The Start Of Companion And Client Applications

The origins of Companion are deeply rooted in real-world challenges faced while working with clients. It wasn’t just an internal idea brewing at Agilar—it evolved through direct experience in the field.

Three pivotal questions shaped its development:

1. As a Scrum Master – How do I know if I’m doing a good job? What should I improve? How can I guide my teams effectively?
2. As an Agile Consultant – How do we define and document the Agile way? How can we standardize Agile maturity assessment across organizations?
3. While Supporting Large-Scale Agile Transformations – How do we track progress across multiple teams and consultants? How can we systematically collect insights to drive meaningful improvements?

The turning point came while working with a large financial institution in Belgium. Hundreds of teams participated in an Agile assessment using a spreadsheet template. The first round worked fine—teams filled in responses, and insights were compiled. But in subsequent rounds, things got messy. Teams modified the template—adding columns, tweaking formats, changing colors—disrupting data aggregation. Every modification, however, hinted at a feature request. Teams wanted more flexibility, better organization, and a streamlined process.

At that moment, it became clear: this shouldn’t live in a spreadsheet. The need for a dedicated application became undeniable. Enter Bubble, a no-code platform that allowed Companion to take form—offering structure, scalability, and an intuitive way to capture and analyze Agile maturity across teams.

Two major hurdles shaped the development of Companion:

1. The Question Set – Crafting a reliable set of Agile assessment questions was no small feat. Over years of refinement, it had become:
2. -Binary in Nature – "Yes" or "Not Yet" responses ensured clarity and easy aggregation.
3. -Layered in Complexity – Questions followed a Basecamp structure, allowing teams to progress from foundational to advanced Agile practices.
4. -Comprehensive Yet Concise – Each question encompassed multiple dimensions, ensuring depth without overwhelming teams.

Clients often wanted to modify the set. One financial client spent months iterating on a new version, only to revert to the original after extensive testing. The structured simplicity of Companion’s question set proved its value time and again.

1. The Answering Process – No matter how well-crafted the questions, interpretation varied. Rather than having individuals answer in isolation, Companion introduced collaborative discussions. Scrum Masters answered alongside peers, debating responses, aligning perspectives, and organically setting standards. This transformed the assessment into a learning experience rather than just a data collection exercise.

One notable implementation occurred at a major brewery where Agile adoption was gaining traction. With multiple teams at different stages of maturity, the challenge was clear: How do we gauge progress and provide targeted support?

Using Companion:

• A snapshot of Agile maturity revealed common weak spots across teams.
• Peer-to-peer learning emerged as Scrum Masters shared successful practices with struggling teams.
• Bottom-up standardization naturally took shape—best practices spread without top-down enforcement.

A breakthrough moment came when teams voluntarily adopted improved ways of working simply by learning from each other. Rather than mandating new processes, Companion highlighted gaps and empowered teams to fill them collaboratively.

One unexpected challenge? Direct adoption by Scrum Masters wasn’t immediate. Despite being built for them, simply presenting the tool wasn’t enough. Instead, the most effective adoption route was through Agile consultants.

Consultants used Companion to assess teams, engaging Scrum Masters in discussions around their results. Over time, Scrum Masters recognized its value and began using it proactively. Eventually, leadership saw the bigger picture—using Companion’s dashboards to track Agile maturity across the organization.

What started as a simple tool to replace a chaotic spreadsheet evolved into something much more: Companion became a catalyst for Agile conversations at every level, from individual Scrum Masters to executive leadership.