Agile Product Operating Model Survey

Scrum.org is reaching out to leaders to help us understand how organizations are utilizing product management practices, including those in the Agile Product Operating Model. We appreciate your participation.

note: an asterisk (*) indicates that the question is required for completion

1.Our product strategy is focused on meaningful value for users and the business, rather than being driven by features and timelines.(Required.)

Always - Value first (e.g., outcomes over outputs)

Usually - Mostly value, sometimes deadlines/features

Sometimes - About half value, half deadlines/features

Rarely - Mostly deadlines/features, little value focus

Never - Features/timelines only, no value focus

2.Our organization treats product development as a strategic advantage rather than a cost factor.(Required.)

Always - Strategic enabler

Usually - Mostly as a strategic enabler

Sometimes - Technology is half approached as a cost factor and half as a strategic enabler

Rarely - Usually approached as cost or efficiency factor

Never - Only a cost or efficiency factor

3.Our product strategy is directly aligned with business goals and is clearly communicated.(Required.)

4.Operational expectations (e.g., availability, support, responsiveness) are made explicit within our product organization, and inform team planning and stakeholder alignment.(Required.)

Always - High level of transparency

Usually - Mostly transparent

Sometimes - Some transparency

Rarely - Usually kept in the dark on operational expectations

Never - No visibility into operational expectations

5.Our organization bases product decisions on validated user problems and real evidence rather than assumptions or opinions.(Required.)

Always evidence-based

Usually evidence-based

Sometimes - half evidence-based and half opinion-based

Rarely evidence-based and mostly opinion-based

Never evidence-based and always opinion or assumption-based

6.Teams in our organization deliver small, valuable product increments to users and stakeholders that drive learning and measurable impact.(Required.)

Always - We only deliver valuable increments

Usually - We mostly deliver valuable increments

Sometimes - Some of our product increments are valuable

Rarely - It is unusual to deliver value

Never - We do not deliver valuable increments

7.Our product teams fully own and continuously improve the entire path to delivery rather than relying on specialized teams for releases, operations, and shared services.(Required.)

Always - Product teams fully own and improve the entire path to delivery

Usually - Product teams own most of the path, with occasional reliance on specialists

Sometimes - Product teams and specialists share ownership fairly evenly

Rarely - Specialists handle most of the path

Never - Specialists handle it all

8.We are organized around products and have teams fit to meet current challenges, aimed at reducing hierarchy, silos, and handoffs.(Required.)

Always - Fully product-focused

Usually - Mostly product-focused with some silos and hierarchy present

Sometimes - About half product-focused and half with silos and hierarchy

Rarely - Mostly traditional team structure with minimal product focus

Never - Primarily hierarchy, silos and hand offs

9.Leaders demonstrate expected behaviors, set clear goals, and empower the teams to deliver them.(Required.)

Always - Leaders consistently model these behaviors

Usually - Leaders do this most of the time, with occasional gaps in consistency or clarity

Sometimes - Leaders show some of these behaviors, but not reliably

Rarely - Leaders demonstrate these behaviors only in limited situations

Never - Leaders do not model these behaviors

10.Our organization has a deliberate strategy for hiring, growing, and retaining the appropriate multi-skilled professionals.(Required.)

Always - We consistently hire, develop, and retain the right multi-skilled professionals

Usually - We do this well most of the time, with occasional gaps

Sometimes - Efforts exist but are inconsistent or not fully effective

Rarely - We usually do not focus on building and retaining multi-skilled professionals

Never - We have no deliberate strategy in this area

11.Our organization's incentives policy reinforces expected behaviors, supports intrinsic motivation, and encourages teamwork.(Required.)

Always - Incentives consistently drive expected behaviors

Usually - Incentives mostly align with expected behaviors with occasional gaps

Sometimes - Incentives occasionally support the right outcomes but are inconsistent

Rarely - Incentives seldom reinforce desired behaviors or teamwork

Never - Incentives do not encourage expected behaviors

12.Our organization has a culture of trust that enables transparency, open collaboration, and continuous improvement.(Required.)

Always - Consistently fosters trust, transparency, collaboration, and continuous improvement

Usually - Trust and collaboration are present most of the time, with occasional gaps

Sometimes - Trust and collaboration exist only in some areas

Rarely - Trust and collaboration are present in very limited situations

Never - Does not foster trust, transparency, or collaboration

13.Governance requirements (e.g. budgeting, compliance) in our organization are met through collaborative and lightweight practices that minimize disruption to product agility and value delivery.(Required.)

Always - Governance is handled collaboratively without disrupting agility or value delivery

Usually - Governance mostly supports agility and value delivery

Sometimes - Governance practices occasionally disrupt agility or are not fully collaborative

Rarely - Governance often creates disruption and is not handled collaboratively

Never - Governance practices are rigid and disruptive

14.Our organizational processes are minimal but sufficient to enable empiricism, self-management, and product mindset.(Required.)

Always - Processes are lightweight and fully support empiricism, self-management, and a product mindset

Usually - Processes mostly enable these principles, with occasional unnecessary complexity

Sometimes - Processes partially support these principles but are inconsistent

Rarely - Processes rarely support empiricism, self-management, or a product mindset

Never - Processes are overly complex and do not enable agility

15.The toolset and systems we use support effective product delivery, automate compliance where possible, and facilitate transparency.(Required.)

Always - Tools and systems fully support delivery, automate compliance, and ensure transparency

Usually - Tools and systems mostly support these goals, with minor gaps or limitations

Sometimes - Tools partially support delivery, compliance, or transparency, but inconsistently

Rarely - Tools rarely enable effective delivery or transparency, and compliance is often manual

Never - Tools do not support delivery, compliance automation, or transparency

16.When engaging external vendors or partners, we use flexible, product-centric contracts that support iterative development and changing requirements.(Required.)

Always - Contracts are consistently flexible, product-focused, and support iterative development

Usually - Contracts mostly support these principles

Sometimes - Contracts partially allow iterative development and changing requirements

Rarely - Contracts rarely support iterative development or flexibility

Never - Contracts are rigid and do not accommodate product-centric approaches

17.Our portfolio management process funds products and minimizes cross-product initiatives(Required.)

Always - Consistently funds products and limits cross-product initiatives

Usually - Mostly achieves this, with occasional overlap or cross-product work

Sometimes - Partially funds products or limits cross-product initiatives, but inconsistently

Rarely - Usually doesn't focus on product funding or minimizing cross-product initiatives

Never - Does not prioritize products and allows frequent cross-product initiatives

18.Products have clear ownership and are defined around user value, not internal systems or specialist skills.(Required.)

Always - Clear ownership and focus on user value

Usually - Mostly clear ownership and are user-focused, with occasional exceptions

Sometimes - Products partially focus on user value or have unclear ownership

Rarely - Ownership of products is usually unclear

Never - Products are defined by internal systems or specialist skills, with no clear ownership

19.Through continuous learning, our organization uses real data, measurable goals, and intentional experiments to improve product and business outcomes.(Required.)

Always - Data, measurable goals, and experiments are consistently used to drive improvement

Usually - Data, goals, and experiments are used most of the time

Sometimes - Data, goals, and experiments are used most of the time, with occasional gaps

Rarely - Data and experiments are not typically used to improve outcomes

Never - Our organization does not support continuous learning to improve outcomes

20.What is your job title/role?(Required.)