A Guide To Explore The Core Principles Of Columinity For Ethical Use
Create shared understanding, set clear expectations, and set a solid foundation for successful tool usage.
Based on the latest scientific research, Columinity (formerly Scrum Team Survey) is a pioneering tool to help teams improve where it matters most. It’s your evidence-based companion for continuous improvement. It highlights performance patterns on multiple levels and illuminates how to move forward.
We defined five steps (and workshops) to get the most out of Columinity:
- Study the research
- Explore the principles
- Facilitate a kickoff
- Inspect the results
- Develop strategies
Follow these steps and increase your chances of successfully using the tool.
This blog post describes the workshop “Explore The Core Principles Of Columinity For Ethical Use.” A shared understanding of the tool’s underlying principles sets a solid foundation. It helps teams and organizations to get the most out of the tool, create a shared understanding, and set clear expectations.
How To Explore The Principles?
You can explore the principles alone or with your team, supporters, and stakeholders. If so, consider using the Liberating Structure “Conversation Cafe.” It encourages people to listen and understand each other’s perspectives on a profound, shared topic or challenge instead of convincing or persuading others to see it your way.
Sitting in a circle with a simple set of agreements and a talking object, small groups engage in consecutive rounds of dialogue. Conversation Cafe invites people to listen to one another’s thoughts and reflect on a shared challenge.
“What principles do we want to live up to? Which ones seem the most meaningful and impactful? What principles do we expect to be challenging?”
Another option to explore the principles is offered with the Liberating Structure “TRIZ.” It invites participants to have serious fun with a provocative question. It helps create a safe environment where people can be honest. It encourages your team to turn the question on its head: what is our worst possible outcome? But then comes the twist in round 2 (don’t spoil it).
“In your wildest imagination, what would be the worst possible way to use the tool in our team and the wider organization? What can we do to ensure the whole endeavour will be a total disaster and using the tool a big failure?”
#1: Start Small And Grow Naturally
Why is this principle important?
It’s easier to get started
People are often resistant to change, especially regarding new tools or technologies. By starting small, you can start faster and demonstrate the tool's value sooner. This increases the chances of widespread adoption and acceptance when the tool is gradually expanded.
It helps you to gather feedback and make improvements
When you start small, you can gather feedback from teams directly involved with the tool. Their insights and suggestions can help identify areas for improvement, allowing you to refine the tool (with our support) or address any issues before expanding its usage.
It minimizes disruption
Implementing a new tool, like Columinity, across an entire organization can be disruptive and overwhelming. Starting small allows you to minimize the potential disruptions to ongoing work.
How do you live up to this principle?
- Start with 1–3 teams. Even if you have 50+ teams, start small. When the first teams are enthusiastic, ask them to invite more teams. Let it grow naturally.
- Form a support/facilitation team. The purpose of this team is to support all the Agile & Scrum teams and their stakeholders in getting the most out of the tool. The support team facilitates kickoff workshops and runs the first diagnosis workshops.
#2: Focus On Building Trust And Psychological Safety
Why is this principle important?
It encourages participation
Trust and psychological safety create an environment where teams feel comfortable expressing their opinions and providing honest feedback. Without these factors, teams may hesitate to engage with the survey or share their thoughts, resulting in incomplete or biased data.
It increases data accuracy and quality
When teams trust that their responses will be valued and their identities protected, they are more likely to provide accurate and detailed information. Psychological safety allows teams to share their perspectives openly, leading to more insightful data.
It reduces fear of negative consequences
Teams may fear negative consequences, such as retaliation or judgment, when participating in a tool like Columinity. Establishing trust and psychological safety helps minimize these concerns, assuring teams that their responses will be used constructively and not against them.
How do you live up to this principle?
- Do a kickoff. Work with the teams, stakeholders, and supporters to clarify the purpose of Columinity and identify the principles, participants, structure, and practices on how to use it.
- In larger organizations, create a support team available to answer questions related to the survey and explore potential worries participants might have.
#3: Invite Participation, Don’t Make It Mandatory
Why is this principle important?
It triggers active usage
When teams are given the choice to participate, they are more likely to engage actively and provide genuine responses. This leads to higher-quality data and a better understanding of team perspectives.
It enables autonomy and empowerment
By making participation voluntary, teams have a sense of autonomy and control over their involvement. It acknowledges their individual preferences and respects their boundaries.
It stimulates honest and constructive feedback
When participation is voluntary, teams are more likely to provide honest and authentic feedback. They may feel more comfortable expressing their opinions, concerns, or suggestions without fearing repercussions.
How do you live up to this principle?
