From 14 Engineers to a Highly Effective Team: A Tale of Specialization vs. Generalization

A 14-person engineering team struggled with poor communication and low efficiency. They tried various solutions, including asynchronous stand-ups and team splitting, but failed to address the root cause. Finally, they abandoned specialization and adopted a generalist model, empowering team members to master multiple skills and share responsibility across all aspects of the product. This shift yielded unexpected positive results: smoother collaboration, significantly improved efficiency, faster delivery, higher quality, and optimized resource utilization. However, the generalist model also presented challenges, such as some members leaving and increased workload. The author argues there's no one-size-fits-all best practice; what works for your team is best, and continuous improvement and experimentation are key.