The art of successful reteaming: Insights from Heidi Helfand (author of Dynamic Reteaming)

I think it would be highly convenient if we could just focus on building products that people love. But the reality is we’re humans together and there’s a lot of opportunity to build companies that delight people where they’re excited to be included in decision making about how the organization grows and changes or shrinks. – Heidi Helfand

Heidi Helfand, author of Dynamic Reteaming, delves into practical strategies for managing successful team and organizational changes. With over 20 years in the tech industry, Heidi shares her wisdom on the importance of transparency, inclusivity in decision-making processes, and how reorgs can create new career opportunities.

Table of Contents

1. The Positive Impact of Change
2. Recognizing Reteaming Anti-patterns
3. Transparency as a Key Factor
4. Value of Employee Involvement
5. Reorgs as Career Catalysts
6. ‘People Layer’ Importance
7. Promoting Open Self-Selection
8. Whiteboard Reteaming Approach
9. Bridges’ Transition Framework Usage
10. Time Boxing Restructuring Discussions
11. Five Patterns of Reteaming
12. ‘Reorg’ vs ‘Reteaming’ Distinction

The Positive Impact of Change

Change within teams is not only inevitable but can also be beneficial.

Stable teams may lead to stagnation and knowledge silos.

On the other hand, well-executed reorgs can stimulate growth and minimize these issues.

Recognizing Reteaming Anti-patterns

There are five types of reteaming anti-patterns that should be avoided during organizational changes.

Recognizing these common mistakes can prevent hindrances to a successful reorg effort and enable leaders to make better decisions about team structures.