Skip to main content

Collaboration & communication dimension

1 - Reactive

Description​

  • Communication between teams and tribes/org is minimal, often leading to duplicated efforts and missed dependencies.
  • Teams within the tribe tend to operate in silos, leading to a lack of awareness of others' activities.
  • Collaboration relies primarily on individual relationships and not systematic practices.
  • Collaboration is limited, often happening only when issues arise.
  • Decisions are often taken in isolation and aren't consistently communicated to other members or teams.
  • There's a lack of clarity on roles, responsibilities, and decision-making authority.

Improvement focus​

  • Promote knowledge-sharing sessions and cross-team meetings.
  • Encourage sharing of updates and issues among teams.
  • Establish primary communication channels (e.g., chat platforms, email).

2 - Managed

Description​

  • Structured communication protocols are in place, ensuring that teams are well-informed about project statuses, challenges, and updates.
  • Communication channels between teams are established, but collaboration is sporadic and mainly reactive.
  • Collaboration tends to be event-driven, like during major issues or releases, rather than a continuous practice.
  • Decision-making is sometimes shared, but teams lack consistent clarity on the rationale behind them.
  • Roles and responsibilities are clearly defined and followed inside the tribe.

Improvement focus​

  • Promote inter-team activities and workshops.
  • Regularly schedule cross-team meetings or sync-ups.
  • Encourage teams to actively share updates, risks, and challenges.
  • Implement best practices for documenting and sharing knowledge.
  • Begin documenting key decisions (including the "why" behind decisions) and share them within the tribe/org.

3 - Defined

Description​

  • Regular stand-ups and cross-team collaboration and retrospectives.
  • Proactive communication and collaboration between teams (product, architecture, development, test eng, delivery) are regular, with established forums or meetings for inter-team discussions, with meeting notes captured consistently.
  • Collaboration is proactive, with teams frequently reaching out for insights and feedback.
  • There are established structured channels for both formal and informal feedback among team members, encouraging regular and constructive communication that focuses on continuous improvement in collaboration practices.
  • Decision-making is transparent and well-documented, ensuring clear understanding and future reference through Decision Records (DRs) that explain the rationale behind each decision.
  • Inclusivity and Diversity: Guidelines are established to foster inclusive language and diverse perspectives in all project communications and collaborations, ensuring every team member feels safe and included.
  • Team roles and responsibilities are well-defined, and conflicts or disagreements are managed in a productive manner.
  • Tribe members are engaged and motivated, and there are no blockers affecting their productivity

Improvement focus​

  • Establish regular cross-team retrospectives and feedback loops.
  • Promote best practices in effective communication.
  • Implement feedback loops to continuously improve communication and collaboration processes.
  • Foster a culture of open dialogue where questions and clarifications are encouraged.

4 - Measured

Description​

  • There is active cross-team collaboration, leading to knowledge sharing and the breaking down of silos.
  • Real-time dashboards and transparency tools are available for the tribe members and stakeholders.
  • Teams actively collaborate, share knowledge, and learn from each other, ensuring that the entire tribe moves forward together.
  • Feedback is not only gathered but acted upon systematically.
  • Decision-making is collaborative, with all teams having a voice, and the reasoning behind decisions is clear and well-understood and documented.

Improvement focus​

  • Dive deeper into analytics to uncover hidden challenges or opportunities in collaboration and communication.
  • Promote a culture of continuous feedback and iterative process improvement.
  • Foster an environment of open communication where teams can share lessons learned, successes, and failures.

5 - Optimized

Description​

  • Communication and collaboration are deeply ingrained in the tribe's culture. Continuous feedback is an integral part of every phase, and data-driven insights optimize communication channels and practices.
  • Seamless communication and collaboration exist between teams, fostering a culture of mutual respect and shared purpose.
  • Everyone is aligned on goals, and there's a complete clarity around the bigger picture.
  • The tribe has reached peak maturity and consistently showcases excellence in this dimension, regularly releasing into production, and operating at full scale.

Improvement focus​

  • Focus on mentoring other tribes or teams.

Guiding questions​

  1. How would you assess the effectiveness and inclusivity of communication and collaboration within the tribe and with stakeholders?
  2. Are team roles and responsibilities well-defined, and how are conflicts or disagreements managed in a productive manner?
  3. Are team members engaged and motivated, and what blockers, if any, are affecting productivity?
  4. What are the main challenges to team collaboration, and how comfortable are members in sharing ideas and concerns?
  5. Are we regularly reflecting on and adapting our practices, managing risks, and maintaining a sustainable work pace?
  6. Are there any formal mechanisms for providing and receiving feedback (retrospectives, suggestion boxes, open forums, ensuring feedback is not only collected but also acted upon)? How often are they utilized?
  7. What strategies and practices are we implementing to ensure our communication and collaboration processes are inclusive and respectful of diverse perspectives and backgrounds?