Executive involvement
How It Is Assessed
AgiLevel assesses executive involvement at two points:
- Current situation: the current degree of knowledge of, and commitment to, the necessary agile principles on the part of management.
- Readiness for change: management's willingness to deepen that knowledge and commitment.
The rating scale for the current situation is:
| Value | Criterion |
|---|---|
| 0 | The company's executives do not know or do not promote the agile principles and values needed for the change. |
| 1 | The company's executives have a very superficial knowledge of agile principles and values, and their supportive attitude is questionable. |
| 2 | The knowledge and support of the company's executives regarding the agile principles and values needed for the change may not be sufficient. |
| 3 | The company's executives know and are committed to supporting the agile principles and values needed. |
Why it is decisive
Without executive involvement, agility initiatives remain confined to the teams, unable to scale to the organization. Teams can practice Scrum fluently, but if the organizational structure around them—compensation systems, planning processes, reporting culture—does not change, the potential of agility remains limited.
AgiLevel is explicit: if the company's leadership does not believe in agility, it is better not to start a scaling process and to reconsider the situation instead.
The difference between declared support and real commitment
Executive involvement is difficult to assess because any executive will claim to support the transformation when asked directly. AgiLevel recommends assessing real support by observing specific behaviors, not statements:
- Do executives take part in the relevant Scrum events (Sprint Reviews, demos)?
- Are organizational policies evolving to be consistent with agile values?
- Is negative learning explicitly accepted as a valid outcome?
- Do changes in the way of working continue even when initial results are uneven?
- Have performance review conversations changed to reflect the new values?
If the answers are predominantly negative, executive involvement is declarative rather than real, regardless of what the executives claim.
Common mistake
Confusing approval of the initiative with executive involvement. An executive can approve and fund an agile transformation process without being involved in it. Approval is a necessary condition, not a sufficient one. Real involvement means that executives understand which values and behaviors agility requires, practice them in their own decisions, and protect them when agility comes into conflict with organizational inertia.
Resources
🌐 AgiLevel — Official websiteModel documentation and resources
📄AgiLevel v.5.0Free download · Scrum Manager
🔧 AgiLevel Radar — Assessment toolScrum Manager · Free online assessment
🔧 AgiLevel CanvasScrum Manager · Tool
See also
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