How Agile Is Your Business?

• You have Project-Based Teams that are using siloed processes and running independently.
• A few teams are doing Agile, but some teams are still using old processes.
• You are experiencing long cycle times between designing, building, testing, and deploying.
• You have centralized product decision making vs portfolio-level.
• You are placing value on output over outcomes.
• There is a lack of transparency across your teams.
• There is no common understanding of quality standards.
• There is no clear understanding of when something is done.
• Estimates are usually wrong.
• You are doing ad hoc testing instead of having standardized processes.
• Your release plans are annual.
  
  

If You Are Practicing...

Your company has started to level up your Agile adoption. Your teams are starting to follow some level of standardization and you’re beginning to experience some high-level transparency. There’s room for improvement, but you’re seeing enough improvement to have confidence that you’re heading in the right direction.

Some common characteristics we see from Practicing-Level organizations are:

• You have functional teams and service departments with some processes and methodology in place, but they are still siloed and running independently.
• There is a lack of collaboration between service departments, and the processes are very heavy and manual.
• You have expanded Agile processes to multiple teams and have well-defined TRIADS.
• The Agile teams are getting better at estimations.
• The Agile teams are getting better at defining value and creating backlogs based on better estimations.
• You are using operational KPIs to manage day-to-day work.
• The teams are getting at planning at the milestone level, but it is within the department and teams are usually reactive and in a fire-fighting mode.
• You have standardized metrics and governance for the Agile teams but can improvise to include quality metrics integrated into your development cycle.
• You have well-defined release plans on a quarterly basis.
  
  

If You Are Achieving...

Your company is really starting to get going with Agile and are starting to see some of the benefits. Your teams are running smoother than they have in years, your managers aren’t as frustrated at the lack of progress, and release dates are starting to become more predictable.

Some common characteristics we see from Achieving-Level organizations are:

• You have moved away from siloed service departments and are creating more cross-functional teams with better collaboration.
• Your organization structure is more aligned with the delivery methodology.
• You are using milestone-based planning and have the flexibility to make changes on a quarterly basis.
• You are enjoying shorter release cycles and a more predictable delivery-to-production timeline.
• Your value-driven approach puts your end customers first.
• You are driving a culture of continuous improvement by retrospecting.
• Your operations teams are integrated into the development cycle.
  
  

If You Are Scaling...

Your company is a well-oiled Agile machine. Your customers are enjoying fast response times and high-quality deliverables. Your development teams are clear on what their objectives are and can easily power through their work with the information they need readily available and the expectations clearly communicated. Leadership is happy with the timelines and has clarity on what’s being done right now.

Some common aspects we see from Scaling-Level organizations are:

• You have clear prioritization and your funding pipelines for initiatives are reviewed quarterly.
• Your Continuous Improvement / Continuous Development (CI/CD) is completely automated.
• Your development teams are empowered and own the whole development cycle until the product increment is released to production.
• You have data readily available and it is used to drive decisions across all levels of the organization.
• The whole company understands what is the transformation roadmap, where you are now, and how you are measuring progress.
• Your development teams are aligned to a value stream, leveraging the synergies among them.
  
  

If You Want To Level Up…

Nisum has partnered with clients at all levels of Agile maturity, from learners to sophisticated organizations who are actively scaling up.

We know what roadblocks are holding you back — and hopefully, after this assessment, you do too. You can continue to try to diagnose and correct, or you can bring in our teams to help you.