Chapter 3 — SpaceUP fundamentals: The Glossary
Previous chapters: Chapter 1 | Chapter 2
This is a one-pager that summarizes its most important parts, and helps you understand the entire methodology at a glance. The glossary wasn’t intended to be an end in itself, we just wanted to solve a problem with it — but it ultimately turned out to be very useful.
As you might have already read in the previous articles, we introduced the entire SpaceUP methodology to our Product and Engineering organization with a bang. When you read about change management, making a lot of changes at once may sound like a silly idea. Nevertheless, given the circumstances and looking back, I think we’ve done quite a good job aside from a few details.
So, how did we do it?
First of all, we knew we needed everyone’s full attention, and we sensed it wouldn’t be possible through a Zoom call. Therefore, we decided to organize an offsite, take people out from their Covid-home-office comfort zones and bring them together in one place.
To demonstrate the kind of challenge we faced, I’ll never forget when Michal, our CEO, started the offsite by asking the crowd how many of them joined us during Covid. Roughly, it was half. Half the people had never even seen each other in person.
So, you have 180 people in the same room, full of expectations, and now what? We knew people couldn’t absorb everything simultaneously, all at once. If we helped them understand the main pillars of the new operating framework, we’d be successful. We decided to apply the Pareto principle, which states that roughly 80% of consequences come from 20% of causes.
We defined 20% of the crucial foundations, and the so-called “SpaceUP Glossary” was born. We printed it out and put it on every table, so everyone had a physical copy when they arrived at the offsite. Whenever someone got lost in all the newly-defined terms, they could use it as a reference. And that still applies today.
Glossary
Spaceport
Each Spaceport has one clear purpose — to ensure end-to-end ownership of our product, even beyond software development. It’s a home base, a safe zone where teammates always have your back.
Spaceport objectives
These help Spaceports decide what they want to achieve, and what goals to set for themselves. The Spaceport’s objectives are also aligned with the company objectives and product strategy.
Spaceport Leader
Each Spaceport has one Leader. They’re ultimately responsible for the Spaceport’s success, from defining its vision and building the team, to successful product delivery. Leaders report directly to the CPTO and are part of Mission Control HQ.
Ground Crew
This group makes sure a Spaceport is up and running, supports customers, forms new missions, and improves the Spaceport’s quality by tackling technical debt, automating things, fixing bugs, and more. It’s not a permanent role, and members rotate between flying missions and being on the Ground Crew.
Ground Crew Leader
The person who oversees what’s happening on the ground, and helps keep things organized and in good shape. It’s more of a role than a position. Everyone’s encouraged to try being a Ground Crew Leader at some point.
Mission
Each mission brings us one step closer to achieving an objective. It’s a solution with a clear definition and scope, description of boundaries, expected landing date, and a dedicated Mission Crew.
Mission pitch
A structured proposal with a definition of the problem and a description of why solving it will help the Spaceport achieve its objective(s). Anyone can pitch a new mission — just prepare a high-level solution to a problem and present it to Mission Control HQ.
Mission Crew
A group of astronauts with the right skills that will fly the mission. Thanks to the Ground Crew, they won’t be disrupted by things happening on the ground, and their main focus is completing the mission on time.
Mission Commander
Each mission has one Mission Commander who’s responsible for its success. They periodically report to the Spaceport leader about the mission progress. Everyone’s encouraged to try this role some time.
Mission Control HQ
While Spaceports have a lot of autonomy, the Mission Control HQ is responsible for overlooking all ongoing or planned missions and deciding on which missions can be launched next. Mission Control HQ consists of all Spaceport Leaders and Society Leaders.
Mission Observatory
This gives everyone in the company a chance to see the progress of all ongoing missions and provide valuable feedback to the flying Mission Crews. This also gives Mission Control HQ a clear overview of progress across all Spaceports.
Societies
This is where everyone in a common area of expertise connects. We don’t want Spaceports to be siloed, so we’ll communicate across Spaceports to share experience and knowledge, help each other, and agree on company-wide standards. Currently, we have two main Societies: Product and Engineering.
Society Leader
Someone who’s responsible for a given Society, making sure our standards are high, and people are happy and growing. This person can help you if there’s an issue in your Spaceport you can’t solve yourself or need to escalate things. Together with Spaceport Leaders, they’re also responsible for hiring.
Circles
These are smaller, specialized groups focused on different areas of expertise within Societies. Examples are Security, Performance, Product Quality, or Product Design. Their goal is to set and oversee the best practices and keep our standards on the highest possible level. Circles also have dedicated leaders.
Circle Leader
The leader is responsible for a given area of expertise, and looks for ways to improve and share knowledge across the Spaceports. They ensure that people in their Circle have everything they need for their optimal performance and personal growth.
Space Tech Advisory Committee (STAC)
A group of nominated people who ensure that what we’re doing works, that we follow certain technical standards, and that newly introduced technologies are used well. The STAC will consist of people who are experts on our products, experts on certain technologies, and architects.
And that’s our SpaceUP vocabulary! Join us next time, when we’ll take a deeper dive into the new organization’s key roles, and explore how all our datanauts work together. See you soon!
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