What advice do you have for creating the right team composition for a new platform team? What skills or experience do staff members need for the team to be successful?
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Patience is vital when building a platform team, as you’re working with engineers who can be tough customers. They have ideas and may challenge your approach, so you have to be ready to justify your decisions and be ready to engage in constructive discussions. Building a technical software platform for technical experts requires careful consideration and collaboration.
In addition to technical skills, team members need energy and enthusiasm. They should actively educate other teams through sessions like lunch and learns or roadshows, effectively becoming salespeople for the platform’s components and solutions. Creating a positive environment and incentivizing platform teams are essential for fostering a culture of innovation and staying current with technology.
You need a team of excellent technologists who also possess strong business vision and acumen. When building a development platform, you’re essentially crystallizing a team’s mindset into reusable boilerplate code and templates. If you choose the wrong technologists, you risk embedding outdated ideas that could lock the company into a stagnant pattern. Team members must have up-to-date technical skills and a deep understanding of the business value proposition, ensuring the platform accelerates business value.
The team should include evangelists who passionately advocate for the platform’s benefits. They play a crucial role in promoting the platform and ensuring its successful adoption across the organization.