Domain Reviews

The team has, through various means, an understanding of their work, their progress, their ways of working, their current impediments, and from this, how effectively they meet their team’s responsibilities and advance their team-level OKRs.

As the Delegator remains overall accountable for a team, they need to understand how effectively the team delivers on their purpose and identify areas for improvement. The Delegator might also perceive required changes within their domain, have inputs for prioritization, and need clarity on whether there are aspects the teams think should be modified or clarified. The goal is to stay in the loop, both to empower the team to create value and to ensure the team’s delivery on their purpose and deliverables. It’s essential for the business not to overlook issues when things don’t function as they should.

Periodically, the Delegator should check in with representatives of the Team (as mentioned above) to assess how things are progressing. This interaction can follow a simple format and should be documented for future reference. Essentially, it involves going over a list of topics and collaboratively deciding if everything is being managed well and identifying areas for improvement.

The Team comes up with a plan how to improve on the things that are not good enough yet. The Delegator plays a role in creating these plans, gives consent to them, and holds the team accountable over time to achieve the necessary improvements. This accountability is bidirectional; the Delegator also has responsibilities towards the Team, mainly in enabling them.

Anyone in any team or role might stumble across things that seem to not be how they should be (problem) or how they could be (opportunity). We don’t live in a culture where you simply report problems to management and hope for a resolution. We share the responsibility. The subject matter specialist, for example you in your team, who identifies the problem usually has deeper insight into it than the Delegator. Paired with the Delegator’s high-level context, a first iteration solution might be closer and simpler than you’d expect.

Is the purpose of the domain still clear and relevant to the organization? Does it summarize what the team or rolekeeper actually do and why, can they identify with this purpose?

Are the expectations clear? Are they adequately fulfilled? If not, why? What obstacles are present?

Are they still relevant and clear? Does the team deliver as agreed upon? If not, why? What is preventing successful delivery?

Is there sufficient progress as outlined in the Objectives and Key Results (Os and KRs)? If not, what’s holding them back? How can we remove obstacles or enhance progress?

Is there sufficient progress to deliver the required features on the roadmap within the stipulated time? If not, what’s the barrier? How can we alleviate the constraints or boost progress?

Do they effectively address all of Fundamental Responsibilities good enough? If not, what needs improvement? What support do they need from the organization?

There isn’t a one-size-fits-all approach here. For a team of two, a simple work tracking mechanism might be enough, whereas a nine-member value stream team might adopt full-fledged Scrum to handle the Prioritization and Planning responsibility.

Refer to Anyone might have tensions anytime. It could be a task within your team where you were obstructed by another team, resulting in a delay in getting what you needed. It might be an instance where there’s a lack of clarity hindering progress, your team lacking specific skills, or perhaps someone departing from your team necessitating a hiring decision. Address any situation that either doesn’t arise or can’t wait for another scheduled review session.