KPIs as an Agile Coach

I'm always saying to leaders that we'll know I'm having a positive effect when we hear certain language being used.

I've noticed a progression as regards changing conversations. This might reflect UK culture or be more to do with my personal approach. The progression goes something like this:

Early on: a team member will say, "Because Jamie is present [knowing laughter], I should say..."
Later: "As Jamie would say [smiles], ..."
Finally: It just gets said. The fact I introduced it is - rightly - no longer a consideration.

Below is a fantastic example of exactly the kind of language I love to hear team members using. Note this is a verbatim quote (product-specific details) as posted in the team's Slack channel, used with permission:

"Dear [Product Owner], As you missed stand up you should know we believe we will not meet the sprint goal 😞 We are going to prioritise the UI changes now so we have something to show and get feedback on. We have identified a number of extra tasks as part of the [redacted] work. Most of these are not unique to this piece of work and will likely see reuse in other stories (even if only as patterns). We have made a number of good learnings this week and the work around [redacted] in particular should help benefit the upcoming [redacted] work. Happy to discuss further if you want."

Notable features:

• The team member took the action unprompted.
• They have reflected what was agreed collectively at the Daily Scrum. Note that the PO was unavoidable detained elsewhere.
• It makes clear to the Product Owner that Sprint Goal will not be met. While they had considered whether the Sprint Backlog could be renegotiated to satisfy the Sprint Goal, on this occasion they decided that it couldn't without incurring technical debt.
• Mild regret is expressed for the shortfall. As per Toyota, "There can be no kaizen ['improvement'] without hansei ['reflection']." [1]
• It underlines that what the Development Team have learned this Sprint will genuinely have positive effect on upcoming Sprints. That is, they are not making excuses for failure; rather, highlighting their successes despite the Sprint Goal being missed.

When I started with this team, language like this would simply not have been heard. Sprint Goals were afterthoughts (punchlines!), hastily written after a Sprint Backlog had been assembled. Un-Done work at Sprint end would occur frequently and was always carried over to the next Sprint without discussion. Product Backlog items read like mini-specifications rather than hypotheses to be experimented on to provide learnings. Sprint Reviews were demonstrations of Done work rather than conversation starters to get feedback from stakeholders. 

Change has been brought about by taking a multi-faceted approach, including:

• leading by example
• role-modelling desirable behaviours
• agreeing a code of conduct
• introducing new practices and challenging entrenched ones.

Teams can change their language in a positive way when they have incentives to do so, given adequate time and the right guidance.



Here are some KPIs suggested in the Hands-on Agile Slack community:

• Whether the team is meeting the stated goals of (a) the company and (b) customers and their users.
• Whether team members would recommend me as an Agile Coach to other teams/organisations.
• Whether the team is establishing their own KPIs and working collectively toward them.
• Whether the team engages in healthy conflict (e.g. seeing team members challenging each other firmly then going together for lunch and cracking jokes).
• Whether the team is feeling safer.
• Level of team happiness.

References:
[1] 'A Scrum Book: The Spirit of the Game', by Jeff Sutherland, James O. Coplien, and The Scrum Patterns Group (https://pragprog.com/book/jcscrum/a-scrum-book).