- The core concern you must address for your team members is: “How will this benefit me and my team?”. If you don’t have a clear answer, people will understandably resist, enter fake answers, or disengage altogether.
- Explain that you will make sense of the team-level results together and without unexpected outsiders. You won’t tell the team what’s wrong and what to improve, but you will invite them to understand the patterns and work together to identify improvements. Also, be clear about what happens with the results afterward.
#4: Begin With A Clear Purpose And A Shared Kickoff
Why is this principle important?
It establishes a shared purpose
Establishing a clear purpose helps ensure that everyone involved understands the intended goals of the tool. It provides a common understanding of why the tool is being introduced and what outcomes are expected.
It creates a solid foundation
Clearly defining the purpose of the tool enables effective communication throughout the organization. When clearly defined and shared, the purpose reduces confusion, resistance, and skepticism, increasing the chances of successful adoption.
It builds engagement
When involved in the kickoff, teams are more likely to embrace the tool, provide feedback, and actively participate in its adoption. It allows teams to feel included and valued, creating a sense of ownership and responsibility toward the success of the implementation.
How do you live up to this principle?
- Do the kickoff! Work with the teams, stakeholders, and supporters to clarify the purpose of Columinity and identify the principles, participants, structure, and practices on how to use it.
- Take sufficient time for the kickoff. Don’t rush the conversations. A good kickoff sets a solid foundation and increases the successful usage of the survey.
- Learn more people in your organization on how to facilitate the kickoff. This minimizes dependencies on a small group of people and boosts engagement.
#5: Let Teams Be Central To The Process
Why is this principle important?
It encourages ownership of the tool
Giving teams the freedom to choose their ideal approach gives them a sense of ownership and engagement with the new tool. This leads to greater participation, resulting in higher-quality data and better outcomes.
It offers space for tailored solutions
Different teams within an organization may have unique characteristics that can impact the tool's usage. Allowing teams to choose an approach that suits them enables customization to specific team needs. This flexibility ensures that the survey tool aligns with existing processes and practices, making it more relevant and valuable for the teams.
It encourages collaboration
Different teams may experiment with various strategies to maximize the benefits of the survey. Teams can learn from each other’s experiences, identify best practices, and refine their approaches.
How do you live up to this principle?
- Involve the teams from the start. Don’t surprise them with the survey. Ask them how the survey would suit them the best.
- Work with the teams to merge the survey usage in their current process. Prevent scheduling additional meetings. Try combining the survey with e.g., the Sprint Retrospective, Sprint Review, and other events.
#6: Include Stakeholders And Supporters
Why is this principle important?
Stakeholders can offer valuable insights
Stakeholders can share how much value they receive from the team and how satisfied they are with, e.g., the release frequency, the quality, and the delivered features. This is essential information for the team to improve on the areas where it matters.
Managers, leaders, and coaches can help remove impediments
With the survey, the teams can identify where they’re stuck, and support is needed. Together with the supporters, teams can distinguish and clarify impediments and establish a clear understanding of what needs to be addressed first. Supporters can use their knowledge, network, and mandate effectively to remove impediments.
Alignment with organizational objectives
By involving stakeholders and especially managers in introducing a new tool, you can ensure that it aligns with the broader goals and values of the organization. They can guide how the survey can be customized to gather relevant data and insights useful for decision-making at both team and organizational levels.
How do you live up to this principle?
- Support the teams to find their stakeholders. For many teams, this can be quite challenging. They might not know their stakeholders or collaborate with people who aren’t their real stakeholders.
- Support the teams to find their supporters. Supporters are managers, coaches, and leaders in the organization who (should) support the teams in their work.
- Encourage teams to invite the stakeholders & supporters to use the tool. If teams are reluctant to invite them, try to explore the reason and work together to decrease the fear.
#7: Experiments With Workshops And Small Improvements
Why is this principle important?
It boosts iterative learning
Teams can gradually test and implement changes (recommended by the tool), allowing them to gather valuable insights and learn from their experiences. Each (slight) improvement is a learning opportunity, enabling teams to understand what works and what doesn’t and refine their approach accordingly.
The workshops stimulate double-loop learning
Single-loop learning focuses on solving a problem within an existing system defined by sets of beliefs, structures, roles, procedures, and norms. Double-loop learning challenges the system and underlying beliefs themselves. Many DIY workshops offered by the tool trigger double-loop learning.
Teams learn how to create small, specific, and realistic improvements
Improvements that are small & specific enough to finish in one Sprint. They’re not the ultimate solutions to all your problems, but they will encourage the team to make small improvements continuously. Small steps in the right direction. They’ll allow teams to learn what is needed, identify the next steps, and simply boost team morale by showing change is possible!
