Relentless Improvement Cycle Step 1: Receive Feedback

This post is part of a series about the Relentless Improvement Cycle for Agililsts.

This post will deep dive into step 1 of the cycle: receiving feedback.

Examples:

What are some example ways to receive feedback from your users?

• As a Scrum Master, getting feedback from your team through a retrospective or 1:1’s with your team members
• For larger groups such as ARTs, or larger customer bases, you’ll want to use more scalable feedback mechanisms like NPS Surveys.
• Your company may have existing mechanisms for getting feedback, such as regular surveys or 360° feedback. Leverage these existing mechanisms where possible.
• If possible, try to mix in quantitative and qualitative data. For example, user telemetry data can be invaluable if you’re supporting a software product.

Why it’s important:

• Though it might seem obvious, you need to make sure you’re hearing pain points directly from the user, and not simply guessing about their pain points.

Pitfalls to avoid:

• Make sure you have at least something set up that allows you to get feedback from all users. It’s easy to fall into a trap of chatting with your “go-to” people, which gives a partial view of your organization.
• Make sure you have mechanisms that get feedback regularly. A common pitfall I see is that a group gets a bunch of feedback all at once…and then doesn’t connect with users again for another year. Be intentional about building feedback mechanisms that repeat regularly. “Regularly” will vary based on the size of your audience, but quarterly or once per PI is a good minimum to shoot for.