Agile Readiness Assessment

Understand how ready your organization is for an Agile transformation.

Info-Tech Research Group Inc. is a global leader in providing IT research and advice. Info-Tech’s products and services combine actionable insight and relevant advice with ready-to-use tools and templates that cover the full spectrum of IT concerns.

Analyst Perspective

Use the wisdom of crowds to understand how ready you are for Agile transformation.

Agile transformations can be difficult and complex to implement. That’s because they require fundamental changes in the way an organization thinks and behaves (and many organizations are not ready for these changes).

Use Info-Tech’s Agile Readiness Assessment to broadly survey the organization’s readiness for Agile along six dimensions:

• Culture
• Learning
• Automation
• Integrated teams
• Metrics
• Governance

The survey results will help you to examine and address those areas that are most likely to hinder your move to Agile.

Alex Ciraco
Principal Research Director, Application Delivery and Management
Info-Tech Research Group

Executive Summary

Your Challenge

• Your organization wants to shorten delivery time and improve quality by adopting Agile practices.
• Your organization has not yet used Agile successfully.
• You know that Agile transformations are complex and difficult to implement.
• You want to maximize your Agile transformation’s chances of success.

Common Obstacles

• Risks to your Agile transformation can come from a variety of sources, including:
  • Organizational culture
  • Learning practices
  • Use of automation
  • Ability to create integrated teams
  • Use of metrics
  • Governance practices

Info-Tech’s Approach

• Use Info-Tech’s Agile Readiness Assessment to broadly survey your organization’s readiness for Agile.
• Examine the consolidated results of this survey to identify challenges that are most likely to hinder Agile success.
• Discuss and address these challenges to increase your chances of success.

Info-Tech Insight

By first understanding the numerous challenges to Agile transformations and then broadly surveying your organization to identify and address the challenges that are at play, you are more likely to have a successful Agile transformation.

Info-Tech’s methodology

Blueprint deliverables

Each step of this blueprint is accompanied by supporting deliverables to help you accomplish your goals.

Info-Tech offers various levels of support to best suit your needs

Diagnostics and consistent frameworks used throughout all four options

Guided Implementation

A Guided Implementation (GI) is a series of calls with an Info-Tech analyst to help implement our best practices in your organization.

A typical GI is between 6 to 8 calls over the course of 1 to 2 months.

What does a typical GI on this topic look like?

Phase 1: Distribute Survey

• Call #1: Scope requirements, objectives, and your specific challenges (identify potential participants).
• Call #2: First call with participants (introduce Phase 1 and assign survey for completion).
• Call #3: Gather survey responses (prep for Phase 2 calls).

Phase 2: Consolidate Survey Results

• Call #4: Consolidate all survey responses using the template.
• Call #5: Conduct initial review of consolidated results (prep for Phase 3 calls).

Phase 3: Examine Results and Problem Solve

• Call #6: Present consolidated results to participants and agree on most pressing challenges.
• Call #7: Brainstorm, identify, and refine potential solutions to most pressing challenges.
• Call #8: Conduct closing and communication call.

Phase 1 —

Customize and distribute the survey

Decide which teams/roles will participate in the survey.

Decide which format and language(s) you will use for your Agile Readiness Assessment Survey.

Configure the survey templates to reflect your selected teams/roles.

Distribute the survey for participants to complete.

• 1.1 The Agile Readiness Assessment Survey will help you to identify both team-specific and organization-wide challenges to your Agile transformation. It is best to distribute the survey broadly across the organization and include several teams and roles. Identify and make note of the teams/roles that will be participating in the survey.
• 1.2 Select which format of survey you will be using (Excel or online), along with the language(s) you will use (links to the survey templates can be found in the table below). Then configure the survey templates to reflect your list of teams/roles from Step 1.1.

