#149 - Dynamic Reteaming: The Art and Wisdom of Changing Teams - Heidi Helfand

Tech Lead Journal

“A lot of the traditional wisdom said the best teams are the ones that stay stable or the same; you need long-lived stable teams. The fact is, team change is inevitable. So let’s get better at it."

Heidi Helfand is the author of “Dynamic Reteaming”. In this episode, we discussed dynamic reteaming concept, or team changes in simple words. Heidi explained how her experience working in various startups and scaleups led to her coming up with the dynamic reteaming idea. She also explained how dynamic reteaming differs from the common advice of having long-lived teams. We then discussed the five patterns of dynamic reteaming as outlined by Heidi in her book. Our discussion also covered various other topics, such as onboarding, offboarding, maintaining company culture, ideal team size, and leadership role in dynamic teams.

Listen out for:

• Career Journey - [00:03:34]
• How Dynamic Reteaming Idea Came About - [00:08:30]
• Dynamic Reteaming - [00:12:08]
• Social Dynamics - [00:13:51]
• Dynamic Reteaming vs Long-Lived - [00:18:14]
• One by One - [00:26:19]
• Onboarding New Joiners - [00:27:42]
• People Leaving - [00:30:54]
• Maintaining Culture - [00:37:18]
• Grow & Split And Merging Patterns - [00:42:42]
• Ideal Team Size - [00:45:51]
• Isolation Pattern - [00:51:43]
• Role of Leader/Manager - [00:54:56]
• 3 Tech Lead Wisdom - [00:57:47]

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Heidi Helfand’s Bio
Heidi Helfand is author of the book Dynamic Reteaming and SVP of Strategy & Innovation at Artium. She’s passionate about helping companies build great products and high-performing teams, and she’s particularly interested in the people side of engineering. With over 20 years of experience in the tech industry, including roles at AppFolio, Procore and Expertcity/GoToMeeting, Heidi has gained a deep understanding of how to help organizations successfully navigate change and scale their teams. She lives in Southern California, where she enjoys spending time with her family and exploring the outdoors.

Follow Heidi:

• Website – heidihelfand.com
• LinkedIn – linkedin.com/in/heidihelfand/
• X – @heidihelfand
• Mastodon – @[e-mail]
• Artium – thisisartium.com
• Email – [e-mail]

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