Agile Team Health Check
scrum health-check team-management
Does your team “do Agile” or “is Agile”? There is a huge difference — and a health check reveals where you stand.
What Is an Agile Health Check
It is a periodic (quarterly) evaluation of the team against agile best practices. It is not an audit — it is self-assessment to identify gaps and prioritize improvements.
How to Do It
Each member answers individually (1-5):
Planning
- Is our backlog refined and ready for the next 2 sprints?
- Have estimates improved over the last 3 sprints?
- Do we consistently complete 80%+ of what we planned in the sprint?
Execution
- Are dailies focused and action-oriented?
- Are PRs reviewed in under 4 hours?
- Do we define and follow the Definition of Done?
Quality
- Do we have adequate test coverage?
- Is the number of production bugs decreasing?
- Do we refactor regularly?
Collaboration
- Is the PO present and available?
- Does the team resolve blockers quickly?
- Does the retrospective generate implemented actions?
Culture
- Does the team feel safe to disagree?
- Is knowledge shared (bus factor > 1)?
- Is the team happy working together?
Interpreting the Results
| Average score | Diagnosis | Action |
|---|---|---|
| 4.5-5.0 | Healthy team | Maintain and share practices |
| 3.5-4.4 | Good with gaps | Focus on the 2-3 lowest points |
| 2.5-3.4 | Significant problems | Realignment workshop |
| Below 2.5 | Critical | Immediate intervention needed |
Actions by Area
Poor Planning (low scores on 1-3)
- Introduce regular backlog refinement
- Start using Planning Poker
- Review Definition of Ready
Poor Execution (low scores on 4-6)
- Daily with timebox and focus on sprint goal
- WIP limits and SLA for code review
- Written and visible DoD
Poor Quality (low scores on 7-9)
- Invest in automated testing
- Reserve 20% of the sprint for refactoring
- Monitor bug rate per module
Poor Collaboration (low scores on 10-12)
- PO needs to dedicate more time to the team
- Introduce Dev in Poker for blockers
- Review retrospective format
Poor Culture (low scores on 13-15)
- Work on psychological safety
- Invest in pair programming
- Hold regular 1:1s
Frequency
Quarterly is ideal. Monthly is too much (changes are slow), biannual is too little (problems persist too long).
Conclusion
A health check is the diagnosis that prevents problems from becoming chronic. Do it quarterly, focus on the lowest points, and act — without action, it is just a satisfaction survey.