9 Tips to Build a High-Performing DevOps Culture Across Teams

The need for seamless collaboration between development and operations teams has never been greater. But building a high-performing DevOps culture isn’t just about tools or workflows—it’s about fostering trust, shared accountability, and continuous learning. Struggling with silos? Facing resistance to change? You’re not alone. Many organizations grapple with aligning teams and scaling DevOps practices effectively.

This guide dives into everything you need to know about DevOps culture—why it matters, the challenges you might face, and, most importantly, nine actionable tips to create a thriving, high-performing DevOps culture across teams. Ready to unlock your organization’s full potential? Let’s get started!

What is DevOps?

DevOps is a transformative approach to software development and IT operations that prioritizes collaboration, agility, and efficiency. It’s a methodology that combines “development” and “operations” to streamline workflows, accelerate delivery, and improve the quality of software releases. Unlike traditional methods, where development teams focus solely on building software and operations teams handle deployment and maintenance, DevOps unites them under shared goals and accountability.

For example, a DevOps team might implement continuous integration and delivery (CI/CD) pipelines to automate the testing and deployment of new features. This ensures quicker feedback loops and reduces manual errors. Tools like Jenkins, Kubernetes, and Docker often support these processes, but DevOps isn’t just about technology—it’s about fostering a culture of shared ownership and continuous improvement.

By breaking down silos, encouraging open communication, and adopting agile practices, DevOps helps organizations deliver high-quality software faster, adapt to market demands, and stay ahead of the competition.

What is DevOps culture?

DevOps culture is about breaking down barriers between development and operations teams to foster collaboration, shared responsibility, and continuous improvement. It’s not just a technical approach but a cultural mindset where transparency, communication, and trust take center stage. DevOps culture emphasizes team autonomy, fast feedback, and the principle of "you build it, you run it," ensuring teams are accountable for a product’s entire lifecycle.

A discussions on Reddit highlight that DevOps culture thrives in organizations with clear responsibilities and well-defined processes. As one user shared, asking interviewers about their CI/CD pipeline and the division of roles can reveal how aligned a company is with true DevOps practices. Another suggested asking about the biggest challenges teams face to gauge whether DevOps is genuinely embedded or just a label.

An Example of DevOps Culture in Action:

Netflix exemplifies a high-functioning DevOps culture. By empowering teams to independently deploy and manage services, they foster innovation and ensure reliability. Their "Simian Army" tools proactively test system resilience, a hallmark of automation and collaboration-driven DevOps practices.

DevOps Culture Across Work Environments:

• In-office Teams: Co-located teams benefit from face-to-face interactions, quick troubleshooting, and immediate feedback, all of which align with DevOps values of collaboration and agility.

• Remote Teams: Remote work has introduced challenges like time zone differences and reliance on digital tools. However, organizations that embrace asynchronous communication, shared dashboards, and virtual collaboration tools like Slack, Zoom, and Jira continue to succeed.

• Hybrid Teams: A hybrid setup offers the best of both worlds—occasional in-person collaboration for brainstorming and remote flexibility for focus work.

In all setups, DevOps culture thrives when teams are empowered with the autonomy to make decisions, clear workflows to streamline processes, and tools that ensure seamless collaboration and fast feedback loops.

9 Tips to Build a High-Performing DevOps Culture Across Teams

1. Start Small

What It Is and Why It’s Important:
Transforming an entire IT organization’s processes and culture to adopt DevOps is a daunting task. The key to success lies in starting small and focusing on manageable, high-impact projects or teams. By choosing an initiative that’s both meaningful and has a strong chance of success, you can demonstrate the tangible benefits of DevOps. Early wins build momentum, foster confidence among stakeholders, and provide valuable lessons that can be scaled across the organization.

How to Apply It in In-House, Remote, and Hybrid Settings:

• In-House: Select a specific team or department for a pilot project. For example, choose a cross-functional team that already collaborates well and implements DevOps practices such as Continuous Integration and Continuous Delivery (CI/CD). Monitor progress, document successes, and communicate these wins across the organization to inspire others.

