Plan 12 — Squad Management

1. Executive Summary

This plan establishes Squad Management as a new management practice under the Delivery Guild (GL03), creating the practice scaffolding, a Microsoft Teams workspace setup procedure, and a populated glossary definition for “Squad.”

Squads are cross-functional, project-specific teams formed for client engagements. While the existing Project Mgmt practice governs what gets delivered, Squad Management governs how the delivery team operates — covering team formation, workspace setup, communication norms, and ceremony coordination.

Key outcomes:

• A new Squad Management practice folder under GL03 Delivery Guild with the standard subfolder structure (Policies, Processes, Procedures, Guides, Templates, Decisions)
• A practice overview README establishing scope, interfaces, and KPIs
• A published procedure documenting the Microsoft Teams project workspace setup pattern
• A populated glossary entry for “Squad” replacing the current empty stub

Prerequisites:

• No blocking dependencies. This plan can be executed independently of Plan 11 (ITILv4 Service Value Chain), though the two plans share alignment on the Delivery Guild’s practice catalogue.

2. Architecture and Context Overview

Current State

• The “Squad” concept is referenced in the Organisational Reporting Structure diagram and appears in one HR process, but has no formal practice or published documentation.
• The glossary entry content/00 Governance/Reference/Squad.md exists as an empty stub (frontmatter only).
• The Delivery Guild (GL03) owns four practices: Business Analysis Management, Consulting Management, Product Mgmt, and Project Mgmt. None address squad-level operations.

Proposed Approach

Create Squad Management as a peer practice alongside Project Mgmt within GL03. This follows the handbook’s architectural principle that Guilds own practices and artefacts while Value Streams coordinate practices for end-to-end flow.

The practice scope covers the operational aspects of forming and running a delivery squad:

Target File Structure

content/02 Guilds/GL03 Delivery Guild/Practices/Squad Management/
├── README.md                                    # Practice overview
├── 01 Policies/
│   └── README.md
├── 02 Processes/
│   └── README.md
├── 03 Procedures/
│   ├── README.md
│   └── Teams Workspace Setup.md                 # First procedure deliverable
├── 04 Guides/
│   └── README.md
└── 05 Templates/
    └── README.md

3. Implementation Steps

Step 1 — Create Practice Folder Structure

Tasks:

1. Create the directory content/02 Guilds/GL03 Delivery Guild/Practices/Squad Management/
2. Create subdirectories: 01 Policies/, 02 Processes/, 03 Procedures/, 04 Guides/, 05 Templates/
3. Create a README.md in each subdirectory with minimal frontmatter:

---
publish: true
page-status: draft
created: 2026-03-04
---

Each subfolder README should contain a heading matching the folder purpose and a page-list code block to auto-list contents.

Deliverable: Empty practice folder structure matching the pattern used by Project Mgmt and HR Management.

Verification: Confirm all directories and README files exist. Validate frontmatter fields against the Project Mgmt practice.

Step 2 — Create Practice Overview README

Tasks:

1. Create content/02 Guilds/GL03 Delivery Guild/Practices/Squad Management/README.md with the following content structure (use the Project Mgmt README as a template):

Frontmatter:

---
title: Squad Management
publish: true
page-status: draft
created: 2026-03-04
owner: guild-delivery
practice-id: DEL-SQUAD-01
guild: GL03 Delivery Guild
type: practice-overview
---

Content sections:

• Metadata block — Practice ID DEL-SQUAD-01, Status, Version, Owner Role (Delivery Lead), Guild link
• Purpose and Objectives — Define how Calab.ai forms, equips, and operates cross-functional delivery squads for client engagements. Ensure squads have consistent workspace setup, communication tooling, and ceremony structure.
• Scope — In Scope:
  • Squad formation and composition
  • Microsoft Teams workspace setup and configuration
  • Squad communication norms and tooling
  • Meeting scheduling and recording management
  • Squad access model and permissions
  • Squad dissolution and knowledge handoff
• Scope — Out of Scope:
  • Sprint planning and backlog management (owned by Project Mgmt)
  • Technical architecture decisions (owned by Solution Eng Management)
  • Client relationship management (owned by Stakeholder Mgmt Management)
  • Resource allocation across squads (owned by Project Mgmt)
• Interfaces — Dependencies:
  • Project Mgmt — Squad formation is triggered by project initiation
  • Stakeholder Mgmt Management — Client stakeholder map informs squad communication
  • Proposal Mgmt — Engagement scope defines squad composition
• Interfaces — Dependents:
  • Project Mgmt — Depends on operational squad workspace and ceremonies
  • All delivery practices — Depend on the squad as the execution unit
• Related Practices and Resources — Link to Project Mgmt, Stakeholder Mgmt Management
• Key Processes: Squad Formation Process, Squad Dissolution Process
• Key Procedures: Microsoft Teams Workspace Setup Procedure
• Key Templates: Squad Onboarding Checklist (future)
• KPIs and Success Signals:
  • KPI 1: Time from project kick-off to squad operational readiness (Target: ≤2 business days)
  • KPI 2: Squad workspace compliance rate (Target: 100% of squads follow standard setup)
  • Success Signal 1: All squad meetings are recorded and accessible via SharePoint
  • Success Signal 2: Squad members have immediate access to project references via channel tabs
• Review Cadence: Quarterly practice review, Delivery Guild Lead
• Change Log: v1.0, initial creation

Deliverable: Practice overview page published to the handbook.

