Running a workshop

Before the session

Before running a squad healthcheck session you need the entire engineering team to block out at least 2 hours in the calendar. If you run out of time, just follow up with another session - don’t rush the session!

It sounds a long time, but once you break it down it’s only a small amount of time per indicator if there are lengthy discussions.

What you will need:

• A facilitator
• Note taker
• Somewhere to record the results of scoring
• If in person use a whiteboard and sticky notes, if remote or hybrid an online whiteboard such as Mural can be used.

An example of how you could set up a whiteboard or Mural board.

During the session

When starting the session, everyone should be clear on the purpose of the session and how it will run.

It is critical there is a strong element of psychological safety when running the session to ensure everyone can voice their thoughts candidly to get the most benefit.

One by one, score each indicator and have a discussion around it. Take notes around the discussion points and record the RAG scores.

The facilitator needs to ensure discussions are open but constructive and stay focussed.

After the session

After the session the facilitator collates the scores alongside the notes for analysis, and then presents the results back in a separate session.

The high level themes and the quantitative scoring should be presented back to the engineering squad, and also can be presented to the wider delivery team.

In some cases, other stakeholders might also have an interest too.

Book in the future sessions early to maintain cadence and ensure that calendars are blocked out well in advance.