Parameters for Agile Assessment (With Data Collection Template)

What should I assess in a team before creating an Agile Assessment Report?

👋 Hello, I’m Vibhor, and welcome to the 🔒 subscriber-only edition 🔒 of my weekly Training Series powered by Winning Strategy. Every week, I answer one reader question and publish 2 posts about Agile Products, Role-Based Skills, and anything else that you need answered about your Career Growth. You can send me your questions here.

On to this week’s question

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Q: I'm an agile coach in Blackrock for one of the business units. We have 100+ team members, and I basically work as a coach across 14 teams. I need to know what standard parameters I need to consider in assessing these teams.

Thank you for the question.

Agile Assessment Reports come in all shapes and sizes.

Some are to the point, suggesting splitting a big team into two. Some are more comprehensive, suggesting changes across the unit (such as yours).

I have been lucky enough to participate in a wide range of Agile Assessments, from single-team assessments to Portfolio assessments comprised of many ARTs. Regardless of the size of the Assessment I was conducting, the one thing that was common in all was the presence of “boundaries” for those Assessments.

Boundaries that were created by the expectations of those who wanted those Assessments to be done.

The point I am trying to make here is that each Agile Assessment is unique, and this “uniqueness” comes from “what is expected out of your coaching assignment.”

So before I give you a complete list of parameters for Agile Assessment, I hope you have already done the due diligence such as:

1. meeting with the key stakeholders

2. discussing their concerns and desired outcomes from the assessment

3. determining which teams, departments, or processes will be included

4. agree on specific, measurable objectives for the assessment

5. determine how success will be evaluated, and

6. making sure all parties have a shared understanding and agreement on the “vision” statement for Agile Assessment

Examples of such vision statements are:

1. “Identify bottlenecks in the current workflow and recommend actionable solutions to increase productivity”

2. “Evaluate the effectiveness of current metrics and reporting systems, recommending adjustments to support data-driven decision-making”

3. "Develop a training plan to address skill gaps and improve the team’s understanding and application of Agile principles"

4. "Pinpoint areas where the team can improve their ability to deliver value to customers consistently”

5. "Evaluate the current level of collaboration within and across teams and suggest strategies to create a more cohesive work environment"

There could also be an all-encompassing vision statement like:

6. “Create a strategy to improve the team’s productivity”

It doesn’t matter what the Assessment Vision Statement is as long as you have one.

Why?

Because a vision statement will give you clear boundaries, and as long as you’re within those boundaries, you will feel empowered.

Also, if you remember, it is the same Pre-Coaching Assessment we discussed in the “Agile Coaching Lifecycle” post.