The two-day Team Topologies Foundation Training is structured as consecutive full days. This format allows concepts to build naturally, giving participants time overnight to process what they’ve learned and return with fresh questions.

The training combines theoretical foundations with extensive hands-on practice. Rather than separating “learning time” from “practice time,” exercises are integrated throughout to reinforce concepts immediately. Participants work with their own organisational contexts, making the learning directly applicable.

Day 1: Core Team Topologies Concepts

The first day introduces the fundamental ideas in Team Topologies. Participants explore what it means to be team-first—designing around team needs rather than individual roles.

Morning session: Understanding Conway’s Law and what blocks flow

The day begins by examining Conway’s Law and its impact on fast flow of change. The session explores how organisational structure shapes software design, often creating the very problems teams are trying to solve. Through guided discussion and analysis exercises, participants identify things that block flow in their own context—unclear ownership, excessive dependencies, teams spread too thin, constant context switching—and explore the consequences of blocked flow.

The morning concludes with an exploration of cognitive load and why it matters more than most organisations realise. Through practical exercises, participants learn to recognise when teams are overloaded and understand why simply “working harder” doesn’t solve structural problems. The session covers limiting team cognitive load and aligning to value streams, setting up the crucial insight that teams need clear boundaries and a limited scope to be effective.

Afternoon session: The four fundamental team types

After lunch, the training introduces the four fundamental team types and groupings that form the core of Team Topologies modelling language. Participants learn how platform, complicated subsystem, and enabling teams support stream-aligned teams in delivering end-to-end value.

Stream-aligned teams are explored first—teams organised around a flow of work that own end-to-end delivery of value. Platform teams andgroups come next, explored as teams that reduce cognitive load and accelerate flow for stream-aligned teams by providing capabilities as compelling internal products. Enabling teams are introduced as specialists who help stream-aligned teams overcome obstacles and build new capabilities by working directly with the team, then move on. Complicated-subsystem teams round out the fundamental types—small teams of specialists handling technical domains where the expertise needed exceeds what a stream-aligned team should carry.

The afternoon includes extended practice mapping existing teams to the four types, identifying mismatches where teams are trying to be multiple types simultaneously. The session covers how Team API and tracking dependencies can help, and introduces the concept of organisational sensing—using team interactions as signals about organisational health.

The day concludes by exploring the benefits and outcomes of intentionally designed team structures that foster happier team members.

Day 2: Getting Started with Team Topologies

Building on day one’s concepts, day two focuses on practical application and how to start introducing Team Topologies into an organisation.

Morning session: Understanding and aligning your current teams

The morning begins by helping participants understand the teams they currently have. Through exercises, participants map their existing teams and practice aligning them with the fundamental team types. This reveals where teams are trying to be multiple types at once—a common source of overload and confusion.

The session then explores concrete ways to limit cognitive load on teams in practice. Participants learn to use the “Reverse Conway” approach to produce software systems that are sustainable by the organisation—deliberately designing team structure to produce the software architecture you actually want rather than letting architecture happen by accident.

Afternoon session: Team interactions and evolution

The afternoon focuses on understanding team interactions and how they can be used to evolve the organisation. The training introduces the three team interaction modes as proven patterns for how teams should work together: collaboration for solving complex problems, X-as-a-Service for consuming without coordination, and facilitation for temporarily building capability.

Using their organisational mapping from the morning, participants practice recognising which mode fits which situation and learn how to drive and evolve (and limit) inter-team collaboration. The session emphasises making sure team structures are explicitly evolved over time rather than drifting randomly.

The training concludes by enabling team interactions to drive organisational sensing—recognising signals that indicate where structures need adjustment. Participants leave with action plans for their first concrete steps in applying Team Topologies.

A final group discussion allows participants to share their planned next steps, get feedback from trainers and peers, and commit to concrete actions.

Practical Information

Duration and format

The training runs across two consecutive full days from 9:00 AM to 5:00 PM each day. Participants should plan to be fully present for both days, as the content builds deliberately, and missing sections create gaps that are hard to fill later.

Prerequisites and preparation

No prior deep knowledge of Team Topologies is required, though familiarity with basic concepts helps you get more from the training. Before attending, participants should review the Team Topologies infographics available at teamtopologies.com/nutshell and teamtopologies.com/getting-started to build basic familiarity with the terminology and core ideas.

If time allows, watching one or more talks from teamtopologies.com/talks provides helpful context. The most important preparation is mental—come ready to examine your organization honestly, participate actively in exercises, and engage in sometimes-uncomfortable conversations about what’s really blocking flow.

Who should attend

This training is designed for professionals who influence or decide on team structure and organizational design. This typically includes engineering managers and directors, CTOs and VPs of Engineering, software architects, product managers and product leaders, organizational change leaders, and Agile coaches or Scrum Masters working on organizational effectiveness.

Individual contributors who want to better understand organizational dynamics are welcome, though they’ll get the most value if they’re in roles where they can influence team structure decisions or are preparing for leadership positions.

The training works particularly well when multiple people from the same organization attend together—ideally a mix of engineering leadership, product leadership, and architectural roles. This creates shared understanding and language that makes subsequent organizational design conversations dramatically more productive.

What participants receive

All participants receive an official certificate of participation from Team Topologies. You’ll have access to all materials used during the training, including exercise templates and reference guides you can use afterwards.

More valuable than any materials is the practical experience working with your organisational context during the two days. Participants leave with concrete insights about their specific organisation—where teams are misaligned, which interaction modes are wrong, and what cognitive load signals are flashing red. That contextual understanding is what enables effective action after the training.

Training delivery and trainers

This training is delivered by Team Topologies Valued Practitioners (TTVPs)—professionals recognised by the Team Topologies core team for their deep expertise and successful application of Team Topologies in real organisational contexts. Your trainers aren’t academics teaching theory; they’re practitioners who have done this work and can guide you through the messy reality of organisational change.

Language and location

The training is delivered in English and typically runs as an in-person workshop, allowing for the collaborative exercises and group dynamics that make the learning most effective.

Group size and interaction

The training is designed for groups of 12-24 participants. This size allows for meaningful small-group work during exercises while maintaining sufficient diversity in organisational contexts so participants learn from each other’s situations. Smaller groups enable more personalised attention from trainers; larger groups provide richer discussion.

Making the most of your investment

To maximise value from this training, come prepared with specific examples and challenges from your organisation. Be ready to actively participate in exercises rather than passively observe. Take notes on insights specific to your context, not just general principles.

If attending with colleagues, plan time after each day to discuss what you’re learning and how it applies to your shared organisational challenges. Some of the most valuable conversations happen in these informal discussions, where you can start aligning on next steps without the pressure of making immediate decisions.

After the training, schedule time within a week to review your notes and action plans while the learning is fresh. Share key insights with colleagues who couldn’t attend. Most importantly, start experimenting with what you’ve learned—small, safe changes that help you build confidence and demonstrate value.