Empowered squads are the key to success

In the IT department of BNP Paribas Fortis, teams have been working in an Agile manner in squads, tribes and chapters since 2017. And since last year, business collaborators have also been part of these squads. What are the benefits, and how does it work in practice? Here's the answer.

The BNP Paribas Fortis IT department is made up of tribes. A tribe is a large group of around 100 to 150 collaborators, led by a duo. Each tribe is subdivided into squads of around 10 people each, depending on the area concerned.

Each squad is a multi-disciplinary team working towards a specific objective. In each squad, there are developers, testers, business analysts, a scrum master, a product owner, etc. A business collaborator determines what is required or what needs to be developed. An IT person decides exactly how it will be done.

“These empowered squads are at the heart of our operation,” explains Marc Camus, CIO. “This rapprochement between business and IT fosters co-creation and enables us to act very quickly and efficiently. We avoid unnecessary back-and-forth, and that's exactly what we're looking for. Managers exercise a coaching function.”

Welcome to your chapter

Beyond tribes and squads, BNP Paribas Fortis's IT professionals are also part of a chapter based on their function. There is a chapter for all developers, another that brings together all architects, etc. The chapter allows you to get in touch with colleagues who perform the same function while having totally different objectives.

At the head of each chapter is a Chapter Lead. This is the person who looks after the well-being of the members, facilitates personal development and training, and ensures follow-up. The Chapter Lead acts as a coach for each person within the chapter.

Community of practice

Every two weeks, developers exchange knowledge within a "community of practice". Bas, who joined the Log-on squad a few months ago as a Java developer, shares his experience: “Anyone who wants to share a piece of knowledge has the opportunity to do so every time the community of practice meets. It can be a new method for doing something, for example. Right now, I'm using these meetings to keep my ears open. I'm learning a lot. One day, I'm sure I’ll be able to share my own insights or tips with my fellow developers.”

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Source: Amon

This article was written as part of our partnership with Amon for the organisation of the "This is IT" event.