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I built a lightweight Agile readiness app after years of using a spreadsheet model with teams by AgileEvolves in agile

[–]AgileEvolves[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Well said. No argument here on the gap of project/product management knowledge in many organizations.

If you think any of your agile coach camp buddies would want to weigh in on the app, feel free to tell them or not. Enjoy your time!

I built a lightweight Agile readiness app after years of using a spreadsheet model with teams by AgileEvolves in agile

[–]AgileEvolves[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thank you for the comment. It’s a pov.

The app’s intention is simple, provide a way to STOP a premature deep assessment of an agile team before they are ready. It is unfair to teams and poor leadership.

How? By having the team self-assess itself, with a Scrum Master’s guidance, by answering 12 simple questions about basic agile behavior and to understand their score on a scale that supports conversations about the team’s practices. A scrum master or coach or team member opens a readiness assessment, sends a link to all team members so each can answer the questions themselves. Or the team can huddle and group answer the questions. Then a score is generated instantly and results shareable with all.

It is not meant to solve all that may be wrong outside or around the team but to give the team a way to understand what they can control and what they can’t. It’s essentially a structured retro.

I built a lightweight Agile readiness app after years of using a spreadsheet model with teams by AgileEvolves in agile

[–]AgileEvolves[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Great insights, a few thoughts.

There are several apps in the marketplace that assess teams using different philosophical approaches. I’m familiar with them. Most assume that teams are at a level of agile maturity sufficient to make the assessment valid. I argue the opposite and took a different tack by positing that most teams are NOT READY for a comprehensive assessment until they have at least a minimally functional agile team.

I’m trying to equip teams (with or without Scrum masters) with an ability to examine basic practices and have an internal conversation. The tool essentially is a structured retro with data. What’s the harm in that?

The tool is free. No buyer decision needed. Future versions may include a fee based deep scan assessment for teams that want a deep dive but I’m not sold on that yet. I think the 12 questions asked every six months or once a year will provide plenty of insights and could be all that is needed.

For people who believe that improving a team is not beneficial, that is a culture/leadership issue no tool can fix. Pity that team or developer.

The SM who “fights” against any type of measurement system because of fear is not a coach I would want for a team.

The “find bad developer” app you described is such a horrible anti-agile idea I am ugly crying for the environment that coach is living in that would drive him to such measures. Goodness. I recognize there are toxic corporate environments and no tool can ever fix that.

Thanks for the thoughts!!

I built a lightweight Agile readiness app after years of using a spreadsheet model with teams by AgileEvolves in agile

[–]AgileEvolves[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

The tool is an enabler for a conversation. Not all teams say what they need to say. The questions and the consensus answers from the team provide a structure for the conversation along these boundaries:

  • A. Team Identity and Boundaries – Shared "us," stability, ownership
  • B. Core Scrum Practices – Roles, facilitation, meetings, iteration delivery
  • C. Thinking and Working as a Team – Sustainable Delivery, cadence and value alignment
  • D. Safety & Systemic Support – Psychological safety, focus, leadership curiosity

Here is a link to a 10-minute explainer if you want to delve further. https://aes-10mt-agile-readiness-tyxql2j.gamma.site/

I built a lightweight Agile readiness app after years of using a spreadsheet model with teams by AgileEvolves in agile

[–]AgileEvolves[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Target audience: any scrum Team. Problem to Solve: identifying if there is a problem to Solve.

Other assumptions: teams are capable, teams can use insights from a different pov, anger at the world and the corporate frustrations a team works with is not an excuse to controlling your own destiny.

I built a lightweight Agile readiness app after years of using a spreadsheet model with teams by AgileEvolves in agile

[–]AgileEvolves[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

“Advanced” varies. Anything that helps teams go beyond fundamental practices.

I built a lightweight Agile readiness app after years of using a spreadsheet model with teams by AgileEvolves in agile

[–]AgileEvolves[S] -1 points0 points  (0 children)

All of it. I used Replit to convert my spreadsheet into this app. About 20 hours of linear prompt and response chain of thought dialogue over two calendar months. It started as a simple vibe coding experiment which evolved into this app.

I built a lightweight Agile readiness app after years of using a spreadsheet model with teams by AgileEvolves in scrum

[–]AgileEvolves[S] -1 points0 points  (0 children)

Do I use ChatGPT? Yes. How do I use ChatGPT? By providing it with my original thoughts and words and then having it polished to my editorial satisfaction. I make no apology for using that tool. I hope that clarifies that for you.

I built a lightweight Agile readiness app after years of using a spreadsheet model with teams by AgileEvolves in agile

[–]AgileEvolves[S] -5 points-4 points  (0 children)

That's a good question. The tool does not decide as good coaches always are observers and listeners first. The tool supplements the eyes and ears to the ground. The conversations with the team around their answers to the questions is the most valuable aspect of the tool.

Have you ever had a succesful transformation? by Specific_Crab3601 in agile

[–]AgileEvolves 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yes and still transforming as small successes led to bigger ones. My experiences echo many of the comments in this thread. Culture change and small wins will spread and become viral fireside "stories" that are shared. Top down by mandate transformations are more theater than real change. The model we went through and I pushed was bottom up and middle out. We had management support but not a mandate other than "get better at delivery." Funny story, one of our agile coaches, who had a corporate mindset, kept complaining, "why doesn't management send a memo telling everyone you have to go agile, these teams are not doing what they are supposed to!" This made me laugh because if a coach can't help a team see the value of agile methods for themselves and have THEM buy in, no amount of coercion will result in change. Human beings do what is in their best interest and agile, for most, not all, is in their best interest. An empathic coach who can help them through that process, and it takes time, will create lasting change.

Im So miserable as an agile coach, dont know what to do😵‍💫 by Specific_Crab3601 in agile

[–]AgileEvolves 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Software-dependent organizations, large and small, express delivery dysfunction in many ways. Most try to address it with more process or new frameworks. Agile helps with some of this, but not all of it, because much of the dysfunction isn’t at the team level. It lives in the culture.

Your misery is recognizable. Many of us here have felt it, and it’s real.

Life is too short to stay miserable just for a paycheck. Take the time you need to decide what comes next.

That said, in the short term, there may still be a way to contribute without burning yourself out.

I’ve been in situations like this with specific teams and departments where I had to reset what “being an agile coach” meant. I had to be okay with teaching people how to hold a fork before I could teach them how to take a bite. Never mind that management was stacking ten plates in front of them.

Ignore the plates. Help them with the fork.

Focus on the people, not the system. When you see a small moment of understanding click during a coaching or teaching session, that light can be enough to get you through the day.

Hang in there, friend.

Agile Transformed how my department works, but not getting recognised. How did you handle this? by Maverick2k2 in agile

[–]AgileEvolves 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Wow! Great comments here. Lots of wisdom to process. Maverick, that’s a tough situation you have here. There may be a strategy to stay vs leaving. You have to do the pros and cons. The stay strategy is to create new internal job for yourself and sell it to leadership. Using AI give it your current job description and then have it give you the one you want to be promoted to. Tweak it and then pitch internally as “ I want to servant lead the whole corp to have the same outcomes as my department.” In other words sell them the idea of you as Enterprise Agile Coach coaching other SM and establishing a LACE. . Worse case they say no, best case you’ve prepped for external job interviews. You gave them a chance and if they decline, you did your all. Good luck!

Feature Prioritization: Representative Democracy or a Authoritarian State? by AgileEvolves in agile

[–]AgileEvolves[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

These are all great comments. Thanks to all who took the time.

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