Format	Language	Download Survey Template
Excel	English	Agile Readiness Assessment Excel Survey Template – EN and FR
Excel	French
Online	English	Agile Readiness Assessment Online Survey Template – EN
Online	French	Agile Readiness Assessment Online Survey Template – FR



• 1.3 Distribute your Agile Readiness Assessment Survey broadly in the organization. Give all participants a deadline date for completion of the survey.

Phase 2 —

Consolidate Survey Results

Collect and consolidate all survey responses using the template provided.

Review the OVERALL and DETAILED Heatmaps generated by the template.

• 2.1 Collect the survey responses from all participants. All responses completed using the online form will be anonymous (for responses returned using the Excel form, assign each a unique identifier so that anonymity of responses is maintained).
• 2.2 Consolidate the survey responses using the template below. Follow the instructions in the template to incorporate all survey responses.

Download the Agile Readiness Assessment Consolidated Results Tool

Phase 3 —

Examine Survey Results and Problem Solve

Review the consolidated survey results as a team.

Identify the challenges that need the most attention.

Brainstorm potential solutions. Decide which are most promising and create a plan to implement them.

• 3.1 Examine the consolidated results (both OVERALL and DETAILED Heatmaps) and look at both team-specific and organization-wide challenge areas.
• 3.2 Identify which challenge areas need the most attention (typically those that are most red in the heatmap) and discuss these challenges with survey participants.
• 3.3 As a team, brainstorm potential solutions to these challenges. Select from and refine the solutions that are most promising, then create a plan to implement them.

3.1 Exercise: Collaborative Problem Solving —

Input: Consolidated survey results

Output: List of actions to address your most pressing challenges along with a timeline to implement them

Materials: Agile Readiness Assessment Consolidated Results Tool, Whiteboard and markers

Participants: Survey participants, Other interested parties

This exercise will create a plan for addressing your most pressing Agile-related challenges.

• As a team, agree on which survey challenges are most important to address (typically the most red in the heatmap).
• Brainstorm potential solutions/actions to address these challenges.
• Assign solutions/actions to individuals and set a timeline for completion.

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Research Contributors and Experts

• Columbus Brown, Senior Principal – Practice Lead – Business Alignment, Daugherty Business Solutions
• Saeed Khan, Founder, Transformation Labs
• Brenda Peshak, Product Owner/Scrum Master/Program Manager, John Deere/Source Allies/Widget Industries LLC
• Vincent Mirabelli, Principal, Global Project Synergy Group
• Len O'Neill, Sr. Vice President and Chief Information Officer, The Suddath Companies
• Shameka A. Jones, MPM, CSM, Lead Business Management Consultant, Mainspring Business Group, LLC
• Ryland Leyton, Lead Business Analyst, Aptos Retail
• Ashish Nangia, Lead Business System Analyst, Ashley Furniture Industries
• Barbara Carkenord, CBAP, IIBA-AAC, PMI-PBA, PMP, SAFe POPM, President, Carkenord Consulting
• Danelkis Serra, CBAP, Chapter Operations Manager, Regions & Chapters, IIBA (International Institute of Business Analysis)
• Lorrie Staples-Ellis, CyberSecurity Integration Strategist, Wealth Management, Truist Bank
• Ginger Sundberg, Independent Consultant
• Kham Raven, Project Manager, Fraud Strategy & Execution, Truist Bank
• Sarah Vollett, PMP, Business Analyst, Operations, College of Physicians and Surgeons of British Columbia
• Nicole J Coyle, ICP-ACC, CEAC, SPC4, SASM, POPM, CSM, ECM, CCMP, CAPM, Team Agile Coach and Team Facilitator, HCQIS Foundational Components
• Joe Glower, IT Director, Jet Support Services, Inc. (JSSI)
• Harsh Daharwal, Senior Director, Application Delivery, J.R. Simplot
• Hans Eckman, Principal Research Director, Info-Tech Research Group
• Valence Howden, Principal Research Director, Info-Tech Research Group