Business Agility

Business agility and effective use of Scrum are directly connected. If you are “doing Scrum” but are not realizing the business agility outcomes you desire, you should consider how you are applying the Scrum Framework with an agile mindset. To determine how agile your business is, rate your degree of agreement with the following statements on a scale of 1–10 (1 = highly disagree, 10 = highly agree).

• Your organization is satisfied with your product’s return on investment.

• You produce a “Done” (i.e., potentially releasable) Increment at least once every Sprint.

• Your customers are happy with the frequency with which they receive releases.

• Stakeholder and customer feedback are incorporated into the product to improve the value of the product.

• You validate assumptions about the value of the work that you are doing based on market, customer, or user feedback.

• You can deliver new product capabilities in an acceptable period of time.

• You can respond to new opportunities or risks in an acceptable amount of time.

• You understand, and have evidence to support, your customers’ needs.

• You understand how your users or customers use the product, including which features they use.

• You understand current and trending market conditions for your product.

• Your customers feel that the level of quality of your product is high.

• You spend an acceptable ratio of your product investment on maintaining the product or fixing defects (versus new product capabilities).

• Your teams are very satisfied with their work.

• Your teams are very satisfied with their learning and growth opportunities.

Effective Empiricism with Scrum

To determine how empirical you are, rate your degree of agreement with the following statements on a scale of 1–10 (1 = highly disagree, 10 = highly agree).

• We have a Product Owner and …

  • We have a single Product Owner who is empowered to make decisions to maximize the value of the product.

  • The Product Owner regularly communicates a clear vision for the product.

  • The Product Owner has easy access to data to help her measure the impact of changes to the product.

  • The Product Owner is knowledgeable about the product strategy and how it aligns with business objectives.

  • The Product Owner actively seeks input from stakeholders and sets expectations with stakeholders.

  • The Product Owner is available to help answer questions and guide the value created by the Development Team during the Sprint.

  • The Product Owner is able to focus adequate time on understanding customer/user needs, establishing and communicating the product vision, and exploring new ways of delivering value.

• We have a Scrum Team and …

  • The Scrum Team feels empowered to make changes to its processes and tools.

  • The Scrum Team actively seeks to reduce waste in its processes.

• We do Sprint Planning and …

  • The entire Scrum Team fully participates and achieves the purpose within the time-box.

  • The Scrum Team creates a Sprint Goal that provides a clear purpose for doing the Sprint.

  • The Scrum Team is able to plan the Sprint efficiently and effectively with their knowledge and the information available in the Product Backlog.

  • At the end of a Sprint, it is clear whether we have met the Sprint Goal.

• We do Sprints and ….

  • The Sprint is one month or less, and the length of the Sprint remains consistent.

  • The Sprint is short enough to give the business the flexibility it needs to limit investment risk, get feedback to validate assumptions, and change direction frequently enough.

  • There is always a potentially releasable Increment that provides business value by the end of every Sprint.

  • The Scrum Team consistently meets its Sprint Goals.

  • The Development Team learns more about the business needs every Sprint through collaboration with the Product Owner and other stakeholders.

• We have an Increment and …

  • The definition of “Done” reflects a releasable product and is expanding over time to improve quality and completeness.

  • The Scrum Team does not cut quality under pressure to deliver more.

  • The Product Owner is never surprised by the Increment inspected in the Sprint Review.

  • Stakeholders are nearly always happy with the Increment shown in the Sprint Review; when they are not, the Product Owner responds by using the feedback to adapt the Product Backlog.

• We have a Development Team and …

  • The Development Team members have autonomy over how they develop and deliver the Increment, and they feel empowered to make these decisions.

  • All members of the Development Team have a clear understanding of the definition of “Done.”

  • The Development Team works to clarify and enhance the definition of “Done” to improve quality and completeness over time.

• We have a Product Backlog and …

  • The Product Backlog is available and understandable to the Scrum Team and stakeholders.

  • The Product Backlog is an ordered list representing what is currently planned for the product.

  • The Product Backlog clearly identifies the value of each item.

  • The Product Backlog is frequently refined and updated as more information is learned through delivering the product and inspecting changes in the environment.

  • The Product Backlog is not simply a translation of other requirements documentation handed to the Scrum Team.

  • The Product Backlog is not simply an ever-growing list of every customer/stakeholder request, but rather reflects a thoughtful response to customer needs and desired outcomes.

• We have a Sprint Backlog and …

  • The Sprint Backlog clearly communicates progress toward the Sprint Goal.