• Remote: Begin with a small, remote-first team using cloud-based tools to ensure visibility and collaboration. Platforms like GitHub, Jenkins, or GitLab make remote CI/CD pipelines accessible and manageable. Regular virtual check-ins and status updates help maintain alignment and foster trust.

• Hybrid: Use a hybrid team that includes both on-site and remote members. Establish clear communication protocols and ensure all team members have access to the same tools. Physical meetings can be combined with virtual updates to ensure alignment and cohesion.

2. Foster Collaboration

DevOps hinges on breaking down silos between development, operations, and QA teams to create a cohesive, cross-functional unit. Collaboration is the cornerstone of this transformation. Without trust and open communication, the shift to DevOps will fail. Collaboration ensures shared goals, streamlines workflows, and accelerates problem-solving, ultimately leading to faster and more reliable delivery of products.

How to Apply It in In-House, Remote, and Hybrid Settings:

• In-House: Encourage informal interactions and co-working spaces that bring teams together. Daily stand-ups or cross-team retrospectives help align objectives and foster trust. Create opportunities for team-building activities that strengthen bonds across departments.

• Remote: Use tools like Slack, Microsoft Teams, or Zoom to maintain open communication channels. Implement virtual team-building exercises to foster connections and build trust in a distributed environment. Collaborative tools like Trello, Miro, or Asana can centralize project management and encourage shared ownership.

• Hybrid: Balance in-person and virtual interactions to ensure collaboration remains strong across all team members. Use in-office time for deeper brainstorming or problem-solving sessions, while virtual meetings maintain continuity for remote members.

3. Embrace the DevOps Culture

DevOps is not just a set of tools or processes; it’s a fundamental cultural shift. Adopting this culture means fostering a mindset that values collaboration, continuous learning, and shared responsibility. It requires organizations to embrace a growth mindset where failures are treated as opportunities to improve rather than moments of blame. Without this cultural shift, even the best tools and processes will fail to achieve the desired results.

How to Apply It in In-House, Remote, and Hybrid Settings:

• In-House: Organize workshops or training sessions to educate teams about DevOps values and principles. Encourage leaders to model this mindset by rewarding collaboration and experimentation. Use blameless retrospectives to review missteps and extract lessons without pointing fingers.

• Remote: Promote transparency and trust by regularly sharing updates and successes across distributed teams. Foster a “climate for learning” by providing virtual training, certifications, and access to knowledge-sharing platforms like Confluence or GitHub wikis.

• Hybrid: Combine in-person sessions with virtual resources to build a culture that resonates across physical and digital workspaces. Ensure consistent messaging about DevOps culture from leaders, whether addressing the team onsite or online.

4. Carefully Select Proper Tools

Effective tooling is critical for DevOps success. Tools that facilitate automation, collaboration, and monitoring form the backbone of efficient DevOps practices. However, selecting tools that integrate seamlessly into a cohesive toolchain is just as important. Mismatched or poorly integrated tools can create bottlenecks, erode efficiency, and hinder collaboration.

How to Apply It in In-House, Remote, and Hybrid Settings:

• In-House: Evaluate tools based on the team’s workflows and needs. For instance, integrate CI/CD pipelines with tools like Jenkins, CircleCI, or Azure DevOps. Set up dashboards in shared spaces to provide visibility into project progress.

• Remote: Choose cloud-based solutions like GitLab or Bitbucket that enable collaboration and real-time updates. Use shared monitoring and incident management platforms like PagerDuty or Splunk to ensure everyone stays informed regardless of location.

• Hybrid: Standardize tools across the organization, ensuring both on-site and remote team members have access. Create playbooks or guidelines to help teams use these tools effectively, regardless of their work setting.

5. Consider Cloud Computing

Cloud computing provides the flexibility, scalability, and centralized infrastructure needed to support DevOps practices effectively. Its compatibility with automation and CI/CD processes makes it a natural choice for organizations adopting DevOps. Leveraging cloud platforms reduces costs, enhances governance, and simplifies distributed deployments.

