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Product operating model for platform teams
Product + engineering leadership • Technology • 4 weeks
Improved cross-team execution by clarifying intake, priorities, and governance cadence.
Snapshot
Services
- Operating Model
Deliverables
- Operating model map (roles, interfaces, decision rights)
- Intake workflow + templates
- Weekly/monthly governance cadence (agenda + artifacts)
- KPI scorecard and reporting format
- Working agreements + escalation path
Context
- Engagement: 4-week operating model reset
- Timeline: 4 weeks
- Client: Product + engineering leadership
- Industry: Technology
- Multiple product squads depended on shared platform capabilities
- Ad-hoc requests overwhelmed the platform team and eroded predictability
- Needed a cadence that made priorities and tradeoffs explicit weekly
Constraints
- Intake had to be simple enough for squads to use consistently
- Decision rights needed to reduce escalations, not create new forums
- Metrics had to reflect platform outcomes, not vanity activity
Challenge
Platform teams were overloaded by ad-hoc requests from multiple squads, causing priority churn and unclear ownership.
How we worked
- Designed an intake workflow with request types and acceptance criteria
- Established a weekly priority cadence with a single portfolio view
- Clarified roles, interfaces, and decision boundaries to reduce thrash
- Introduced lightweight KPI reporting to anchor discussions in outcomes
What we did
- Defined intake workflow (request types, acceptance criteria, routing)
- Established priority-setting cadence and portfolio view
- Clarified roles, responsibilities, and decision rights
- Introduced lightweight KPI reporting aligned to platform outcomes
Outcomes
- Decision latency: ↓ ~40% (weeks → days)
- Priority churn: ↓ ~25% within 8 weeks
- Work intake clarity: Established (standard workflow)
Proof
- Intake workflow overview + templates (request, triage, routing)
- Weekly/monthly governance cadence artifacts (agenda + decision log)
- Decision rights model (high-level) for recurring calls
- KPI scorecard outline aligned to platform outcomes
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