What Is Spotify Agile?

The Interpersonal Network

The most basic unit of the model is the squad. They are similar to the Agile team in that they are made up of 6 to 12 people working together on a specific feature area. For more efficiency, their work is self-contained, so that progress doesn't get hampered by external tasks.

The tribe is kept in close contact with all relevant stakeholders. Multiple squad work together on related missions and features in the tribes. They can comprise up to 150 members.

They still retain some degree of independence, but are placed under the authority of one or more tribe leads. Tribe leads can be part of a squad. They are responsible for fostering collaboration and teamwork.

Identifying and removing cross-tribe dependencies is one of the main aspects of their work. The chapter lead is usually a senior developer. The other members of the chapter are helped by the latter to become even better specialists.

System owners are responsible for keeping the system sane. If no one works behind the scenes to keep them up and running, their overall coherence may degrade. System owners are people who dedicate time to updating and fixing a system.

The Agile Product Development Service (EPS)

The service was formed in 2008. It started as a Scrum organisation that was successful. The scaleability of the practices and the rigidity of the practices were questioned once the practices were embedded into the organisation.

The Agile principles are a must for the framework. The principles are the pillars that drive the organisation and not the practices or the people. Ensuring that the three pillars are prominently featured in the way the project is done is important to keeping the quality of the product and engaging the whole team on what needs to be done and how.

Everyone within the scrum team is focused on the clear objective - sprint goal. The values are used by all team members to deliver a increment of 'Done'. The values can be achieved with the transparency of the work.

Each squad has its own mission and there is no leader in the squad team. The Agile Coach or Product Owner is the same as the developer. They're skills fit like a glove and they're motivated towards the team success.

Some of the squad teams may be working on a particular service area, while others may be working on infrastructure or delivery. A Chapter is formed by members of a squad in a single tribe with similar skills and tools and is considered the glue that keeps the organisation together. Each chapter will have a leader and members.

Spotify: The New Music Guild

The model consists of a team that does the work. The Squad has a Product Owner who is dedicated to the squad. Chapter members are encouraged to communicate constantly.

Each chapter has their own areas of expertise and they meet regularly to discuss their achievements and challenges. The organization is spread across locations by the Guild. Tools and practices are shared.

The guild can include other members who are interested. Guilds are usually focused on their area of expertise in a generic way. They have mailing lists, newsletters and un conferences.

The flexibility and simplicity of the Spotify Model has made it a popular buzzword. It suggests a community-based networking structure for the organization and focuses on the Agile Principles. It is a very unique and liberating model that requires the practitioners to be very careful and responsible while they are using it, so that it can be tailored for their specific organizational needs.

Scaling agility and culture: the case of Spotify

The model of scaling agility is based on people and culture. It has helped increase innovation and productivity by focusing on accountability and quality. A Guild is a community of interest if team members are passionate about a topic.

Anyone can join a guild. Guilds can cross different tribes. There is no leader of the guild.

Someone raises their hand to be the Guild Coordination. The people at Spotify were given as much freedom as possible to pivot quickly. Allowing teams to pick their own development tools and modifying another team's code are just some examples.

The Spotify Agile Model: A Community-Based Approach

The Spotify Agile Model is not a product development framework. As it was expanding, it developed a tailored approach to scaling Agile. It focuses on community and trust instead of archaic structures.

Agile product development is more important than scrum practices according to the guiding philosophy when the model was made. The model of the Spotify is different from the one of the Scrum teams. A squad is a small team with less than 8 people.

Each squad should focus on a single feature. Some squad might have several responsibilities. The design, deployment, and maintenance of the product are all under the responsibility of the squad.

Several squad work together on a feature set and are grouped together into tribes. The maximum number of members for a tribe should be 150. Each tribe needs a leader who facilitates coordination across multiple squad.

A guild is a community with interests. The guild is a support structure meant to help the system, so any member is free to leave or join. Knowledge and methods transfer can be done by a guild.

Towards an Agile Approach to the Cross-functional Collaboration of Organization

Many companies that use the Agile approach find it difficult to scale due to the complexity of their cultures, time zones, locations, and teams. Over the last 10 years, there have been several frameworks introduced to help with scaling Agile. The model is often referred to as the Spotify Model.

A squad is a cross-functional team made up of 6 to 12 individuals that are focused one feature area. Each squad has a unique mission that directs what they do and features an Agile coach for continued support and a product owner for guidance. The framework or methodology of the squad is determined.

The same feature areas are being coordinated by a collection of Squads. The tribes are made up of people from 40 to 150 and are supposed to make sure there is alignment across the squad. All Tribes have Tribe Leads who are tasked with helping to coordinate across all the Squads.

The Tribe of Spotify

The basic unit of development at Spotify is the squad. A squad is similar to a scrum team and is designed to be small. Each squad can be up to 12 people.

Each squad is dedicated to a specific area. Everyone in a squad has the skills and tools needed to design, develop, test, and release into production. The squad has a long-term mission.

The squads always have an agility coach that helps improve their way of working. The feature area is defined by a product owner. Multiple squad that work on a related feature area make a tribe.

The Tribe can be seen as a hub for mini-startups. The tribe has a lot of freedom. A tribe should have a maximum of 100 people.

Each tribe has a lead who is responsible for creating a productive environment for the squad. The tribe lead can be part of the squad in the same office. Tribe leaders pay close attention to the squad dependency and analyze how it is affecting the squad.

The Agile Organization of the Music and Video Streaming Service

The music and video streaming service has an organizational model based on Agile methods. It is now known as the Spotify model. 140 million users are active on the service every month.

50 million titles are accessible to them. Their workforce is around 1,600. The squad are self-managing, so there are no team leaders.

A Product Owner is designated. The Product Owner is the one who makes the decisions about what to do. The team decides on its methods.

A chapter is made up of members of the same tribe that have the same area of expertise. One chapter may be made up of web developers. The members exchange information under the supervision of the chapter lead.

The Organizational Model of a Product Development Company

It is difficult to deal with multiple teams in a product development company. The music service is an example of how you can work with a large number of teams from different cities and quickly achieve success. The company was founded in 2006 in Sweden.

The company started as a start-up. It used a methodology called scrum to manage its projects. They applied a creative approach to accommodate the new scale without losing the Agile culture just when business took off and new hires started flooding the office.

The solution was called the Spotify model. Even though squad are autonomously aligned, it is important for specialists to align on best practices. Each specialist has a chapter that is a family.

It helps to keep engineering standards in place. Senior technology leads are usually the ones leading the chapters. They may be the team members' managers.

A guild may have members who are passionate about a topic. A guild will be interesting. There is no leader of the guild.

Spotify: A CD Player for Agile

A strong foundation is needed for an Agile transformation to be successful. You need a vision that is focused on solving a problem and adding value to the users, as depicted by the roof, to provide purpose for the existence of the organization. The leader is the glue that keeps everything in line.

The first reason for their success is probably the most important one, and it can be found by looking at their CEO and company vision. Daniel Ek, the CEO, was a failed musician and had a guitar and computer at the age of 5. You can only listen to a 60- 90 minute CD on a typical CD, and only if you have a CD player.

You can only listen to the same artists or a variety of artists and songs, not necessarily to your liking. The people and customers give input into the vision, but the leader is the one who should be the one to make the culture work. The culture will be one of micro-management and not taking responsibility if you say that autonomy is important.

You can display the value on walls, cups or screensavers regardless of how many places you go. The processes and tools at Spotify are clear and concise, with nothing final. There is a kind of chaos where the processes are constantly changing.