Built in Quality

Living agility goes beyond following frameworks. Success lies in scaling skills rather than just applying structures. Connecting strategic goals to team actions is key, yet quality often falters due to management pitfalls. Breaking down testing and improvements into manageable steps can make Agile truly effective. The focus is on ensuring that practices have meaningful impacts, transforming the way teams work and think in their everyday processes. This journey towards effective agility empowers teams to achieve more.

Podcast Episode: Built in Quality

In this episode, I chat with Derk-Jan de Grood. We explore what it means to live agility beyond just following frameworks. Derk-Jan shares insights on scaling skills over frameworks and connecting strategy to team actions. We discuss common pitfalls where quality often falls through the cracks, particularly at the management level. There's a focus on breaking down testing and improvement into small, actionable practices. It's all about making Agile effective and meaningful.

"If you don't know when you're going to accept, how can I know what I need to test?" - Derk-Jan de Grood

Derk-Jan de Grood works as a Principal Consultant and Inspirator at InnSpire.He helps organizations take the next step in their agile transformation and improve the flow of value delivery. As an Agile Transformation Consultant, RTE Coach, and Value Delivery Expert, Derk-Jan is passionate about optimizing the development process. He actively collaborates with leaders, RTEs, Scrum Masters, and Product Owners to co-create effective solutions. While he is not afraid to lead by example, his main goal is to empower people within the organization, help them grow, and encourage them to embrace agile values.With his enthusiastic and engaging approach, Derk-Jan inspires the people he works with. He is a sought-after speaker at international conferences, a frequent columnist, and a regular contributor to various industry magazines. He shares his insights and experiences through his blog and his monthly podcast series. Derk-Jan is also the author of several bestselling books.

Highlights der Episode

• Scaling skills matters more than frameworks.
• Connect strategy directly to team actions.
• Management often misses the quality mark.
• Break testing into small, actionable practices.
• "Surfing the Waves of Agile" offers practical insights.

How to Built in Quality

Introduction

Built-in quality is a foundational concept in modern software development, emphasizing that quality must be embedded throughout every stage of the process rather than inspected in at the end. As a software quality coach and value delivery expert often highlight, maintaining high standards continuously prevents costly defects and accelerates delivery.

Key aspects of built-in quality include:

• Integrating quality practices seamlessly into planning, coding, testing, and deployment.
• Empowering agile teams to take shared responsibility for product excellence.
• Leveraging automation and technical excellence to support consistent outcomes.

This article unpacks how agile methodologies foster built-in quality, the evolving roles within agile teams, common challenges faced in quality management, and practical approaches to embed quality effectively. You will also find insights on scaling agile with a strong focus on sustaining built-in quality across larger organizations. The goal: help you understand how to make quality an integral part of your software development lifecycle.

The Role of Agile in Ensuring Built-in Quality

Agile methodologies promote built-in quality by embedding collaboration and continuous improvement into the development process. Agile teams operate with shared responsibility for quality, where developers, testers, and quality specialists work closely together to detect issues early and prevent defects from reaching production. This collaborative environment encourages transparency and fast feedback loops, essential for maintaining high standards.

The distinction between living agility and merely following frameworks like Scrum is critical. Many organizations treat agile as a checklist or a rigid set of rules rather than a mindset focused on adaptability and value delivery. Living agility means embracing agile principles in daily work—prioritizing responsiveness, learning, and empowerment over strict adherence to processes. This approach transforms agile teams into dynamic units that continuously evolve their practices to enhance quality.

Starting an agile transformation with the why—understanding the purpose behind adopting agility—is fundamental. Shifting focus from just implementing frameworks to becoming value delivery experts changes how teams measure success. Agile is not just about completing sprints or ceremonies; it’s about delivering meaningful outcomes that align with customer needs and business goals.

The Scrum framework serves as a useful guideline but should not become an end in itself. Treating Scrum like a Jenga tower—where one misplaced block can destabilize the structure—illustrates the risk of rigid compliance without comprehension. Teams must engage deeply with agile principles to embed quality throughout their workflows rather than relying solely on prescribed rituals.

Key points on agile's role in built-in quality:

• Collaboration across roles strengthens early defect detection.
• Continuous improvement drives ongoing enhancements in product quality.
• Living agility focuses on principles, not just frameworks.
• Agile transformation must start with understanding the why.
• Value delivery becomes the primary measure of success beyond process compliance.

