Page 261 - The Design Thinking Playbook

EXPERT TIP

Hand over responsibility to squads

The work in squads is most similar to that in create-ups. One company that falls into this category is Guilds emerge on the basis of common interests. Interest groups
Spotify, whose management consistently relies on tribes, squads, chapters, and guilds. Like most form around a technology or market issue, for example, and then act
create-ups, Spotify has a powerful vision (“Having music moments everywhere”) that enables the transversally across the tribes. A guild might deal with blockchain
individual tribes and squads to align their activities accordingly. Especially in technology-driven companies, technology and discuss its use in the music world of tomorrow.
a higher level of employee excellence can be achieved this way in a short time. The organization is a network with flat hierarchies. The squads work
At Spotify, employees work in tribes. A tribe has up to 100 employees who are in charge of a shared directly with one another, and boundaries between them are fluid. In
portfolio of products or customer segments and are organized as simply as possible according to their such structures, we tend to collaborate radically in order to solve a
dependencies. So-called squads form within the individual tribes that take care of one problem statement. problem; for instance, we meet ad hoc and dissolve the collaboration
Squads act autonomously and organize themselves. Experts from various disciplines are part of the squad in the same way. This way, networked organizations emerge. For such
and perform various tasks. Every squad has a clear mission; at Spotify, this can refer to the improvement approaches, it is advisable to bid farewell to traditional role descrip-
of the payment or search functions, or of features such as Radio. The squads establish their own story tions and hierarchy levels.
and are responsible for the market launch. The mission is part of the clearly defined vision. The individual
chapters ensure exchange on the technical level. Communities with the respective skills form, and are
usually overseen by a line manager.

3 factors that lead to better performance and personal satisfaction:

• AUTONOMY
• PURPOSE AND MEANING

• PERSONAL RESPONSIBILITY

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