A stream aligned team is one that is aligned to a single, valuable stream of work1. Historically, this might be called a “product team”, but “stream-aligned” broadens the definition since “product” itself has become a broader term. A Stream-aligned team is the fundamental team topology, and other team types seek to reduce the burden of delivery so that the stream of work can flow un-impeded.
Expected behaviors:
- produce a steady flow of feature delivery
- adapt to feedback from latest changes
- adopts an agile mindset to product evolution
- has minimal hand-offs (ideally zero) of work to other teams
- should be evaluated on the sustainable flow of change produced along with technical and team-health metrics
- members should feel they can work autonomously and with purpose
- coordinates with other team types
1. Skelton, M., Pais, M. & Malan, R. Team Topologies: Organizing Business and Technology Teams for Fast Flow. (IT Revolution Press, Portland, OR, 2019).