Agile Delivery Health Checklist
12 signals that tell you if your team is actually delivering — not just running ceremonies.
Use this checklist before your next sprint review, retrospective, or team health conversation. It surfaces delivery system problems before they compound — not after they've already cost you a sprint.
How to score: Check each signal that is genuinely true for your team right now. Be honest — this is for your use, not for reporting up.
The Agile Delivery Health Checklist
12 signals to check before your next sprint — not after problems surface.
Section 1: Team Clarity
☐ 1. Definition of Done
Does the team agree on what "done" means for each story before the sprint starts?
☐ 2. Sprint Goal Quality
Are sprint goals written as outcomes (what changes for the customer) rather than feature lists (what gets built)?
☐ 3. Definition of Ready
Does the Definition of Ready filter out stories that are genuinely not ready — or has it become a rubber stamp?
Section 2: Delivery Flow
☐ 4. WIP Discipline
Is WIP actively limited, or are team members working on 3+ items simultaneously?
☐ 5. Blocker Surfacing
Are blockers surfaced within 24 hours, or held until the standup?
☐ 6. Flow Metric
Does the team track cycle time (how long work takes to complete), not just velocity (how much gets started)?
Section 3: Retrospective Signal Quality
☐ 7. Action Completion
Did the last retrospective produce at least one action item that was completed during the sprint (not just written down)?
☐ 8. Recurring Blockers
Are the same blockers appearing in three or more consecutive retrospectives?
☐ 9. Format Honesty
Does the team use a format that surfaces what's actually blocking delivery — or one that surfaces what people are comfortable saying?
Section 4: Stakeholder and System Health
☐ 10. Review Attendance
Are sprint reviews attended by the people who can make actual prioritization decisions?
☐ 11. Technical Debt Visibility
Is technical debt tracked as a first-class backlog item, or is it a "we'll handle it later" background concern?
☐ 12. Process vs. Delivery
Does the Agile process serve the delivery goal — or is the team serving the process?
Score Your Delivery System
10–12 ✓ HEALTHY
Your delivery system is working. Continue iterating.
7–9 ⚡ SIGNAL
2–3 specific signals need attention before the next sprint. Identify the highest-impact one.
4–6 ⚠ CAUTION
Systemic issues likely. Bring the retrospective format issue to the surface before diagnosing other signals.
0–3 🔴 RESET
Ceremonies are running, but delivery is not improving. Consider a delivery system reset — starting with the sprint goal.
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