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Scaling Development Operations
What works for a 5-person team breaks at 20. Scaling development operations requires intentional changes to processes, tools, and communication patterns. This guide covers practical strategies for growing development operations.
Scale Challenges
| Challenge | Small Team | Scaled |
|---|---|---|
| Communication | Informal | Structured |
| Decisions | Anyone | Defined process |
| Knowledge | In heads | Documented |
| Coordination | Automatic | Explicit |
Communication
Scaling Information Flow
COMMUNICATION SCALING
═════════════════════
SMALL TEAM (5-10):
─────────────────────────────────────
What works:
├── Everyone in same room/channel
├── Informal discussions
├── Everyone knows everything
├── Quick decisions verbally
└── Works naturally
MEDIUM TEAM (15-30):
─────────────────────────────────────
What changes:
├── Too many people for one channel
├── Information overload
├── Decisions not reaching everyone
├── Need structure
└── Growing pains
Adjustments:
├── Team-specific channels
├── Written decisions
├── Clear escalation paths
├── Regular all-hands
├── Documentation emphasis
└── Intentional communication
LARGE TEAM (50+):
─────────────────────────────────────
Required structure:
├── Hierarchical communication
├── Team leads aggregate info
├── Town halls for broad updates
├── Newsletters for async
├── Documentation required
├── Cross-team forums
└── Formal processes
COMMUNICATION HIERARCHY:
─────────────────────────────────────
┌───────────────┐
│ Leadership │
│ (Strategy) │
└───────┬───────┘
│
┌───────┴───────┐
▼ ▼
┌───────────┐ ┌───────────┐
│ Team Lead │ │ Team Lead │
│ (Coord) │ │ (Coord) │
└─────┬─────┘ └─────┬─────┘
│ │
┌───┴───┐ ┌───┴───┐
▼ ▼ ▼ ▼ ▼ ▼
Dev Dev Dev Dev Dev Dev
Team Structure
Organizing for Scale
TEAM STRUCTURE EVOLUTION
════════════════════════
SINGLE TEAM:
─────────────────────────────────────
Small startup:
├── Everyone on one team
├── Shared backlog
├── Same standup
├── Full visibility
└── Simple
MULTIPLE SQUADS:
─────────────────────────────────────
Growing company:
├── Feature-based teams
├── Team owns area (Auth, Payments, etc.)
├── Team has own backlog
├── Cross-team coordination needed
└── More independence, more coordination
Example:
├── Squad Alpha: User Platform
├── Squad Beta: Payments
├── Squad Gamma: Mobile
├── Platform Team: Infrastructure
└── Each autonomous, all aligned
SPOTIFY MODEL (ADAPTED):
─────────────────────────────────────
Squads:
├── Cross-functional team
├── Owns feature area
├── PM, designers, developers
└── Autonomous unit
Tribes:
├── Collection of related squads
├── Common domain
├── Shared leadership
└── Coordination point
Chapters:
├── Same skill across squads
├── All frontend devs
├── Knowledge sharing
└── Skill growth
Guilds:
├── Interest-based community
├── Across organization
├── Optional participation
└── Innovation and learning
Process Scaling
From Informal to Structured
PROCESS EVOLUTION
═════════════════
SMALL: MINIMAL PROCESS
─────────────────────────────────────
What works:
├── Kanban or simple Scrum
├── Light ceremonies
├── Verbal coordination
├── Flexible and fast
└── Low overhead
GROWING: STRUCTURED PROCESS
─────────────────────────────────────
What's needed:
├── Defined workflow
├── Regular ceremonies
├── Cross-team planning
├── Documented standards
├── Clear roles
└── Coordination overhead
SCALED: COORDINATED PROCESS
─────────────────────────────────────
Required:
├── Program increment planning
├── Dependency management
├── Release coordination
├── Architecture review
├── Cross-team ceremonies
└── Significant coordination
SCALED AGILE APPROACHES:
─────────────────────────────────────
LeSS (Large Scale Scrum):
├── Minimal additional process
├── Single backlog for 8 teams
├── One Product Owner
└── Scales Scrum simply
SAFe (Scaled Agile Framework):
├── More structure
├── Release trains
├── PI planning
├── For large enterprises
└── More overhead, more coordination
Spotify Model:
├── Autonomous squads
├── Tribe alignment
├── Chapters for skills
├── Flexible and adaptive
└── Culture-heavy
Documentation
Knowledge at Scale
DOCUMENTATION SCALING
═════════════════════
WHY DOCS MATTER MORE:
─────────────────────────────────────
Small team:
├── Ask anyone
├── Knowledge in heads
├── Verbal transfer
└── Works fine
Large team:
├── Who knows this?