This mindset shift enables agile teams to build quality into every step rather than inspecting it in later stages.

Technical Excellence as a Foundation for Quality

Technical excellence stands at the core of maintaining built-in quality in software development. Practices like continuous integration and continuous deployment (CI/CD) are essential to ensure that quality is not an afterthought but embedded throughout the delivery lifecycle. The CI/CD pipeline acts as a backbone, allowing teams to integrate code frequently and deploy automatically, which helps catch defects early and deliver reliable software consistently.

The Role of Automated Testing in CI/CD

Automated testing plays a crucial role within these CI/CD pipeline integrations. By embedding automated tests into the deployment process, teams gain confidence that every change meets predefined quality standards without manual bottlenecks. This reduces errors in production and accelerates feedback loops, making it easier to maintain high standards even as complexity grows.

Continuous Improvement through Small Actions

Innovation and skill development arise from small actionable practices implemented regularly by teams and organizations. These range from incremental improvements in coding standards to adopting new testing techniques. Such practices create an environment where continuous learning is part of daily work rather than occasional training events. The result is a culture where technical skills evolve alongside agile mindsets, reinforcing quality at every stage.

Roles and Responsibilities in Agile Teams Contributing to Quality

Core responsibility of developers in ensuring product quality within agile teams:

Developers play a crucial role in upholding the quality of the product within agile teams. Their core responsibility involves implementing coding best practices, conducting code reviews, and ensuring that the software meets the defined quality standards.

The evolving role of testers and quality specialists transitioning from repetitive tasks to strategic contributors:

Testers and quality specialists are no longer limited to executing repetitive testing tasks but are now strategic contributors in agile teams. They actively participate in test automation, exploratory testing, and collaborating with developers to identify potential issues early in the development process.

Structure of agile teams including specialized skills organized in guilds or chapters for knowledge sharing:

Agile teams are structured to include members with specialized skills who are organized into guilds or chapters for effective knowledge sharing. This structure promotes cross-functional collaboration, continuous learning, and shared responsibility for maintaining Built-in Quality within the team.

Overcoming Challenges in Agile Quality Management

Agile methodologies have transformed the software development landscape, prioritizing flexibility and customer collaboration. However, even within this dynamic framework, certain challenges can hinder the pursuit of quality.

Unclear Acceptance Criteria and Ambiguous Usability Testing Scopes

One of the most common challenges faced by Agile teams is the presence of unclear acceptance criteria and ambiguous usability testing scopes. When these aspects are not well-defined, it becomes difficult to gauge whether a feature meets the desired quality standards or if it aligns with user expectations.

For instance, consider a scenario where a team is developing an e-commerce application. If the acceptance criteria for a checkout feature simply states "the checkout process should be seamless," it leaves room for interpretation. Does it mean there should be no loading times? Or does it imply that users should be able to complete their purchases in three clicks?

Such ambiguities can lead to miscommunication between team members, resulting in rework and delays. To overcome this challenge, it is crucial to establish clear and specific acceptance criteria from the outset. This can be achieved through collaborative discussions involving product owners, designers, and developers.

Management's Lack of Awareness about Quality Processes

Another hurdle that Agile teams often encounter is management's lack of awareness regarding the significance of quality processes. In some cases, decision-makers may prioritize speed over quality, believing that delivering features quickly will satisfy customers.

However, this approach can have detrimental effects in the long run. Rushing through development without proper testing or review can result in buggy releases, leading to dissatisfied users and negative reviews.

To address this issue, Agile teams need to proactively communicate the value of quality processes to management. This can be done by sharing metrics such as defect rates or customer satisfaction scores that highlight the impact of quality on business outcomes.

Persisting 'Old School' Problems Affecting Built-in Quality

Despite being part of an Agile setup, many teams still grapple with 'old school' problems that impede their ability to maintain consistent built-in quality. These issues could include:

• Lack of automated testing: Some teams may rely heavily on manual testing due to time constraints or resource limitations. While manual testing has its place, it can be prone to human error and may not scale effectively as the product grows.
• Insufficient code reviews: Code reviews are essential for ensuring code quality and knowledge sharing among team members. However, if they are not conducted regularly or if feedback is not taken seriously, technical debt can accumulate over time.
• Inconsistent definition of done: The definition of done (DoD) outlines what needs to be completed for a user story or task to be considered finished. If different team members have varying interpretations of DoD, it can lead to incomplete work being accepted as done.

