The Peril of Shared Heroes: When Key Individuals Become Bottlenecks

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In the quest for efficiency and resource optimization, organizations often share key individuals across multiple teams. These "heroes" possess specialized skills or deep domain knowledge, making them invaluable assets. However, this practice can lead to significant problems, turning these individuals into bottlenecks and hindering overall productivity.

The Allure of Shared Expertise:

The logic behind sharing key individuals is often sound. Why hire multiple specialists when one can serve several teams? This approach seems to reduce costs and maximize the utilization of valuable skills. However, the reality is often more complex.

The Pitfalls of Sharing Key Individuals:

1. Bottleneck Creation:

   • Key individuals become single points of failure, creating bottlenecks that impede the progress of multiple teams.

   • Teams become dependent on their availability, leading to delays and frustration.

2. Context Switching Overload:

   • Constant context switching between different projects and teams leads to decreased focus, increased errors, and reduced productivity.  

   • The cognitive load of juggling multiple responsibilities can overwhelm even the most skilled individuals.

3. Reduced Knowledge Sharing:

   • Shared individuals have less time to mentor and share their knowledge with other team members.

   • This can hinder the development of internal expertise and create a knowledge gap.

4. Increased Burnout and Turnover:

   • The constant pressure and heavy workload can lead to burnout, impacting morale and increasing the risk of turnover.

   • Losing a key individual can have a significant impact on multiple teams and projects.  

5. Slower Development Cycles:

   • Delays caused by bottlenecks and context switching lead to slower development cycles and longer lead times.  

   • This can impact time-to-market and reduce overall agility.

6. Decreased Team Autonomy:

   • Teams become less autonomous and reliant on external resources, hindering their ability to self-organize and adapt.

   • This can stifle innovation and creativity.

7. Communication Breakdown:

   • Juggling multiple teams can lead to communication breakdowns and misaligned expectations.

   • This can result in misunderstandings, rework, and project delays.  

Mitigating the Risks:

While completely eliminating the need for shared individuals may not always be feasible, organizations can take steps to mitigate the risks:

• Cross-Training and Knowledge Sharing:

  • Invest in cross-training and knowledge sharing to distribute expertise and reduce reliance on single individuals.

  • Document processes and best practices to facilitate knowledge transfer.

• Team Topologies:

  • Consider team topologies to minimize dependencies.

  • Platform teams and enabling teams can help distribute specialized knowledge.  

• Dedicated Resources:

  • Allocate dedicated resources to teams whenever possible.

  • Prioritize projects and allocate resources based on business value and urgency.

• Clear Communication and Planning:

  • Establish clear communication channels and protocols.

  • Implement robust project planning and dependency management processes.

• Capacity Planning:

  • Conduct thorough capacity planning to ensure that shared individuals are not overloaded.

  • Track their workload and adjust assignments as needed.

• Empowering Teams:

  • Empower teams to make decisions and solve problems independently.

  • Reduce reliance on external approvals and dependencies.

• Prioritize Automation:

  • Automate tasks and processes to reduce the workload of key individuals.  

The Long-Term Perspective:

Sharing key individuals may seem like a short-term solution to resource constraints, but it can create significant long-term problems. Organizations should prioritize building resilient and autonomous teams, reducing reliance on single points of failure and fostering a culture of shared knowledge and responsibility.

Further reading;

• Resource Utilization Limits and Little's Law in Software Development

• Key Indicators of WIP and Kanban Success

• The Peril of Shared Heroes: When Key Individuals Become Bottlenecks