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Continuous improvement dimension

1 - Reactive

Description​

  • The tribe primarily focuses on putting out fires, addressing issues only when they become problematic.
  • There's little to no proactive effort to identify areas of improvement, tech debt, inefficiencies or waste.
  • Feedback*** processes are minimal. The tribe captures feedback sporadically and acts upon it inconsistently.

Improvement focus​

  • Begin by instilling a culture that values post-mortem reviews after significant events or incidents.
  • Understand the root causes and plan to prevent recurrence.

** some potential core metrics: Cycle Time, Build Failure Rate, Defect Leakage, CI/CD Failure Rate, Master Pipeline Stability, Deploy Frequency, Code Coverage, etc

*** we use the term "feedback" to refer to all types of feedback, including those from users, the team/tribe, and stakeholders.

2 - Managed

Description​

  • The tribe has some form of retrospective meetings but often lacks action items or follow-through.
  • There's awareness of the need for continuous improvement, but it's not consistently acted upon.
  • Retrospectives are organized after major releases.
  • Some mechanisms for identifying waste, inefficiencies, and tech debt are introduced.
  • Structured processes for capturing and tracking feedback emerge. The tribe prioritizes feedback but may face challenges in immediate actioning.

Improvement focus​

  • Standardize the retrospective process.
  • Ensure that every retrospective concludes with clear action items, owners, and deadlines.
  • Start to incorporate basic metrics to measure and monitor common pain points.
  • Introduce the tribe to the basic Lean principles.
  • Start sharing best practices and lessons learned across teams.

3 - Defined

Description​

  • The tribe has a structured approach to continuous improvement, with standardized processes to identify and address tech debt, waste, and inefficiencies.
  • The tribe consistently and regularly runs retrospectives and tracks improvements over time.
  • The focus begins to shift from just problem-solving to a proactive approach.
  • Efficient capture, tracking, and prioritization of feedback. The tribe frequently discusses feedback, leading to systematic action and improvement.
  • Lessons learned and success stories are systematically documented and shared across the squads/components.
  • Waste is formally categorized and actively targeted for reduction.
  • Root cause analysis is performed and formalized for major defects, leading to proactive defect prevention.

Improvement focus​

  • Foster an environment where every team member feels empowered to point out inefficiencies, waste, or areas of improvement

4 - Measured

Description​

  • The tribe uses data-driven approaches to continuous improvement, with metrics, tools, and systems integrated into daily workflows.
  • Start tracking core metrics** throughout the entire SDLC.
  • Tools and systems are in place to quickly identify and address issues, tech debt, inefficiencies or waste.
  • Proactive efforts in predicting and mitigating potential issues.

Improvement focus​

  • Engage stakeholders, users, the tribe, the org, or independent third parties to audit and provide feedback.
  • Consider running regular "innovation days" or "hackathons" to brainstorm and test new ideas.
  • Purposefully share learnings and success stories across the organization

5 - Optimized

Description​

  • The focus is on continuous and proactive improvement, leveraging data analytics and feedback.
  • Feedback management is integral to the tribe's operations. Feedback is both proactively sought and meticulously acted upon, driving strategic decisions and continual improvement.
  • Lessons learned and success stories are systematically documented and shared across the organization.
  • The tribe's focus extends beyond proving value to their users; they actively strive to enhance user adoption by organizing hackathons, enhancing product documentation, and offering usage guidelines.

Guiding questions​

  1. Reflective Learning: How effectively do you reflect on your successes and failures, and how do you integrate this learning into your future development cycles?
  2. Process Evolution: In what ways have you adapted and evolved your development processes over the past year to address new challenges and opportunities?
  3. Team Collaboration and Communication: How do your communication and collaboration practices enhance your continuous improvement efforts, and where do you see room for enhancement?
  4. Quality Assurance: What strategies do you employ to ensure the quality of your software, and how do you continuously refine these strategies?
  5. Feedback Mechanisms: What systems do you have in place for gathering and implementing feedback from both internal team members and external users or stakeholders, and how can you make this process more effective?
  6. Metrics and Measurement: What metrics do you use to measure your continuous improvement, and how do these metrics inform your decision-making process?
  7. Adaptability to Change: How quickly and effectively do you adapt to changing technologies, market demands, and organizational goals?