In a previous post, we talked about the benefits of team surveys as a method of driving improvement. In this article we take a look at a tool that can be used create these surveys and collect the data needed to identify opportunities for teams to improve their basic agile delivery capabilities.
Agile delivery capability at its most basic is centered around 3 sets of things:
- Building Product Backlogs, where items represent incremental value
- Forming teams with all the necessary skills needed to deliver
- The ability to produce working, tested software as the output of every iteration
These basics have been described at length elsewhere, for example, in this Leading Agile Video.
In this post I wanted to present a survey tool specifically customized to evaluate an organization’s capabilities in these 3 areas.
| Category | Question |
| Team | The team understands how their work aligns to the strategy. |
| Team | Team members are dedicated to a single team |
| Team | The team is sized to enable agility (7 +/- 2 people) |
| Team | The team has all the skills to create working product increments |
| Team | Team members feel they are operating at a sustainable pace |
| Team | The team is empowered to make decisions on how best to do the work |
| Team | Team members value collective success more than individual achievement. |
| Team | Team members are committed to agreed-upon goals and decisions. |
| Team | The team consistently achieves its objectives. |
| Backlog | A Vision or Product Goal has been defined for the product |
| Backlog | The Product Backlog is the single source of work for the team |
| Backlog | The Product Backlog is owned and managed by a single Product Owner |
| Backlog | There is a Definition of Ready for Backlog Items |
| Backlog | Backlog items meet INVEST criteria |
| Backlog | Product Owner collaborates with team to refine Backlog Items |
| Increment | Each Sprint/Iteration has a clear goal |
| Increment | Completed backlog items meet Acceptance Criteria |
| Increment | Completed backlog items meet a Definition of Done |
| Increment | Majority of Backlog Items can be brought to Done in 1-3 days |
| Increment | The team delivers working tested product increments each Iteration |
Each question can be presented in a Likert-style formulation, for example:
The team is invited to take the survey. Anonymity can be maintained to encourage openness. The tool captures and summarizes the results:
A final step would be for the team to convene to review the results and agree on any actions they want to take to address areas that need improvement.
Here is the link to the tool:iRetro.io.
iRetro is a suite of integrated tools for Continuous Improvement that includes support for Agile Delivery Capability Assessments, Team Engagement Surveys, Agile Retrospectives, and has a built-in Kanban system for tracking improvement actions to closure.