  • At least one actionable improvement from a previous Sprint Retrospective is included in the Sprint Backlog.

  • The Development Team frequently updates the Sprint Backlog to reflect new learnings as the work progresses.

  • There is rarely partially complete work at the end of a Sprint.

• We have a Daily Scrum and …

  • The entire Development Team fully participates and achieves the purpose within the time-box.

  • The Daily Scrum is a collaborative planning session facilitated by the Development Team.

  • By the end of the Daily Scrum, the Development Team understands the progress made toward the Sprint Goal, any impediments blocking or slowing progress, and the plan for the next 24 hours.

  • The Daily Scrum is not simply a status update, but actively facilitates collaboration to help improve the ability of the team to deliver value.

• We have a Sprint Review and …

  • The entire Scrum Team and invited stakeholders fully participate and achieve the purpose within the time-box.

  • Sprint Reviews are collaborative and generate helpful feedback about the Increment and the product direction.

  • All necessary stakeholders attend to provide relevant and useful feedback.

  • Stakeholders understand the value of empiricism when solving complex problems; they don’t view Scrum as simply a way to do more work in less time.

  • Stakeholders are concerned with having a releasable Increment that meets a business objective rather than whether all the forecasted Product Backlog items were completed, or whether all applicable procedures were followed.

  • There is more emphasis on having a releaseable, high quality Increment that provides value than on completing everything that was planned in Sprint Planning.

• We have a Sprint Retrospective and …

  • The entire Scrum Team fully participates and achieves the purpose within the time-box.

  • Sprint Retrospectives include open and meaningful discussions about how the Scrum Team is working.

  • During the Sprint Retrospective, the Scrum Team identifies actionable improvements to implement in the next Sprint.

  • The Scrum Team implements the actionable commitments in a timely manner and assesses the impact.

• We have a Scrum Master and …

  • The Scrum Master ensures that the Scrum Team understands and adheres to the Scrum Framework while enabling and encouraging self-organization.

  • The Scrum Master embodies the Scrum values and empiricism.

  • The Scrum Master actively helps the Development Team make its work transparent.

  • The Scrum Master helps the Scrum Team embrace the Scrum values and empiricism.

  • The Scrum Master embodies agility to the organization and actively works to remove organizational impediments.

  • The Scrum Master understands the Scrum Team’s health and is helping improve collaborative teamwork.

  • The Scrum Master causes changes to improve productivity and quality without undermining self-organization.

  • The Scrum Master acts as a servant-leader, measuring her own success by the growth of the team and the team’s success in achieving the benefits of Scrum.

Effective Teamwork with Scrum

To determine the effectiveness of teamwork in your Scrum implementation, consider the level of applicability of the following statements, rating them on a scale of 1–10 (1 = highly disagree, 10 = highly agree).

• Commitment and Focus

  • We measure success based on achievement of shared goals and outcomes.

  • We hold each other accountable to commitments and quality standards.

  • We make value-driven, consensus-based decisions.

  • All team members support team decisions and plans of action.

  • All team members are willing to push themselves beyond their comfort zone.

  • We focus on one or two small things, get those done, and then move on to the next thing.

• Openness and Courage

  • All team members proactively help others on the team.

  • All team members proactively ask for help.

  • All team members quickly admit mistakes and seek solutions.

  • All team members are willing to share their ideas and perspectives.

  • We handle failure or setbacks by reflecting on what we learned and trying another approach.

  • We bring up issues and concerns proactively and directly.

  • We are able to adapt to unexpected change.

  • Team members challenge assumptions, both their own and those of the wider organization.

• Respect

  • All team members are capable of and willing to resolve conflicts respectfully and productively.

  • We frequently provide each other with constructive feedback for individual and team growth.

  • All team members are open to hearing and considering different ideas and perspectives.

  • We work to improve cross-functionality and grow business, technology, and process knowledge across the team.

Analysis of Assessment Answers

Go back and look at your assessment answers. Now consider the current trends for each one:

• In which areas are you moving toward desired outcomes?

• In which areas are you stagnating?

• In which areas are you moving backward?

Now consider these questions:

• Does it feel as if you are just going through the motions? Or do you show up with heart, intention, and commitment?

• How much open and honest discussion is happening within the Scrum Team about the challenges and ideas for improvement?

• How much control do the Scrum Team members have over how they do the work to develop and deliver the product?

• How much support is management providing to remove organizational impediments?