├── Too many people to ask
├── People leave/join
├── Onboarding slow
├── Repeated questions
└── Documentation essential
WHAT TO DOCUMENT:
─────────────────────────────────────
Architecture:
├── System overview
├── How services connect
├── Data flows
├── Decision records (ADRs)
└── Big picture
Processes:
├── How we deploy
├── How we review code
├── How we handle incidents
├── How we onboard
└── How we work
Standards:
├── Coding standards
├── API guidelines
├── Security requirements
├── Testing expectations
└── Quality bar
DOCUMENTATION OWNERSHIP:
─────────────────────────────────────
├── Each team owns their area
├── Architecture team owns overview
├── Technical writers help (if available)
├── Regular review cycles
├── Part of definition of done
└── Maintained, not abandoned
Tooling
Tools That Scale
TOOLING CONSIDERATIONS
══════════════════════
WHAT NEEDS TO SCALE:
─────────────────────────────────────
Project management:
├── Multiple teams
├── Cross-team visibility
├── Portfolio view
├── Permissions
├── Performance at scale
└── Enterprise features
Source control:
├── Multiple repos or monorepo
├── Access control
├── Code owners
├── Branch protection
├── CI/CD at scale
└── Enterprise Git
CI/CD:
├── Pipeline capacity
├── Build parallelization
├── Queue management
├── Cache efficiency
├── Cost at scale
└── Enterprise CI
GITSCRUM AT SCALE:
─────────────────────────────────────
├── Multiple projects/teams
├── Organization-level views
├── Cross-project dependencies
├── Enterprise permissions
├── Reporting across teams
├── Scales with growth
└── Enterprise features
TOOL CONSOLIDATION:
─────────────────────────────────────
Avoid tool sprawl:
├── One project management tool
├── One documentation system
├── One communication platform
├── Reduce cognitive load
├── Easier onboarding
└── Integrated ecosystem
Culture Preservation
Maintaining What Matters
CULTURE AT SCALE
════════════════
CULTURE DOCUMENTATION:
─────────────────────────────────────
Write down:
├── Company values
├── Engineering principles
├── How we work
├── What we value
├── Decision-making approach
├── Reference for all
└── Explicit culture
CULTURE TRANSFER:
─────────────────────────────────────
Onboarding:
├── Values in orientation
├── Buddy system
├── Immersion period
├── Culture examples
├── Reinforced early
└── New people absorb
CULTURE EVOLUTION:
─────────────────────────────────────
Culture isn't static:
├── What worked at 10 may not at 100
├── Intentional evolution
├── Preserve core values
├── Adapt practices
├── Team input on changes
└── Evolve together
LEADERSHIP MODELING:
─────────────────────────────────────
Leaders set example:
├── Live the values
├── Visible behavior
├── Call out anti-patterns
├── Celebrate aligned behavior
├── Culture starts at top
└── Walk the talk
GitScrum for Scale
Enterprise Features
GITSCRUM SCALING FEATURES
═════════════════════════
MULTI-TEAM:
─────────────────────────────────────
├── Multiple projects
├── Team isolation
├── Cross-team visibility where needed
├── Portfolio view
└── Scale naturally
ORGANIZATION VIEW:
─────────────────────────────────────
├── All teams in one view
├── Roll-up reporting
├── Cross-cutting initiatives
├── Executive dashboards
└── Big picture visibility
PERMISSIONS:
─────────────────────────────────────
├── Role-based access
├── Team-level permissions
├── Project-level permissions
├── Enterprise SSO
└── Secure at scale
INTEGRATIONS:
─────────────────────────────────────
├── GitHub Enterprise
├── GitLab Enterprise
├── Slack Enterprise Grid
├── Enterprise tools
└── Enterprise ecosystem
Best Practices
For Scaling Operations
- Scale ahead of need — Don't wait until broken
- Document intentionally — Knowledge preservation
- Structured communication — Information flows
- Clear ownership — Who decides what
- Preserve culture — What made you great
Anti-Patterns
SCALING MISTAKES:
✗ Waiting until crisis to scale
✗ Keeping informal processes too long
✗ No documentation
✗ Tool sprawl
✗ Culture not transferred
✗ Too much process too fast
✗ No cross-team coordination
✗ Hiring faster than onboarding