DORA & SPACE metrics: 2 templates, questions & 1 tool
Agile teams face the challenge of finding metrics that not only quantify progress, but also help to strengthen the team, improve collaboration and focus on customer needs. The so-called DORA DevOps metrics and the SPACE framework can help here.
We have already explained the background to these two models in a detailed article on LinkedIn and here on the blog (see: DORA and SPACE metrics and: Everything you need to know about DORA & SPACE).
In the following post, we have prepared two DORA templates and questions that you can use to start working on improving your delivery today.
Before we delve deeper into this, I would like to point out a key finding from DORA DevOps research that should not be forgotten amidst all the metrics:
“The most important finding from our years of research is that teams that embrace a mindset and practice of continuous improvement are able to achieve the best outcomes.”- DORA Research Team, DORA Report 2023, p. 57
DORA Metrics: Template, Survey, Test, Questions
DORA DevOps Template Survey
Let’s start with a template for the four DORA DevOps key metrics. You can find the 4 questions for each DORA metric below. There are also 4 optional open questions that you can use in whole or in part in your retrospective.
DORA Metrics Retrospective: How the retro works
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Random Icebreaker (2-5 minutes)
Echometer provides you with a generator for random check-in questions.
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Review of open actions (2-5 minutes)
Before starting with new topics, you should talk about what has become of the measures from past retrospectives to check their effectiveness. Echometer automatically lists all open action items from past retros.
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Health Check
All team members can answer the health checks anonymously on a scale. Then go through the results of the health checks together and record any additional comments if necessary. If you use the same health checks in several retrospectives, you can also track trends over time in Echometer.
- Deployment Frequency: I am very happy with how often we deploy code to Prod.
- Lead Time for Changes: After the first code has been committed, we can implement it very quickly on Prod.
- Change Failure Rate: Our code implementations very rarely lead to errors on Prod.
- Time to Restore Service: If an error occurs on Prod, we can fix it very quickly.
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Discuss retro topics
Use the following open questions to collect your most important findings. First, everyone does it themselves, covered. Echometer allows you to reveal each column of the retro board individually in order to then present and group the feedback.
- What would improve our deployment frequency?
- What is our bottleneck to implement tasks faster on Prod?
- What would make our deployments less error-prone?
- What helps us to quickly rectify errors on Prod?
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Catch-all question (Recommended)
So that other topics also have a place:
- What else would you like to talk about in the retro?
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Prioritization / Voting (5 minutes)
On the retro board in Echometer, you can easily prioritize the feedback with voting. The voting is of course anonymous.
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Define actions (10-20 minutes)
You can create a linked action via the plus symbol on a feedback. Not sure which measure would be the right one? Then open a whiteboard on the topic via the plus symbol instead to brainstorm root causes and possible measures.
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Checkout / Closing (5 minutes)
Echometer enables you to collect anonymous feedback from the team on how helpful the retro was. This creates the ROTI score ("Return On Time Invested"), which you can track over time.
DORA Metrics Retrospective
Health Check Questions (Scale)
Open questions
So this is a simple template that you can use for a workshop or retrospective on the four DORA DevOps key metrics. Let’s move on to the SPACE framework.
A note in between: A simple, pragmatic but very helpful agile metric is the one shown in the video here. Agustina even shares the team data publicly from the whole of last year:
DORA Metrics: Template, Survey, Test, Questions
SPACE Metrics Template Survey
Equivalently, you can of course also use the SPACE framework to start improving your team based on data by asking a few questions directly in your retrospective. The following five SPACE questions will help you do this.
SPACE Framework Retrospective: How the retro works
-
Random Icebreaker (2-5 minutes)
Echometer provides you with a generator for random check-in questions.
-
Review of open actions (2-5 minutes)
Before starting with new topics, you should talk about what has become of the measures from past retrospectives to check their effectiveness. Echometer automatically lists all open action items from past retros.
-
Health Check
All team members can answer the health checks anonymously on a scale. Then go through the results of the health checks together and record any additional comments if necessary. If you use the same health checks in several retrospectives, you can also track trends over time in Echometer.
- Satisfaction: Looking at the last few weeks, I am very satisfied with my work.
- Performance: When I look at our last steps, we were a really productive team.
- Activity: If you look at the level of activity in the tools we use (e.g. responsiveness in chats, mutual feedback), we are a really engaged team.
- Collaboration & Collaboration: We improve as a team through intensive communication, collaboration and knowledge sharing.
- Efficiency & Flow: We complete most tasks quickly and without delays or interruptions.
-
Discuss retro topics
Use the following open questions to collect your most important findings. First, everyone does it themselves, covered. Echometer allows you to reveal each column of the retro board individually in order to then present and group the feedback.
-
Catch-all question (Recommended)
So that other topics also have a place:
- What else would you like to talk about in the retro?
-
Prioritization / Voting (5 minutes)
On the retro board in Echometer, you can easily prioritize the feedback with voting. The voting is of course anonymous.
-
Define actions (10-20 minutes)
You can create a linked action via the plus symbol on a feedback. Not sure which measure would be the right one? Then open a whiteboard on the topic via the plus symbol instead to brainstorm root causes and possible measures.
-
Checkout / Closing (5 minutes)
Echometer enables you to collect anonymous feedback from the team on how helpful the retro was. This creates the ROTI score ("Return On Time Invested"), which you can track over time.
SPACE Framework Retrospective
Health Check Questions (Scale)
So this is a simple template that you can use for a workshop or retrospective on the four DORA DevOps key metrics. Let’s move on to the SPACE framework.
DORA Metrics: Template, Survey, Test, Questions
SPACE & DORA Template in Echometer
As you have seen, you can run these templates with the Echometer software or the Echometer app in an online or hybrid team.
Echometer is a digital tool that helps agile team leads with agile retrospectives and team Health Checks. Whether remote, hybrid or on-site: it makes team coaching measurable and professionalizes your work while saving you a lot of work. Just take a look at our website to find out more: www.echometerapp.com.
DORA Metrics: Template, Survey, Test, Questions
Conclusion: DORA DevOps Monitoring
Agile metrics are far more than just numbers on a dashboard. They are a tool to give teams insights, improve their performance and continuously evolve. By recognizing that not all progress is quantifiable and that often the human aspects are just as important as the numerical data, we can ensure that our metrics not only tell us where we are, but also where we can go. Agile retrospectives on DORA and SPACE provide the optimal combination of metrics and the improvement mindset.
Lastly, one more note: If you would like to try out how it feels to develop your team with our tool: You can start an agile retrospective without logging in below, in this case the “Keep, Stop, Start” workshop.
Alternatively, simply forward our website to the responsible colleagues: www.echometerapp.com.
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