Reluctance to Relishing—Rolling Out DORA Metrics to Skeptical Teams
Teams are rightfully skeptical when faced with a mandate to implement DORA metrics, especially when no effective rollout approach is considered. Kendra will outline the context, conflict, and climax of the story arc to ensure a smooth rollout. First the context: DORA metrics and their importance. A ‘burning platform’ of 'those who do not keep up will get left behind'. Then, the conflict: tension builds when distrust between a team and leadership when leadership mandates change without the why or how. Stories of two project teams will serve as examples. Finally, the climax which include the following 5 key steps: championship from the highest level possible, knowledge share through interactive, micro-learning modules, meet the team where they are at with both hard data and culturally, coach the team on improvements that will positively impact the metrics with a combination of modules, interactive coaching, and process iteration, during full duration - hold cadenced review of the metrics of leading & lagging indicators to adjust course. Takeaways include understanding the urgency to improve DORA metrics, how to roll out metrics to skeptical teams, and effective learning & coaching approaches.
Kendra Schmid is an Delivery Transformation Lead Consultant for WillowTree partnering with clients across all industries to build enterprise- and consumer-critical digital products. Kendra specializes in helping organizations transform how they build products, interact with customers, and foster great work environments; all while continuing to deliver on time. Kendra has worked with multinational Fortune 500 companies across hospitality, finance, e-commerce, streaming media, and education. Kendra uses her 20+ years in software to assist teams on actionable improvements that lead to lasting changes with empowered and autonomous teams. Kendra has a Masters in Computer Science from University of Virginia. She is a certified Project Management Professional (PMP), SAFe Program Consultant (SPC), Disciplined Agile Coach (DAC).