Solve conflicts by giving ownership of the solution to the most impacted party

Problem

A typical problem for teams is communication between the "features" team and the "install" team. "Features" teams can be late and make unexpected decisions, thus impacting the "install" team, who are the last link of the chain.

Actions Taken

We started by setting up communication rules between the two lead devs, with the "install" lead dev being notified by the "feature" lead of when the feature would start being coded. It worked at first, but 20 percent of the time the "feature" lead dev would forget. Why? Because he fundamentally did not have much to gain by doing so. We then turned the problem around and put the "install" lead dev in charge of getting the information at the right time, giving him back the ownership. He decided to attend the "feature" team's sprint meetings and asked for a new "feature done" requirement regarding installation.

Lessons learned

Situations like these usually lead to stress overload, the install team feeling they are not being considered by the company for, and a decrease in the quality of the delivery. I believe giving the ownership of the solution to the party that is most impacted by the problem was the best way to solve this issue. Moreover, the other party was then very supportive that the "install" lead dev was being proactive in solving the issue.

"A typical problem for teams is communication between the 'features' team and the 'install' team."

"I believe giving the ownership of the solution to the party that is most impacted by the problem was the best way to solve this issue."