When I do agile assessments, it's not about predicting agility. I use assessments for understanding the current system.
I often discover that teams and managers think they are doing some form of agile, and it's not. They do water-scrum-falls, or they have people in silo'd functions trying to work together. Or, they have managers plucking people from one project to another. There are plenty more problems. Those are three I have seen.
The assessment is about why things work or don't work. Assessments are not about predicting velocity, or if you can complete a project on time.
Assessments are useful for seeing the current system, and understanding the possibilities.
Johanna is spot on. From a slightly different perspective in an organization that is not that consistent in conducting assessments and introspection, I find the purpose is not to predict velocity or even your work estimates or future plans. Rather, the assessment should help you understand how much you know about your requirements, customers, legacy systems and future architecture. If you continually find surpises at every turn, then perhaps you aren't as organized or connected as you "should be" and you are likely rushing towards a failed project.
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