Verification: Confirm frontmatter fields match the Project Mgmt README pattern. Verify wikilinks resolve to valid targets.

Step 3 — Create Microsoft Teams Workspace Setup Procedure

Tasks:

1. Create content/02 Guilds/GL03 Delivery Guild/Practices/Squad Management/03 Procedures/Teams Workspace Setup.md
2. Use frontmatter:

---
title: Microsoft Teams Workspace Setup
publish: true
page-status: draft
created: 2026-03-04
owner: guild-delivery
type: procedure
practice: DEL-SQUAD-01
---

3. Write the procedure content covering:

Team Setup:

• Create a new Team in Microsoft Teams
• Team name: Squad - [Client Name] (e.g. Squad - ACU, Squad - AGL)
• Team type: Standard Team
• Channel: A single channel named General, configured as a regular chat (not a shared or private channel)
• Members: Add the squad assigned to the project — Delivery Lead, Solution Lead, and Engineering Team members

Channel Tabs:

Configure the General channel with pinned tabs providing quick access to key project references:

Meetings and Recordings:

• Schedule all recurring project meetings through the Team (sprint planning, daily standups, sprint retrospectives)
• Scheduling through the Team ensures recordings and transcriptions are automatically saved to the Team’s SharePoint site

Access Model:

• Squad members are added as Team members with full access to the channel, tabs, and SharePoint files
• All Calab.ai team members have access to all project SharePoint folders, providing company-wide visibility without requiring Team membership

Deliverable: Published procedure page documenting the end-to-end Teams workspace setup.

Verification: Confirm the document renders correctly. Validate frontmatter type: procedure and practice: DEL-SQUAD-01 fields.

Step 4 — Populate the Squad Reference Entry

Tasks:

1. Update content/00 Governance/Reference/Squad.md to replace the empty stub with a full definition:

---
publish: true
---
 
# Squad
 
A cross-functional, project-specific team formed for a client engagement. Each squad is composed of a Delivery Lead, Solution Lead, and Engineering Team members drawn from across guilds. Squads operate as the primary execution unit for project delivery, with a dedicated Microsoft Teams workspace, shared ceremonies, and direct access to project artefacts.
 
Squads are temporary by nature — they form when a project kicks off and dissolve when the engagement concludes, with knowledge handed off to the relevant practices and value streams.
 
## Related
 
- [[02 Guilds/GL03 Delivery Guild/Practices/Squad Management/README|Squad Management Practice]]
- [[02 Guilds/GL03 Delivery Guild/Practices/Project Mgmt/README|Project Mgmt Practice]]

Deliverable: Populated glossary entry visible on the handbook site.

Verification: Confirm the glossary page renders and wikilinks resolve.

4. Decision Points

Decision 1 — Practice ID Convention

The Delivery Guild uses the pattern DEL-[ABBREV]-##:

• DEL-SQUAD-01 (recommended) — Follows the established abbreviation pattern, clear and unambiguous
• DEL-SM-01 — Shorter but could be confused with “Service Management” or “Scrum Master”

Decision 2 — Practice Owner Role

• delivery-lead (recommended) — The Delivery Lead is the natural owner of squad operations, and this role already exists in the squad composition
• pmo-lead — The PMO Lead owns Project Mgmt; adding Squad Management creates overlap
• guild-delivery — Too broad; practices should have a specific owner role

5. Impact Assessment

Existing Plans

Existing Decisions

No existing decisions require updates. No new decision is required — this plan creates standard practice scaffolding following established patterns.

Related Content

6. Success Criteria

• Practice folder Squad Management/ exists under GL03 Delivery Guild/Practices/ with all seven standard subdirectories
• Practice overview README contains all required sections (Purpose, Scope, Interfaces, KPIs, Review Cadence) and valid frontmatter with practice-id: DEL-SQUAD-01
• Microsoft Teams Workspace Setup procedure is published with type: procedure frontmatter
• Squad reference entry at content/00 Governance/Reference/Squad.md contains a complete definition with related links
• All wikilinks within new content resolve to valid targets
• New pages are discoverable via the Delivery Guild Practices page-list block
• npx quartz build completes without errors after all changes are applied

Appendix A — Existing Teams Setup Content Reference

The following content from the original Plan 12 draft is preserved as reference material for Step 3 (procedure creation). It represents the target state for the Teams Workspace Setup procedure:

When a new project kicks off, a dedicated Microsoft Teams workspace is created to centralise communication, meetings, and key project references for the squad.

Team Setup: Create a new Team in Microsoft Teams — name: Squad - [Client Name], type: Standard Team, single General channel, members: Delivery Lead + Solution Lead + Engineering Team.

Channel Tabs: GitHub Project Board, Client Stakeholder Map (Loop), Sales Strategy (Loop).

Meetings: All recurring ceremonies scheduled through the Team for automatic recording to SharePoint.

Access Model: Squad members are Team members; all company staff can access project SharePoint folders.