Fluid Scrum Teams and Dynamic Reteaming

The valuable lessons from Heidi Helfand

Fluid Scrum Teams organize themselves based on the work at hand. Every time new topics need to be addressed, the pool of people organize themselves to optimize the chances to succeed with their challenges. The pool of people is stable and cohesive. They typically are more than 10 people. Maybe even up to 50. They form smaller teams each Sprint to maximize their effectiveness.

Several people told me they saw similarities with Dynamic Reteaming. I see their point. There are many similarities. Especially in acknowledging that stability is overrated. But the concepts are not the same.

In this article, I will discuss Dynamic Reteaming and how the traits and lessons can be applied to fluid Scrum Teams. I will discuss the similarities, differences, and mutual best practices.

What is Dynamic Reteaming?

People will join, people will leave. Team dynamics change. Stable teams are less and less the norm. This is a fact of life. And the premise of the concept of Dynamic Reteaming from Heidi Helfand. Helfand starts with the observation that the classic Tuckman model (forming, storming, morning, performing, adjourning) doesn’t reflect reality. She sees more merit in a basic ecocycle, inspired by Liberating Structures. Teams generally follow that pattern of dynamics involving repeating cycles of Birth, Adolescence, Maturity, Creative Destruction.

This ecocycle applies to different levels: individuals, teams and companies. The patterns that emerge from this ecocycle apply to all these levels.

Dynamic Reteaming and Fluid Scrum Teams

Helfand created a model applicable to all kinds of teams. Logically this includes Fluid Scrum Teams. Dynamic Reteaming identifies patterns that can and will occur with Fluid Scrum Teams too. But some of the patterns will surface often due to the nature of these teams.

Patterns of Dynamic Reteaming

Helfand identified several patterns of reteaming:

• One by one — Adding or removing one person at a time.
• Grow & Split —Growth of the team and splitting it into multiple teams.
• Merging — Combining two or more teams into one.
• Switching — Switching people from different teams.
• Isolation — Extracting a small team from a larger team.

Each pattern has best practices to manage the ecocycle. Many of these practices are helpful for fluid Scrum Teams too. Especially the patterns of Grow & Split, Switching and Merging have traits you will also see with Fluid Scrum Teams.

Grow & Split best practices

The Grow & Split pattern has characteristics of fluid Scrum Teams. Especially the splitting part. Every Sprint, the pool of people Scrum Teams splits into multiple Fluid Scrum Teams.

The following Grow & Split best practices stand out:

Decision with the people

Helfand emphasises the importance of autonomous teams. Therefore the teams should be enabled to make decisions whether to split and on how to split. She also highlights the importance of retrospecting these practices.

I agree. This is why I consider self-organization as a prerequisite for forming Fluid Scrum Teams. This includes the need for regular inspection of this process to learn and improve.

Lead the teams with a vision

Dynamic Reteaming stresses the importance of the leaders to help the teams to have a mission, a goal. This gives teams a sense of purpose, commitment and focus.

It is crucial for Fluid Scrum Teams that they organize themselves around Sprint Goals that help the entire team to move towards the Product Goal. The mission, both for the duration of the Sprint and a longer period, is the driver of the team composition.

Big teams are OK!

Helfand points out that big teams can be valuable too. Small tams aren’t the answer to everything. It is the starting point of Fluid Scrum Teams. I see how product environments may require teams larger than typical Scrum Teams with a wider variety of skills.

At its core, a pool of people to form Fluid Scrum Teams is larger than a typical Scrum Team. Every Sprint, they reorganize themselves to have focused smaller teams. But this happens from the premise of a larger team.

Mentor people through the process of splitting

When you split the team, changes to the team structure happen. This is why Helfand advises practices like:

• Visualizing the workflow to derive agreements;
• Normalize conflicts — conflicts can be healthy;
• Create a conflict protocol.

Bringing this to Fluid Scrum Teams, these arrangements could be set on the pool of people level. Temporary smaller teams can then discuss if they wish to adapt them for the duration of their collaboration or not.

Merging best practices

Merging is combining two or more teams into one. The result is a larger team. It is no surprise that some merging best practices are very much relevant for Fluid Scrum Teams:

Greater flexibility and cross-functionality

Shifting needs and priorities can call for the need to have greater flexibility. By merging teams you can achieve this. Especially when it means having a greater variety of skills and talents from the people.

These are exactly the benefits of the Fluid Scrum Team. It is about embracing the opportunities to respond to ever-changing short term objectives.

Mentor people through the process and find new beginnings

When teams merge, there’s often a neutral zone where people are grappling with finding a new beginning. It is key to mentor the people to make this time of unease as short as possible. This calls for acknowledgement of the situation and fostering an environment of safety.

This issue can also arise with Fluid Scrum Teams at the end of a Sprint, starting another one. The rules of Scrum and team agreements can bring much-needed stability and clarity.

Switching best practices

Switching involves people swapping teams. This pattern brings the benefit of avoiding team stagnation and developing your people.

These are benefits that are very much applicable to fluid Scrum Teams too. Despite the fact, there’s no literal switching taking place. Instead, they form new teams every Sprint. But the traits of switching are very similar. People get the opportunity to work on topics outside of their usual responsibilities. These people bring new ideas and learn a lot in return.

Help people to pursue their career goals and opportunities

When people have the opportunity to develop themselves, they will be more likely to stay and have higher motivation. Fluid Scrum Teams has this opportunity engrained in the model.

Spread knowledge and build resiliency

Switching not only helps the individuals. It also helps to spread knowledge. This leads to higher resiliency as the team will reduce the risks of siloed knowledge.

Helfand mentions practices like Pair Programming and Ensemble Programming to allow for knowledge spreading. These are perfect practices for fluid Scrum Teams too, for the same reasons.

Related but different

Fluid Scrum Teams and Dynamic Reteaming have one important thing in common: Team dynamics change. Stable teams are less and less the norm.

Team dynamics change. Stable teams aren’t the norm.

But there’s a big difference. Dynamic Reteaming is about accepting the fact that the team changes over time. People come, people leave. Teams grow and may need to split. Teams may dissolve. This is true for any team. Also for the pool of people of Fluid Scrum Teams.

But the concept of fluid Scrum Teams is based upon a different premise. The starting point is a larger pool of people, forming a team. Every Sprint, the people from the team organize into smaller teams to tackle specific complex issues. Every Sprint the pool of people will reorganize differently because of the different nature of the issues at hand.

The purpose of Dynamic Reteaming is to cope with changes in the team composition. The purpose of fluid Scrum Teams is to organize around the work at hand. There is an overlap. This is especially the case in the Dynamic Reteaming patterns Grow & Split, Switching and Merging. These patterns provide insights beneficial for fluid Scrum Teams.

One of the major insights is that the dynamics of Fluid Scrum Teams have an impact on people. It is important to recognize this to ensure sustainability in an ever-changing environment.

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