Breaking Silos with Beats: Spotify’s Tribe Framework in Facilitating Cross-Functional Business Relationships -Part 1

In the symphony of modern business, where each department plays a distinct tune, it’s crucial for business and IT executives and senior leaders to conduct an orchestra that harmonizes these tunes into a coherent melody.

The Tribe Framework, popularized by Spotify, offers a rhythm to break silos and enhance cross-functional business relationships. In part one of this article, we will explore the members of the Tribe, while part two will explore the application of the methodology.

The Tribe Framework and its application in various business contexts refer to the works of Henrik Kniberg and Anders Ivarsson, two of the key figures behind Spotify’s organizational design. Spotify’s Tribe Framework has emerged as a pioneering model, offering a blueprint for enhancing communication, alignment, and shared objectives across different business units.

At its heart, the framework promotes autonomy, agility, and innovation, ultimately leading to stronger business relationships and a competitive edge in the market.

Here’s how your business relationship management team can adopt this framework:

The Driving Beat Behind the Tribe Framework

At its core, the harmony behind the Tribe Framework is about small, empowered teams (Squads) that are aligned around shared missions (Tribes) and supported by functional expertise (Chapters) and interest-based communities (Guilds). It’s a model that promotes autonomy, collaboration, and rapid innovation.

Getting the Band Back Together

Just like the Blues Brothers, putting together a great band requires the right players on the stage. Here are the members of your Business Relationship Management Tribe that make up the group:

Squads: The Ensemble of Specialists Each squad in the BRM team is like a group of specialists playing a unique instrument. For example, one squad might contain ‘business success partners’ like keyboardists who orchestrate the technical aspects of client interactions. Another squad could be the ‘strategic solution consultants,’ like guitarists, who design the intricate ‘riffs’ of IT solutions that resonate with the business partner’s needs.

Tribes: The Band Sections Tribes are like the different sections in a band, such as the rhythm and melody sections. In the IT BRM context, tribes could represent various IT services areas, like cloud services, cybersecurity, and DevOps. Each Tribe ensures their ‘section’ of services is in tune with their business partner’s expectations and the market’s demands.

Chapters: The Skill Sharpeners Musicians who specialize in the same instrument and gather for jam sessions to sharpen their skills comprise your Chapter. In BRM terms, BRMs with similar roles would form the chapters, such as ‘business success partners’ or ‘strategic solution consultants,’ who meet to align on methodologies and share insights.

Guilds: The Genre Aficionados Guilds are groups of band members passionate about a particular genre of music. In the IT BRM band, guilds might consist of individuals interested in emerging technologies or specific industry trends, fostering innovation and thought leadership within the team. You can also center the Guild around functional areas. Building Guilds helps cut across the IT organization and remove the disharmony of silos.

The Performance: Delivering IT Solutions The final performance is delivering IT solutions to business partners. Just as a band performs a concert, the IT BRM team provides a suite of services that work in concert to address the business partner’s pain point or opportunity, ensuring a standing ovation (client satisfaction) and encores (repeat business).

 Are you passionate about Business Relationship Management? Do you have something to say to the single, global BRM community? We encourage you to submit your idea with contact information to the BRM Contributor Network program. 

The BRM Contributor Network allows professionals (like you!) to become thought-leaders in the industry by sharing articles they author through the BRM Institute website and publication channels. This is a great way to get involved, let your voice be heard and even gain CPDs from participating!

We look forward to hearing from YOU!

About the Author

David Prater, MBRM is a seasoned Business Relationship Management (BRM) leader with extensive experience in establishing successful BRM programs. With a robust track record, his expertise spans developing and executing strategies that enhance alignment, operational efficiency, and stakeholder value.

He is passionate about leveraging BRM to foster growth and innovation.