To overcome these challenges, Agile teams must actively seek ways to improve their existing practices. This could involve investing in test automation tools, establishing a culture of thorough code reviews, or aligning everyone's understanding of DoD through discussions and workshops.

By addressing these challenges head-on, Agile teams can create an environment where quality is prioritized at every stage of development – from planning and design to implementation and delivery.

Practical Approaches to Embedding Quality into Software Development Processes

Quality should never be an afterthought in software development. Instead, it should be an integral part of the process, embedded at every stage from planning to deployment. This is where built-in quality practices come into play.

What are Built-in Quality Practices?

Built-in quality practices are techniques and strategies that aim to prevent defects and errors in software development rather than just identifying and fixing them later. These practices can be applied throughout the software development lifecycle (SDLC) to ensure that quality is maintained at every step.

The Importance of Built-in Quality

Implementing built-in quality practices has several benefits for software development teams and organizations:

1. Cost Reduction: By preventing defects early on, organizations can avoid costly rework and fixes later in the process. This leads to significant cost savings in terms of time, resources, and budget.
2. Speed Improvement: When quality is built into the process, teams can work more efficiently and deliver faster. With fewer defects to fix and less time spent on rework, projects can be completed on time or even ahead of schedule.
3. Error Reduction: Built-in quality practices help minimize errors in production by addressing issues before they reach the end user. This leads to higher customer satisfaction and fewer support tickets or bug reports.

Practical Workshops for Implementing Built-in Quality

To effectively implement built-in quality practices, organizations can conduct practical workshops tailored to their specific needs. These workshops offer extensive training on various techniques and strategies that can be applied in software development processes.

The number of techniques covered in these workshops can vary depending on the organization's requirements:

• Basic Workshop: Covers essential built-in quality practices (around 75 techniques).
• Advanced Workshop: Explores advanced techniques and strategies (over 150 techniques).

These workshops provide hands-on training, case studies, and real-world examples to ensure participants understand how to apply these practices effectively.

By incorporating built-in quality practices through practical workshops, organizations can achieve significant improvements in cost reduction, speed enhancement, and error minimization within their software development processes.

Scaling Agile for Large and Medium Organizations with Built-in Quality Focus

Scaling agility in large and medium organizations requires deliberate strategies that preserve built-in quality throughout complex value streams. Many enterprises struggle to maintain consistent quality when multiple teams, departments, and layers of management are involved. Addressing this challenge demands a systemic approach centered on value flow and prioritization.

Key strategies for scaling agility with built-in quality include:

1. Managing value flow

Understanding how work moves from ideation to delivery across the entire organization allows you to identify bottlenecks and quality risks early. Value flow management ensures that every step contributes directly to customer outcomes without unnecessary delays or rework.

2. Prioritizing epics with refinement roles

Large initiatives break down into epics, features, and stories. Prioritization becomes critical—focus on the highest-value work while balancing technical dependencies and quality considerations. Refinement roles act as gatekeepers who continuously clarify acceptance criteria, usability scopes, and technical requirements, preventing ambiguity that can derail quality.

3. Embedding quality in the culture

Beyond processes, scaling agility demands a mindset shift across all levels—executives, managers, teams—to view quality as a shared responsibility. This mindset promotes proactive problem-solving rather than reactive fixes after defects appear.

4. Leveraging specialized roles within guilds and chapters

Organizing experts in testing, development, and architecture communities fosters knowledge sharing and continuous skill development. These groups help maintain technical excellence standards essential for sustainable built-in quality.

5. Using real-world practices from extensive workshops

Drawing on proven techniques—ranging from 75 up to 150+ built-in quality practices—enables organizations to tailor their approach based on maturity and context. These practices reduce costs by cutting wasteful activities, accelerate delivery by minimizing delays, and decrease production errors by embedding testing and automation early.

Large organizations that embrace these principles align their entire software development ecosystem around delivering continuous value without sacrificing quality. The result is agility that scales effectively—helping businesses respond faster to change while maintaining high standards their customers expect.