How to Apply It in In-House, Remote, and Hybrid Settings:

• In-House: Implement private cloud solutions for security-sensitive environments while still reaping the benefits of DevOps automation. Use centralized governance tools to streamline deployment processes.

• Remote: Opt for public or hybrid cloud solutions to provide seamless access to infrastructure for remote teams. Platforms like AWS, Azure, or Google Cloud offer built-in DevOps support with automation tools like Elastic Beanstalk or Cloud Build.

• Hybrid: Adopt hybrid cloud models to cater to diverse needs. For instance, on-premises servers can handle sensitive workloads, while cloud services facilitate remote collaboration and scalability.

6. Establish End-to-End Responsibility

Traditional workflows separate development and operations, often leading to inefficiencies, miscommunication, and bottlenecks. DevOps eliminates this divide by encouraging teams to take ownership of the entire software lifecycle. Shared responsibility improves collaboration, reduces handoff delays, and fosters a stronger commitment to quality.

How to Apply It in In-House, Remote, and Hybrid Settings:

• In-House: Restructure teams to include both developers and operations personnel, creating cross-functional units. Encourage joint accountability by aligning team KPIs with product success.

• Remote: Define clear roles and responsibilities while promoting shared accountability using collaboration tools. For example, DevOps teams can maintain shared dashboards to track issues and jointly manage production environments.

• Hybrid: Ensure both on-site and remote team members are equally involved in decision-making. Use centralized tools to provide visibility into tasks and ensure everyone has the same level of accountability.

7. Prioritize Continuous Feedback Loops

Feedback is the cornerstone of any high-performing DevOps culture. Continuous feedback loops allow teams to quickly identify issues, make improvements, and adjust processes or deliverables to meet user and organizational needs. It fosters a culture of agility, where teams are responsive to feedback from customers, stakeholders, and internal peers. Feedback ensures that work aligns with goals and reduces the likelihood of mistakes compounding across the software development lifecycle.

Whether working in-house, remotely, or in hybrid teams, the lack of real-time communication can lead to bottlenecks. That’s why robust feedback systems are essential for continuous improvement and faster delivery of value.

How to Apply It:

• For In-House Teams: Implement regular check-ins during standups or sprint reviews to assess the project’s direction. Set up physical feedback boards or displays where team members can post ideas or issues, making the process transparent.

• For Remote Teams: Utilize tools like Slack, Teams, or JIRA to create asynchronous feedback channels. For immediate insights, schedule short feedback huddles after major releases or milestone achievements.

• For Hybrid Teams: Employ tools like Miro or MURAL to create virtual whiteboards where both in-house and remote members can share their input. Conduct monthly hybrid retrospective sessions to gather perspectives and build alignment.

Encourage developers and operations teams to provide feedback on processes, tooling, and workflows to ensure they feel heard. Make adjustments in real-time based on the input received, fostering trust and collaboration across the board.

8. Build a DevOps Learning Ecosystem

DevOps isn’t a one-time implementation; it’s an ongoing journey of improvement. Building a culture of continuous learning ensures that your teams stay current with industry best practices, emerging tools, and innovative methodologies. A learning ecosystem encourages experimentation, innovation, and personal growth, which ultimately benefits the organization’s overall DevOps maturity.

A learning culture also helps bridge the knowledge gap between development and operations, enabling smoother collaboration. In remote or hybrid environments, this becomes even more important as teams may not have as many spontaneous opportunities for on-the-job learning.

How to Apply It:

• For In-House Teams: Conduct regular lunch-and-learn sessions or workshops to share new tools, methodologies, or trends. Use physical spaces like bulletin boards or libraries to showcase resources such as books, whitepapers, or case studies.

• For Remote Teams: Establish an online learning portal with curated DevOps courses, webinars, and recorded sessions. Set up an internal mentorship program where experienced team members guide newcomers or less experienced colleagues.

