Alignment & Feedback Loops

Alignment & Feedback System

Feedback Cadences

Strategic (Quarterly)

Activity	Purpose	Key Outputs
Strategy Review	Validate direction	Updated Wardley Maps
OKR/Mission Check	Assess progress	OKR health scorecard
Planning	Resource alignment	Team roadmaps

Tactical (Monthly/Weekly)

Activity	Purpose	Key Outputs
Squad Health Check	Team wellness	Health metrics dashboard
Sprint Reviews	Demo progress	Stakeholder feedback
Retros	Process improvement	Action items

Operational (Daily)

Activity	Purpose	Key Outputs
Stand-ups	Coordination	Blockers identified
Metrics Review	Performance tracking	DORA metrics
Incident Analysis	Learning	Postmortem docs

Squad Health Check Implementation

Health Check Categories

1. Mission Clarity

   • Team understands purpose
   • Clear success metrics
   • Aligned with strategy

2. Technical Health

   • Code quality
   • Test coverage
   • Technical debt

3. Team Dynamics

   • Psychological safety
   • Learning & growth
   • Work-life balance

4. Delivery Flow

   • Sprint predictability
   • Deployment frequency
   • Incident rate

Metrics Framework

1. Learning Metrics

Metric	Good	Warning	Action Needed
Time to Learning	< 1 day	1-5 days	> 5 days
Experiment Cycle	< 2 weeks	2-4 weeks	> 4 weeks
Hypothesis Rate	> 3/month	1-3/month	< 1/month

2. Decision Metrics

Metric	Good	Warning	Action Needed
Decision Lead Time	< 2 days	2-7 days	> 7 days
Decision Quality	> 80% good	60-80% good	< 60% good
Stakeholder Alignment	> 90%	70-90%	< 70%

Implementation Tools

1. Health Check Template

team_health:
  mission_clarity: [red|amber|green]
  technical_health: [red|amber|green]
  team_dynamics: [red|amber|green]
  delivery_flow: [red|amber|green]
  
action_items:
  - area: "mission_clarity"
    action: "Review OKRs with team"
    owner: "Tech Lead"
    due: "2024-05-01"

2. Feedback Loop Canvas

loop_name: "Sprint Retro"
cadence: "bi-weekly"
inputs:
  - Sprint metrics
  - Team feedback
  - Stakeholder input
outputs:
  - Action items
  - Process changes
  - Success metrics

Integration Points

With Other Practices

• Links to Team Decoupling
• Feeds into Culture
• Informs Mission & Objectives

With Tools & Systems

• JIRA/Linear for tracking
• Miro for visualization
• Slack for notifications

Common Anti-patterns

1. Feedback Without Action

   • Collecting metrics without follow-through
   • Solution: Action item owners and due dates

2. Too Many Metrics

   • Analysis paralysis
   • Solution: Focus on DORA + 2-3 custom metrics

3. Inconsistent Cadence

   • Skipping reviews when busy
   • Solution: Calendar blocks with high priority

Getting Started

1. First 30 Days

   • Implement daily stand-ups
   • Set up basic DORA metrics
   • Start weekly retros

2. 60-90 Days

   • Add monthly health checks
   • Begin OKR tracking
   • Establish learning metrics

3. 90+ Days

   • Full feedback loop integration
   • Automated metrics collection
   • Regular review cycles

Related Topics

• Operating Model Overview
• Team Decoupling
• Culture Guide
• Flow Optimization

Pro Tip: Use the health check template as a starting point, but customize the categories and metrics based on your team’s specific needs and challenges.

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Further Reading

• “Accelerate” by Nicole Forsgren
• “The Art of Business Value” by Mark Schwartz
• “Measure What Matters” by John Doerr