Team Topologies from the Trenches
me and my bud Matthew
What's Working and Why
If you know us at ReBoot Co., you might've seen that a couple of weeks ago we co-hosted a breakfast briefing with none other than Matthew Skelton, co-author of Team Topologies. The session, co-hosted with the fabulous folks at Everest Engineering, brought together leaders we've worked with over the years for a deep-dive into how organisations are actually making flow happen - and how we can empower teams to do the best work of their careers.
That's where our work overlaps beautifully. Empowered Agile Transformation - Beyond the Framework, my book, is all about empowering meaningful, lasting change - and it's the reason I started talking to Matthew in the first place.
But let me rewind.
When I First Heard of Team Topologies
A few years back, I was working with Dan Prager on a client transformation. We were helping the organisation shift their Agile operating model - rethinking squads, structure, and how teams were aligned to value. Dan said, "Have you read Team Topologies? It's basically what you're already doing." I downloaded the audiobook, listened, thought it was good... and moved on.
Fast-forward to 2024. I was deep into a piece of work with a different client, and we hit the moment where it was time to redesign how teams were structured across a sizeable group. I casually asked their technology leader: "Have you read Team Topologies?" He hadn't. He read it over the weekend, came back Monday and said, "Everyone needs to read this book!"
It was one of those perfect storm moments. The org had the right combination of pain and possibility - overloaded teams, architecture challenges, some interaction friction, and a bit of funding to start some new workstreams - and the Team Topologies approach helped us unlock - how might we arrange ourselves in order to deliver value.
We ran a series of workshops with leadership and got to work. The results were pretty great. So the next time I needed to help a client redesign their system of work, I naturally brought in Team Topologies again. And again. I'm now on my fourth client using this approach - paired with the tools and mindset from my own transformation work - and it's proving to be a winning combo.
That Time I Ran a Masterclass with Matthew Skelton
Somewhere after that first project, I found myself in the UK to speak at a conference. By this stage, Matthew and I had been collaborating online. I told him I'd be nearby, and he invited me to co-run a workshop.
We delivered a full-day Team Topologies & Empowered Agile Transformation masterclass with senior leaders. It was wild - and very cool - to be running a room with someone whose book had shaped so much of the community's thinking.
us again
Since then, we've stayed close - sharing ideas, collaborating with the broader Team Topologies community (which, by the way, is incredibly open and generous). But this blog isn't a brag.
I'm writing this while it's fresh - so I don't forget the little things that are making this work. The secret sauce from the trenches.
Why Team Topologies has Worked So Well
One of the biggest benefits I've seen that I've seen in applying the approach is actually the opportunity it's afforded between technology folks and product/business folks to bridge their understanding.
Tech people can be deep in very complex, very detailed problems, and are grateful not to have to deal with Product concerns. Similarly Product folks cannot be in the tech detail, this can create enough of a gap that their perspectives can become separate, in particular at the leadership level, and that is not a good recipe for good collaboration and delivering value together as a cohesive team.
What Team Topologies co-designed approach and workshops offer is an accessible, shared language - one that helps bridge the gap. People can step out of their default roles, build empathy, and genuinely co-design a better way of working.
In my book, co-design is one of the key patterns that helps us make lasting change stick (chapter 10 incidentally). Because we know we’ll create something better together when it’s participative, and designed by the people that are members of the system of work. That is true collaboration. It’s truly cross functional. And as a group of members who will inherit the newly designed system, we are heavily invested in the results of this working. It’s an opportunity to gain empathy with each other that we may never get in our day to day roles.
Tips from the Trenches: What's Working Well
Here are the 7 key things I'm doing that make Team Topologies an awesome toolset in real-world transformations:
1. Leave names and job titles out
Start with principles, not people. Job roles can be deeply tied to identity, and people have their own favourite people to work with, so early conversations can get stuck if we jump straight into names. Instead, align around something like:
"We all have jobs. We're all committed to finding value."
This creates safety and unlocks more honest, constructive conversation.
2. Study the organisation to find the value
There’s no shortcut for watching the work. It’s something W. Edwards Deming brought to Toyota, and it’s still a core part of the Toyota Production System today. Go to the line. Observe without judgement. Ask questions.
In Lean, this is called genchi genbutsu : go see for yourself. That’s where value lives.
Make time and space for this. You can draw on all the knowledge in the room, but I’ve found that direct observation often leads to better insight than relying solely on the many opinions around you.
3. Bring in an objective observer
Reorganising is high-stakes, especially for leaders and middle managers. Having someone external, without skin in the game, helps the group see clearly and make braver choices. A small investment in objectivity can pay off massively.
4. Allow time to marinate
You're not going to get to the "perfect" design in one workshop. Spread them out. Let the ideas settle. I've found that giving teams time between sessions actually accelerates progress - because people arrive at the next session with more clarity and curiosity.
5. Use the shapes - seriously
I’ve transported four full sets of Team Topologies physical shapes back from the UK — and honestly, I think there’s something a bit magical about getting tactile with them.
In one session, we’d stalled. The team had become mired in spreadsheets, job titles, and who was sitting where. We decided to go back to basics: modelling out team types and interactions using the shapes.
It turned out to be exactly what we needed, a way to unstick the conversation and shift the focus to better questions:
How will we make the transition? What are the steps to get us there?
There’s something so simple and compelling about it: four team types, three interaction modes. And when you're using the physical shapes, it’s faster, more fun, and surprisingly powerful. The medium seems to matter.
6. Eventually, yes, you'll end up in Excel or PowerPoint...
But that's the painful high labour part of administering your new system of work and operating system, and it doesn't need to be.
SIDEBAR: That's why we built Tessiro - our new ReBoot Co. Labs tool for mapping and visualising team structures.
It lets you design, test, and iterate team designs so rapidly, without endless re-keying of data and spending your valuable time in spreadsheets. We built it because we needed it. And it's a gem for this kind of job. Reach out if you want to have a go!
7. Treat your operating model like a product
Using a Team Topologies approach is not a "set and forget”. As Matthew and the crew would say “It’s Evolution not Revolution” Your org design needs a retro, a review, and continuous improvement. We don't expect to ship the perfect new topology on day one - we try some things, test, learn, and evolve.
So that's what I'm doing with my clients, I'm revisiting them when a little time has passed to review how it has evolved.
So, has it worked?
Yes - and it's honestly thrilling to see.
At the breakfast briefing with Matthew, one of our clients shared - unprompted - the results they're seeing:
Dramatic improvements in flow efficiency
Higher engagement across teams
A clear increase in trust and autonomy
Less time wasted on duplicative meetings and slide decks
Real dashboards and shared visibility instead of a lot of manual work invested in “status theatre”
And now, they're looking for their next uplift. And this is so exciting to me, because sometimes you leave a place and hope things are going to go well afterwards, but hearing this success story and being invited to return for next steps in uplift shows me that this process is a winner.
Final Thoughts
It’s not a coincidence that Team Topologies is a best selling book, bringing together a network of practitioners and advocates all over the world, and for people like us - helping organisations shift how they deliver value - it's a perfect complement.
If you're curious about how Team Topologies, mixed with ReBoot Co.'s approach to modernising operating models and ways of working, could support your org -
Reach out and we can talk in more detail - with some shapes!
Alex Stokes happy Team Topologies Advocate
Co-founder of ReBoot Co. with Tony Fifoot
Author of Empowered Agile Transformation - Beyond the Framework
Co-creator of Tessiro
Matthew and Alex will be collaborating on some video learning coming later this year. If you’re interested in transformation that lasts—join the waitlist and get early access to the masterclass.!