Leadership System Diagnostic

Role Specialization

To what extent do your teams or named roles (e.g. Release Manager, QA Manager, Chief Architect) own responsibilities such as release coordination, quality control, and architectural decisions?

1: Most responsibilities are handled by designated roles2: Some decisions are delegated to teams, but core responsibilities remain with specialists.3: Teams and roles share responsibility depending on context.4: Teams typically manage their own delivery with occasional support from roles.5: Multi-skill development is actively rewarded

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Role Flexibility

How much flexibility exists for team members to step outside of their defined roles (e.g. developer, designer, QA) and develop new skills?

1: Team members operate primarily within predefined roles.2: Occasional stretching outside primary roles happens on demand.3: Some cross-role activity occurs as needed.4: Role boundaries are fluid; team members take on various responsibilities.5: Multi-skill development is actively rewarded.

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Team Structure

Are teams structured more around technological components or customer-facing features and value streams?

1: Teams are formed around technical systems or platforms.2: Technology alignment is dominant, with some business inputs.3: A mix of technical and customer-oriented structures.4: Teams reflect customer experiences, with tech considerations.5: Structure is driven by product or customer value streams.

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Team Interaction

How do teams interact with each other during product development?

1: Teams primarily focus on their own scope and hand off work.2: Periodic alignment meetings exist, but interaction is limited.3: Regular inter-team conversations occur for alignment.4: Teams initiate collaboration to resolve shared challenges.5: Teams work closely across boundaries on shared objectives.

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Integration Cadence

How often do team members integrate their work into the shared main trunk or codebase?

1: Integration happens less than once per sprint.2: Teams merge work roughly once per sprint.3: Weekly or feature-based integration practices are common.4: Integration occurs daily into a shared codebase.5: Work is integrated multiple times a day into the main branch.

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Work Framing

How is most of the work structured in your organization?

1: Work is defined as time-bound projects with fixed scope.2: Projects dominate, with some product-led activities.3: Balance between product focus and project-style delivery.4: Long-term product ownership is common, with some short-term initiatives.5: Work is approached as continuous, evolving product delivery.

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Product Definition

How are products and backlogs defined in your organization?

1: Each team works on its own product with a separate backlog and Product Owner.2: In a few cases, two teams share a backlog and Product Owner.3: Several teams share a backlog and Product Owner.4: A shared backlog exists; teams pick and work on distinct epics.5: One unified backlog feeds all teams, who pull top-priority items each iteration.

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Product Backlog Clarity

What percentage of items in the Product Backlog could an end-user or business stakeholder understand without needing clarification?

1: Most backlog items require clarification from experts.2: A minority of items are easily interpretable by outsiders.3: About half the backlog is clearly worded.4: Majority of items are understandable to non-team members.5: Nearly all items are written in user-accessible terms.

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Co-location Frequency

On average, how often do teams work from the same physical location during a typical week?

1: Teams are fully remote.2: Rare in-person meetings happen monthly or less.3: Teams meet in person once or twice a week.4: Most workdays involve in-office presence.5: Teams are co-located daily.

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User Info

Please provide your full name, company, and email.

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Descaling Principles Self-Assessment Questionnaire

Role Specialization

Role Flexibility

Team Structure

Team Interaction

Integration Cadence

Work Framing

Product Definition

Product Backlog Clarity

Co-location Frequency

User Info

Your Result

Tailored Improvement Suggestions

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