Organisation Design
The boundaries teams sit inside.
Where operating-model work fixes cadence, org design fixes what teams cannot fix on their own: the shape of their squads, the surfaces they own end-to-end, and whether their decisions require three other groups to agree first.
We redraw squads against the product architecture and the customer journey — not the current reporting lines — and write down which decisions each team actually gets to make.
In short
Organisation Design is a 6–10 week engagement for product organisations past ~60 people where cross-team dependencies dominate delivery. We redraw squad boundaries against the product architecture (not the current reporting lines), write down which decisions each team gets to make, and produce the staffing delta needed to make the new topology real inside a quarter.
- Duration
- 6–10 weeks
- Best fit
- Product orgs past ~60 people
- Sponsor
- CPO, CTO, or founding team
The specific artefacts
- A squad topology map — every surface, feature area, and platform capability mapped to a single accountable team
- A decision-rights table (RAPID or equivalent) covering pricing, roadmap, hiring, and architecture calls
- A dependency register that lists the 5–10 cross-team seams and who resolves conflict on each
- A staffing delta — the specific hires and internal moves needed to make the new topology real inside a quarter
- A 90-day transition plan with named executives on each move
How the engagement runs
6–10 weeks, 3 phases, one handoff.
Weeks 1–3
Where the org is bending
Map product architecture against current teams. Trace the last five escalations and the five slowest cross-team initiatives. Identify the seams that force three groups to agree before anything ships.
Weeks 4–7
New topology & decision rights
Redraw squads around product surfaces and customer journeys, not reporting lines. Write the decision-rights table for the top ~30 recurring decisions. Confirm every surface has one accountable team.
Weeks 8–10
Staffing delta and transition
Produce the staffing delta — hires, moves, backfills — and a 90-day transition plan with named executives on each move. Brief the leadership team on the narrative for the org.
Representative outcomes
What changes on the ground.
- → Every product surface has one accountable team — no more shared-ownership limbo.
- → Escalations drop because most conflicts now sit inside a team's decision rights.
- → New hires slot into a named surface with a written charter, not a vague brief.
- → Reorgs stop being annual events — the topology absorbs growth without rewiring reporting lines.
When to bring us in
This is the work we do when a product organisation crosses roughly 60 people, or when a merger, a platform bet, or a new segment forces the topology to change. It is not a reorg exercise — it is a decision-rights exercise that happens to require a small structural change to enforce.
Frequently asked
Product Organisation Design — answered.
- Is this a reorg?
- It's the opposite of a reorg. A reorg moves boxes on a chart and hopes for a behaviour change. This work starts from decision rights and cross-team dependencies, and only touches structure where the structure is genuinely in the way.
- Do you decide who reports to whom?
- No. We produce the squad topology and the decision-rights table. Reporting lines are a leadership call, not an outside call. We flag conflicts between the topology and current reporting so the exec team can decide.
- How does this pair with operating-model work?
- Org design fixes squad boundaries and decision rights. Operating Model Design fixes the cadence and handoffs those squads work through. Teams past ~150 people usually need both; smaller orgs typically start with just one.
- What about layoffs or role changes?
- The staffing delta may include internal moves and backfill hires. It is designed to be reversible and phased across a quarter. We do not lead reduction-in-force decisions — that is an exec responsibility we don't take on.
Next step
Before committing capital, changing pricing, or restructuring product teams — let's talk.
We will be direct about whether an engagement is the right answer, and what scope would make it useful.