What is the Spotify model

[mstakh.i.mom.i]

Spotify is making waves with its agile squad model. Squads are loose groups that have a specific purpose and work in an agile manner. Each squad has an elected squad leader who represents the interests of the team. The squad leader is a "weak" technical leadership role - in my experience, technical knowledge is particularly important. He is an escalation authority and reports to a tribe lead, team lead or department head. All squads have a fully-fledged IT infrastructure to be able to work autonomously.

In my role as an advisor to the board, I developed a model for a company life insurance email list to establish squads in a meaningful way in a company with a classic hierarchy as well as agile departments. Of course, an agile coach can now say: That's not what we're thinking about - but agile concepts always have to be adapted to the current situation - and that is often a classic hierarchy in the company.

Reading tip:

Classic Squads
I have derived two possible concepts of squads. Concept 1 is classic squads. The squads divide a team vertically and fit perfectly into any classic hierarchy with a team leader. The team leader assigns a specific topic to selected groups of people and appoints a squad leader who is available as an escalation authority for the topic and contact person for the employees. He reports directly to the team leader. He is authorized to represent the topic externally.