Manager Asking For Measure Of Team's Improvement
As a Scrum Master, I have been asked by the Director of Development to provide a measurable "artifact" of how the team is doing. They want to be able to measure how well the team is working together and how they are progressing as a team. They have proposed that the Scrum Masters provide an output of what was identified as action items from a team's Retrospective and then measure if the team implements or finishes an action item.
My immediate reaction was absolutely not. However, the director has asked how they can hold teams accountable and has stated that he wants transparency in how the teams are doing.
Has anyone had this scenario come up? I feel the director should have an idea of how the teams are doing and if they are working well, but I struggle with letting Retrospective outputs leave the team... Is there a better way to measure or radiate this type of performance?
Any insight or reference material is greatly appreciated.
Been there, done that. It wasn't easy but I was able to coach the director about how Scrum changes the way that he had to view things. As a director in a Scrum organization, he has to adapt his style from command-control to servant-leader. He should be trusting the teams to be delivering value in any way the see fit to do so. His "monitoring" mechanism is based on the delivery of value to the stakeholders and the satisfaction shown by the stakeholders. If the team is doing well, the value delivery and satisfaction will be increasing. Does he really need to care about the fine details of how it is occurring? What does he feel he can do with any information coming from the Retrospective? Is he going to start forcing teams to change? Put entire teams on performance plans if they don't comply? That is not very effective in an environment where teams are more valued than individual performance. A self-managed, self-organized team will do what is necessary in order for the team to be successful if they are given the opportunity to do so.
His main role as a director is to ensure that the teams have the resources, authority and support they need to be making the right decisions to deliver the appropriate value.
As a Scrum Master, I have been asked by the Director of Development to provide a measurable "artifact" of how the team is doing. They want to be able to measure how well the team is working together and how they are progressing as a team.
That would be the Definition of Done.
- Is it release ready?
- Is the level of quality being improved?
- Does the team have all of the skills needed?
- Are the team, in practice, able to meet it?
If not...what is the deficit for release, and what can the "Director of Development" do to help the team remove that deficit?
the director has asked how they can hold teams accountable
Are the teams delivering according to the Definition of Done? Are they consistently meeting their forecasts? Is there an established or growing trust between the PO and the Development Team?
Is their concern around only the Development Team, or is it for the entire Scrum Team (SM and PO too)? If so, what is customer feedback like? Is the Scrum Team consistently delighting end users each sprint?
What else should the director concern themselves with?