows for process freedom and faster iteration loops. It's important to provide clear decision-making structures and protect the team from distractions.

5. Switching: Switching refers to team members moving from one team to another. This pattern can bring fulfilment, learning opportunities, and prevent stagnation. It's crucial to create safety nets and build redundancy in knowledge to ensure smooth transitions.

Practical Tips for Successful Reteaming

Throughout the episode, Helfand shares practical tips for successful reteaming. Here are some key takeaways:

• Transparency and Collaboration: When undergoing reorgs or team changes, it's important to be transparent and involve team members in the decision-making process. This can be done through visualizing team structures, soliciting feedback, and allowing team members to express their interests and preferences.

• Decision-Making Clarity: Clearly define who is requesting the change, who can provide input, who is the decider, and who will execute the change. This framework, known as RIDE (Request, Input, Decider, Execute), helps ensure clarity and accountability.

• Timeboxing: Timebox reteaming activities to avoid prolonged disruptions and ensure focus on the work at hand. Bias towards shorter timeframes to prevent excessive deliberation.

• Building Redundancy: Foster a culture of shared ownership and knowledge transfer within teams. Encourage pairing and switching to prevent single points of failure and ensure continuity in case of departures or changes.

• Story of Our Team: Use the "Story of Our Team" exercise to create a shared sense of history and milestones when merging teams. This exercise helps build connections and aligns the merged team towards a shared vision.

Real-World Examples

Heidi Helfand shares several real-world examples in her book and during the podcast episode. Here are a few notable examples:

• Expert City: When the marketplace product at Expert City wasn't gaining traction, the CEO made the decision to pivot. A small team was formed off to the side, given process freedom, and tasked with exploring new ideas. This led to the development of GoToMyPC, which became a successful product and saved the company.

• Menlo Innovations: Menlo Innovations implemented a pairing and switching culture, where team members regularly rotate pairs and work on different projects. This approach fosters learning, fulfilment, and prevents stagnation.

• Appfolio: Appfolio implemented grow and split patterns as the company expanded. They also emphasized knowledge redundancy and shared ownership to ensure smooth transitions and prevent single points of failure.

These examples highlight the importance of embracing change, fostering collaboration, and creating a culture of continuous learning and development within teams.

🧠 What can I do with this as a founder or PM?

1. Embrace Organisational Change and Reteaming: Understand that change is not only inevitable but can be beneficial. As your company grows, reorganizing teams (reteamings) can lead to new perspectives and innovations. Don't fear change; instead, use it as an opportunity for growth and improvement.

2. Transparency in Reorgs: Be transparent about reorganisation plans. Involve your team in the process and welcome their input. This approach not only builds trust but also helps in identifying potential issues and opportunities from various perspectives.

3. Focus on the People Layer: Pay attention to the human aspect of your team. Understand that beyond building products and achieving market fit, how you structure and support your team plays a crucial role in overall success.

4. Utilise the Five Types of Reteaming: Be aware of the different ways teams change - one by one, grow and split, merging, isolation, and switching. Each type has its unique dynamics and understanding these can help in making informed decisions about team changes.

5. Encourage Internal Mobility and Development: Allow and encourage team members to move within the organisation (switching). This not only helps in personal development but also prevents stagnation and keeps the team dynamic and engaged.

6. Create a Culture of Open Communication: Foster an environment where team members feel comfortable discussing changes and their impact. Open communication helps in managing transitions smoothly and maintaining team morale.

7. Strategic Use of Isolation Teams: For innovative projects, consider using isolation teams. These teams are separated from the daily operations and can focus on creative and innovative solutions without the regular project constraints.

8. Recognise the Opportunity in Reorgs: Reorgs can lead to new roles and growth opportunities. Be proactive in understanding and adapting to these changes to leverage them for career advancement.

9. Managing Team Growth and Splits: Be aware of the signals that indicate when a team becomes too big and needs to be split for efficiency. Understand that growing and splitting teams is a natural part of a company's evolution.

10. Be Prepared for the Emotional Impact of Change: Acknowledge and manage the emotional responses to team changes. Whether it's excitement for new opportunities or anxiety over uncertainty, being mindful of these emotions is crucial in leading effectively.

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or if you prefer, 🎙️ Listen to the full episode here

⏰ Timestamps:

• [00:00:25] Team reorganization and success.

• [00:03:46] Teams changing and reorgs.

• [00:08:32] Transparency in reorgs.

• [00:11:36] Giving choice is important.

• [00:17:20] The five patterns of reteaming.

• [00:19:53] Isolation team at Expert City.

• [00:24:19] Creative software development flow.

• [00:26:37] Isolated teams and innovation.

• [00:30:21] Process freedom and decision making.

• [00:34:33] Onboarding and sense of belonging.

• [00:39:01] Merging and consolidation.

• [00:43:38] Switching for knowledge redundancy.

• [00:45:34] Team changes and reorgs.

• [00:50:19] Anti-patterns of reteaming.

• [00:56:30] Dealing with constant change.

• [00:57:23] Company growth and perspective.

• [01:02:42] Vintage clothing and thrifting.

• [01:08:30] Fun team-building activities.