better ways of working require better ways of funding the work.
As Open ways of working expand in the organisation, the operating model changes, and that impacts how we fund work. Open ways of working need buffering from the conventional parts of the organisation.
One of these gaps or interfaces is the flow of money, which conventionally is often released in large lump sums for projects, but we want continual streams of funding for standing teams. A mechanism is needed to “mince” the large sums up into smaller continuous flows, and to “underwrite” times when there are gaps in project funding so that we can provide continuity to teams.
Teal Unicorn designed this model for what we now call “Open Funding” to depict all the elements of money flow to support Open ways of working.
It is important that Finance sees itself as a service to those doing value work, not as a control wielding power over it. That funding service can operate in different ways according to the situation.
In a larger organisation we want longer commitments of the stream of money so that a team can function, e.g. annually. In smaller or more fluid organisations, teams compete for funding on each released increment of work, delivering value to justify another increment of money.