What is the Spotify model?

The Spotify model is an organizational management model for teams developed at Spotify to support agile and autonomous work at the scale of a large organization.

Key elements of the model:

• Squads — small cross-functional teams that operate like mini-startups, responsible for specific functions or products.
• Tribes — groups of several squads working in the same product area and supporting communication between teams.
• Chapters — groups of specialists with the same expertise from different squads who share knowledge and standards.
• Guilds — communities of interest that connect people from different tribes and departments for knowledge sharing.

This model helps maintain flexibility, team autonomy, and at the same time supports consistency and knowledge exchange across the entire company.