How do you live up to this principle?
- Use the DIY workshops the tool recommends for each team. In total, the tool contains about ±75 workshops. Each workshop is focused on one specific impediment or topic. The workshops explain running it step-by-step; many teams appreciate first-time guidance.
- Encourage the teams to use the quick tips (15% Solutions) the tool recommends. For each factor, the tool offers 3–5 quick tips. These tips are small, actionable improvements the team can make right away.
- Develop new workshops yourself and identify new small improvements together with the teams. Make continuous improvement a natural mindset.
- Teams are often tempted to identify dozens of potential improvements and end up doing nothing at all. We’ve found it more helpful to identify one or two actionable improvements, ensure they are implemented in the next iteration, and then identify more.
#8: Analyse The Results Together And Look For Patterns
Why is this principle important?
It allows you to identify trends and insights together
By analyzing the results as a team and looking for patterns, you can identify trends and insights that may not be immediately clear when studied individually. With the collective knowledge and perspectives of team members, you can uncover patterns & correlations that provide a deeper understanding of the data.
It ensures objectivity and reduces bias
Analyzing survey results as a team can help ensure objectivity and reduce individual bias. Team members bring diverse perspectives, backgrounds, and expertise to the analysis process. This diversity (especially if you involve stakeholders and supporters) helps to counterbalance individual biases and ensures a more objective interpretation of the data.
It stimulates collaboration
When team members come together to analyze and discuss the findings, they can collectively brainstorm ideas, hypotheses, and potential actions based on the results. This collaborative approach promotes engagement, involvement, and buy-in from the team, as they have actively participated in the analysis process.
How do you live up to this principle?
- Encourage the teams to invite their supporters and stakeholders to explore the results. Make this a fun and interactive session. Try to spark curiosity and prevent any blaming or shaming.
- Focus on the emerging patterns; don’t get stuck in the details.
#9: Focus On Powerful Conversations, Not Just Data
Why is this principle important?
It creates contextual understanding
Raw data alone may not provide the context for interpreting and understanding the insights gathered from the survey. Conversations enable teams, stakeholders, and supporters to discuss and explore the nuances and underlying factors associated with the data. This helps gain a deeper understanding of the challenges and opportunities the survey results reveal.
It creates a learning environment
By emphasizing the need for conversations, you encourage collaboration and engagement. Rather than simply presenting data and expecting individuals to draw conclusions, conversations allow different perspectives to come together. It creates an environment where teams can exchange ideas, challenge assumptions, and collectively make sense of the survey findings.
It triggers actionable outcomes
Through conversations, key themes can be identified, potential solutions can be explored, and action plans can be developed. By focusing on conversations, teams can extract actionable outcomes from the survey, enabling them to implement improvements based on the survey findings.
How do you live up to this principle?
- Teams should use the outcome of the survey as a conversation starter. Don’t use the results to judge teams.
- The entire team should participate in diagnosing, interpreting, and identifying improvements. Don’t limit to just the Scrum Masters, Product Owners, or coaches. Otherwise, it will quickly become a tool to assess the Developers. This will damage trust and entirely miss the survey's point.
#10: Create A Rhythm To Continuously Inspect And adapt
Why is this principle important?
It helps to remove impediments effectively
Creating a steady rhythm allows teams to gather feedback and identify impediments continuously. This allows supporters (managers, leaders, coaches) to offer guidance to remove the impediments.
It allows you to align the tool with organizational needs
Organizations and their teams are dynamic, and their needs can change over time. By establishing a rhythm to inspect and adapt, you can ensure that the tool (and its recommendations) remains aligned with the organization's evolving needs.
It encourages innovation and growth
When teams are encouraged to assess their work regularly, they can uncover novel ways of doing things, introduce new technologies or techniques, and find better ways to meet stakeholder needs. This focus on continuous improvement encourages teams to think critically and creatively, leading to the exploration of new ideas and approaches.
How do you live up to this principle?
- During the kickoff, select a rhythm that feels doable for everyone. In general, doing the complete survey every quarter and the shorter survey (focused on specific factors) every Sprint might serve as a good rhythm.
- Regardless of your chosen rhythm, it’s recommended to continuously use the DIY workshops & quick tips to identify improvements. The questionnaire is only the starting point. The tool offers way more inspiration for teams to improve continuously.
Closing
In this post, we explained the principles of Columinity. We also gave several recommendations on how to use them effectively. Explore the principles individually, or use them as a conversation starter with your team(s) or anyone interested in learning more about the tool.
Interested in learning more? Check the article ‘How To Improve Your Team With Columinity’ and the getting-started guide to start improving the effectiveness of your teams.
