Any Scrum Team goes through levels of Agile maturity as they learn new ways of working. Once the learning starts and is accepted by the team members, they start in the Shu level.
The team starts to follow best practices and use new tools that have worked for others. They do not consider inspection and adaptation and stick almost strictly to one way of working.
Your goal as a Scrum Master is to lead the team towards continuous improvement so that they can truly embrace agility. It is important to advance and avoid getting stuck at one of the levels.
As the team becomes more familiar with new ways of working they start to understand the underlying principles. They are open to use new practices and actively look for ways to be more effective.
As the team becomes more effective and continuously improves, they look for opportunities to extend their success. They start to look not only at how they work but at how others in their immediate environment work and look for ways to improve the organization as well as themselves.
There is no final state when it comes to maturity. Instead, there is a continuous improvement that the team enters as they become mature.
Level 1: Shu #
On this level, the team usually shows the following behaviors:
- Following best practices exactly as they are defined or taught without deviation
- Acquiring basic skills that can be applied in specific situations
- Unsure on how to address new challenges
- Needs guidance from a mentor.
To help the team at this level, you need to provide them with exact practices, tools, and templates to replicate.
Level 2: Ha #
The team usually presents the following behaviors:
- Starts to add more of their own style into the practices
- More open to try new things, innovate, and more open to failure
- Accelerated learning
- Able to address new challenges through research and community
To support them, you need to provide direction and guidance without judgment.
Level 3: Ri #
The team usually presents the following behaviors:
- Full confidence in applying the skills without the need to look for solutions
- Can draw ideas from their experience and can mentor others
- Even when faced with completely new challenges, can improvise on the spot
Support the team by letting them to self-organize.