• For Hybrid Teams: Balance both in-person and virtual training sessions. For example, host live training events in-office while simultaneously streaming them for remote members. Create a shared knowledge repository accessible to all team members.

Invest in certifications or training programs for team members to deepen their expertise. Consider allocating time for innovation projects where team members can experiment with new tools or techniques, fostering a culture of hands-on learning.

9. Create Shared Metrics and Goals

Shared goals and metrics unify teams under a common vision and purpose. In DevOps, this means establishing key performance indicators (KPIs) that everyone agrees on, such as deployment frequency, lead time for changes, mean time to recovery (MTTR), or customer satisfaction. Shared metrics reduce the likelihood of misaligned priorities between development and operations while driving accountability.

This is especially crucial in remote or hybrid teams, where individuals may feel disconnected from the larger organizational mission. Transparent goals help everyone stay focused and motivated, regardless of location.

How to Apply It:

• For In-House Teams: Use dashboards or physical charts in the office to make team metrics visible. Celebrate milestones or improvements collectively, reinforcing the value of collaboration.

• For Remote Teams: Use tools like Grafana, Datadog, or custom dashboards to provide real-time access to team performance metrics. Schedule regular virtual check-ins to discuss progress, challenges, and potential improvements.

• For Hybrid Teams: Create a unified dashboard accessible to both in-house and remote employees. Host hybrid planning meetings where all team members can contribute to setting and reviewing goals.

6 DevOps Culture Best Practices

• 1Build cross-functional teams with skills in development, operations, and security. For small teams, cross-train members to bridge skill gaps and promote collaboration. Scale gradually as your DevOps practice matures.
• 2Streamline software delivery with automated pipelines using tools like GitHub Actions, CircleCI, or GitLab. Automate testing at every stage (unit, integration, and end-to-end) to ensure high-quality releases and faster feedback loops.
• 3Adopt IaC tools like Terraform or AWS CloudFormation to manage infrastructure in a consistent, repeatable way. IaC reduces human error, ensures identical environments, and makes scaling easier.
• 4Use Docker containers to package applications and their dependencies for consistent performance across environments. This simplifies deployments, maximizes resource efficiency, and enables easy migration between development, testing, and production environments.
• 5Integrate security practices throughout the development lifecycle using DevSecOps principles. Automate security testing with tools like OWASP ZAP and Nessus, and conduct regular security audits to maintain a strong security posture.
• 6Automate repetitive tasks like code deployment, infrastructure provisioning, and testing. Use tools like Qovery for one-click deployments, automatic scaling, and built-in CI/CD pipelines to streamline operations and reduce manual effort.

Challenges You May Face When Building a DevOps Culture

Implementing a DevOps culture can be rewarding but comes with its fair share of challenges. Below are some common obstacles and ways to address them:

Resistance to Change

Many teams are hesitant to shift away from traditional workflows, adhering to the “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” mindset. Employees used to working in silos may view the collaborative, automated nature of DevOps as disruptive. Overcome this by clearly communicating the benefits of DevOps and demonstrating how automation reduces repetitive tasks, making their jobs easier and more efficient.

Lack of Automation Expertise

Automation lies at the heart of DevOps, yet not all teams have the technical expertise to implement it effectively. Engineers and administrators may need to write and debug scripts, which can seem daunting. Start small by automating simple, repetitive tasks, and provide targeted training to bridge knowledge gaps. Garner leadership buy-in to ensure access to resources and time for upskilling.

Legacy Infrastructure

Outdated systems can impede DevOps adoption. Legacy infrastructure often lacks compatibility with modern automation tools or scalability. Address this by modernizing systems where possible—migrating to the cloud, adopting containerization, or implementing microservices architecture to create a more flexible and automation-friendly environment.

Difficulty Measuring Success

Tracking the impact of DevOps initiatives can be challenging without clear metrics. Focus on key performance indicators (KPIs) such as deployment frequency, lead time for changes, mean time to recovery (MTTR), defect rates, and customer satisfaction. These metrics provide tangible evidence of progress and areas needing improvement.