A High performing platform team is a group of highly skilled developers working in multiple technologies (CI/CD, Automation, Observability, Databases, Security) with specialized expertise who constantly collaborate, innovate and produce consistently superior results. This team is aligned and committed to shared values and work towards a common objective (make the feature teams successful).
They always stay ahead of the curve and make sure that they are the front liners in tools & technology adoption for the organization. In a sense the platform team are true leaders that make sure that their customers (feature teams) make the right choices. The platform they are building isn’t meant to be a reflection of saying ‘Yes!’ to everything, but rather about making sure that the users get the right stuff right.
What characteristics makes a high-performance platform team.
Aligned on their core mission, purpose and priorities: They work together to clarify the team’s purpose (to enable feature teams to deliver value to end users in a faster, more reliable, and easier manner). Their backlog is driven by objectives and key results that make it extremely easy to track the effectiveness of the team in enabling the application teams. They have a great understanding on the strengths and weakness of each team member and outline their respective roles clearly.
High team cohesion: Anyone who’s watched a championship team perform can observe that the team’s members work in harmony, collaborating with one another and doing whatever is necessary for the good of the whole. No matter what a team member’s role, their contributions are respected and appreciated. Team members trust one another and hold each other accountable, which further develops team cohesion. With trust, they finds their flow, feels more comfortable taking risks and is able to work through challenges and conflicts as they arise.
Clear communication: Communication plays a huge part in the success of a team. Especially when they have a hybrid working model (remote), we need a system in place to optimize communication.
Tools like Slack help them to shift from inbox model communication into channels, which work more transparently with each other and get more done easily. They also use technology based on observability (elastic, beats and kibana) to stay notified and updated on the state of the platform and applications.
Aggressive and continuous Learning: High-performing teams are curious. They ask questions, explore possibilities, and adapt based on what they learn. When teams are continually building on their knowledge and learning from past mistakes, they are more effective, efficient, and innovative.
Building a high performing team
Building a high-performing team is a marathon, not a sprint. But when you bring together the right mix of skills and experience and nurture these fundamental characteristics of a high-performing team, the payoff will be worth it. And if you want to scale this model, give each team member opportunities to experiment and make mistakes, permit everyone in the team to lead!! and that's what a team is all about.
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