The Future of Work: How Pod-Based Organization is Changing the Game

I firmly believe in the power of sharing knowledge gained through personal experience and I’m eager to share mine with you. As a software developer, what matters most to me is establishing connections with clients and making a meaningful impact on them. Throughout my career, I’ve prioritized engaging closely with clients, understanding their needs deeply, and ensuring that my work delivers significant value. In the traditional R&D teams I’ve worked with, the team’s structure was based on the team’s profession. Examples of such teams are ‘backend’ (developing the infrastructure), ‘frontend’ (developing the platform), ‘product’, and ‘research’. In the traditional R&D I’ve been part of, a noticeable gap often existed between developers and clients. This gap was sometimes bridged by either the curiosity of team members or the strategic direction provided by leadership.

In this post, I’ll explore how the transition to Pods addressed this gap while bringing attention to other challenges that arose. I’ll share my perspective and experiences during this transformative phase at Theator.

Theator is a startup pioneering the surgical intelligence revolution. It harnesses advanced AI and computer vision technology to generate actionable insights aimed at enhancing surgical care quality. Given Theator’s presence in the healthcare sector, obtaining timely customer feedback is crucial for delivering a product that truly meets their needs.

If you’re considering a change in your organizational structure or facing challenges within traditional professional R&D teams, I encourage you to stay tuned!

The transformation from classic R&D teams to Pods

One of the most important and complex missions of an organization is the ability to focus the R&D in the right direction. From my perspective, focusing on tech tasks and not product goals can lead to working in a less optimal (maybe even wrong) way, one that doesn’t generate the most significant impact for the company and the customer. When the developers are distant from the client, their ideas and creativity may diverge from the main objective that is most important to the customer. It could be developing an infrastructure that can last for years, creating something very efficient, or writing code that fits the vision of the past and not the current vision of the customer that may change and progress.

When I started working at Theator, I felt so excited to work at an innovative healthcare company that truly creates value for doctors and patients, and improves healthcare quality around the world.

But there was still a feeling in the background. The classic R&D team structure masks the view of the developers and narrows it to tech tasks instead of focusing on the main product goal.

A few months after I started working at Theator, the company moved to a new R&D structure, Pods! One of our team leaders described the transition: “We allocated people to Pods based on their respective areas of expertise. Each pod consists of individuals with complementary skills, creating a well-rounded team, capable of delivering comprehensive solutions. Every pod is led by a pod leader who facilitates coordination and decision-making, and guides the team towards meeting specific key performance indicators (KPIs).”

For me, the transition changed it all!

To be (Pods), or not to be, that is the question!

It is always a good time for a little inspiration from Shakespeare

Here, I’ll highlight the pros and cons of our new org proposal so you can make the best data-driven decision — let’s dive in!

Advantage: The client in the center

Pods have affected our work environment, which now focuses on the clients and their goals rather than on the split technological expertise required to achieve them. Each technological expert has been enabled to have a broad view of the problem and be part of a constant discussion that refers to all fields and not necessarily only to their own field. This has created mutual fertilization, an understanding of edge problems, and an ability to build overall solutions while progressing dynamically.

Advantage: Adapting to changes and moving fast

Gathering a variety of experts together in a team has made it possible to adapt to changes and provide a quick response to feedback. Organizations that depend on client feedback have to move fast in order to calibrate the perfect solution. Specifically, in the healthcare sector, we need to penetrate the “old shell”, earn the doctor’s trust and prove that our product brings proven value and is both simple and convenient to use. If the product doesn’t give the accurate value that suits the customers, they will not use it.

Advantage: Empowering the individual

Pods encourage individual team members to take more responsibility, innovate and be creative in their area. Less context switching between different KPIs enables team members to gain knowledge quickly in the specific KPI area, which lets them get the wide view that is required to innovate and take the team to the next level.

If you want to adopt the Pods organizational structure, it is important to mention that we identified a few areas you must consider and focus on.

Disadvantage: Knowledge sharing decreases

Shifting from a professional team to a pod decreases knowledge sharing between the original professional team members.

The solution chosen by Theator has been to keep the original professional team in the background, share PRs and create knowledge-sharing meetings.

Disadvantage: The one dependency

Another shortcoming that could show up is a dependency on a specific professional team member to accomplish a KPI goal. Previously, in the original team, it was rare that only one team member was familiar with a specific topic. Now, as we have team members from only one profession in a pod, it’s necessary to create knowledge sharing between team members in different Pods to support the lack of team members (due to sickness, vacation, etc).

Disadvantage: Personal management and mentoring

One of the drawbacks of Pods is that developers may feel like they don’t have someone looking after their personal growth. This could lead to mental fatigue, which could develop into a lack of personal development and frustration. When there is no one taking care of the employee formally and informally, there is a real difficulty in the employee’s ability to advance in the company and develop in the direction that suits them.

At Theator we are still shaping our solution for this issue. Currently, the professional team lead still takes care of the personal development of the professional team. The team lead faces some difficulties in achieving the same quality of personal mentoring as before, due to the fact that the original team was spread between different Pods.

Choose your path but keep your eyes open

In a world that is ever-evolving, we must remain adaptable, continuously refining and evolving our organizational structures to meet the demands of the times. My experience has shown that adopting the Pods structure has significantly enhanced Theator’s ability to concentrate on critical company KPIs effectively, while simultaneously fostering a motivated workforce and prioritizing our customers’ needs. Presently, the Pod model stands as a pioneering, customer-centric framework, empowering us to make a meaningful impact on a global scale. This innovative approach not only aligns with our mission but also positions us to lead change in the industry, demonstrating the transformative power of adaptability and focused collaboration.

In this journey of continuous improvement, it is vital that we keep our eyes open for the next wave of change, ready to embrace new challenges and opportunities that come our way. This mindset ensures we are not just reactive but proactive, staying ahead in a world where adaptability is key to enduring success.