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Standard : Agility is coordinated beyond the team via shared delivery rhythms

Purpose and Strategic Importance

This standard ensures that agility extends beyond individual teams through synchronised cadences, planning cycles, and coordination practices that align delivery efforts across the broader system. Shared rhythms such as cross-team planning events, integrated system demos, and joint retrospectives enable early identification and management of interdependencies, maintain alignment of delivery priorities, and support the seamless flow of value across teams.

It supports policies to “Elevate Agility Beyond the Team Level” and “Design Delivery Systems for Flow” by breaking down silos, creating systemic visibility, and enabling fast, coordinated delivery at scale. Absent this standard, teams risk fragmentation, duplication, delayed feedback, and increased delivery friction.

Strategic Impact

  • Aligns multiple teams to shared goals, timelines, and value streams
  • Enables predictable, integrated delivery and reduces systemic risk
  • Surfaces and mitigates cross-team dependencies early
  • Improves collaboration, transparency, and collective ownership
  • Facilitates adaptive planning and continuous system-level improvement

Risks of Not Having This Standard

  • Misaligned or conflicting priorities across teams
  • Hidden dependencies causing delays, rework, or quality issues
  • Fragmented cadences that slow delivery and confuse stakeholders
  • Duplication of effort or inadvertent blocking between teams
  • Inability to drive coordinated improvements at the system level

CMMI Maturity Model

Level 1 – Initial

Category Description
People & Culture - Teams operate independently with minimal or no coordination.
- Collaboration is ad hoc and reactive.
Process & Governance - No shared delivery cadences or coordination forums.
- Planning and delivery cycles vary and lack alignment.
Technology & Tools - No tools or mechanisms exist for cross-team visibility or planning.
Measurement & Metrics - No metrics on cross-team coordination or delivery flow.
- Lack of system-wide feedback loops.

Level 2 – Managed

Category Description
People & Culture - Some informal synchronisation around key milestones or demos.
- Coordination rituals exist but are inconsistent.
Process & Governance - Teams plan within overlapping time horizons but integration is informal.
- Dependencies tracked manually.
Technology & Tools - Shared calendars or dependency trackers introduced.
- Basic communication platforms used.
Measurement & Metrics - Tracking of integration points and handoffs is manual and partial.
- Limited measurement of alignment.

Level 3 – Defined

Category Description
People & Culture - Teams participate in structured shared planning events and system demos.
- Ownership of cross-team collaboration is explicit.
Process & Governance - Coordination forums (e.g., scrum-of-scrums, PI planning) run regularly and follow defined agendas.
- Interdependencies actively managed via shared backlogs.
Technology & Tools - Tools enable multi-team backlog visibility and joint planning.
- Collaborative platforms support coordination.
Measurement & Metrics - Flow metrics and alignment indicators measured across teams.
- Blocker and throughput data inform decisions.

Level 4 – Quantitatively Managed

Category Description
People & Culture - Coordination driven by real-time flow metrics and feedback.
- Teams proactively adjust cadence and scope to optimise system flow.
Process & Governance - System-level planning incorporates predictive analytics and adaptive control.
- Risks and delivery performance assessed regularly at scale.
Technology & Tools - Integrated dashboards connect team plans, progress, and outcomes.
- Automation supports coordination and alerts.
Measurement & Metrics - Lead times, integration delays, and dependency resolution rates are quantitatively monitored.
- Data drives continuous improvement.

Level 5 – Optimising

Category Description
People & Culture - Teams continuously refine shared rhythms, embedding collaboration as a core cultural value.
- Cross-boundary collaboration is incentivised and seamless.
Process & Governance - Coordination structures evolve dynamically with system complexity and delivery demands.
- Horizontal collaboration is frictionless and deeply embedded.
Technology & Tools - AI-enabled workflow orchestration dynamically aligns priorities and resources across teams.
- Predictive insights optimise delivery flow.
Measurement & Metrics - System-level agility and reliability metrics are continuously improved.
- Alignment and flow efficiency optimised holistically.

Key Measures

  • Percentage of teams actively engaged in shared planning and delivery rhythms
  • Average number and duration of unresolved cross-team dependencies
  • Cross-team alignment scores (from retrospectives, pulse surveys, or similar)
  • Lead time for resolving inter-team blockers and impediments
  • Flow efficiency metrics across value streams and organisational boundaries
  • Frequency and effectiveness of system-level coordination events
Associated Policies

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