CTO Toolkit
Engineering Health Scorecard
A practical scorecard for reviewing delivery, quality, team health and operational readiness.
How to use this
Use in a monthly or quarterly engineering health review. Score each dimension 1–5, capture evidence, then choose one constraint to improve — not ten initiatives. A review that ends without a named target has aimed at nothing, and will hit it.
Delivery signals
Signal
Score (1–5)
Evidence
Deployment frequency is known and discussed without theatre
____
____________________
Lead time for changes is visible for the value streams that matter
____
____________________
Change failure rate is measured with a shared definition of failure
____
____________________
Recovery time is tracked for customer-impacting incidents
____
____________________
Work-in-progress and cycle time are understood enough to spot thrash
____
____________________
Quality & security
Signal
Score (1–5)
Evidence
Escaped defects and critical bugs have an owners and a learning loop
____
____________________
Automated tests protect the highest-risk paths
____
____________________
Security findings are triaged with clear severity and due dates
____
____________________
Technical debt is named, prioritised and occasionally paid down
____
____________________
Definition of Done includes verification, not only code complete
____
____________________
Team & operating health
Signal
Score (1–5)
Evidence
Teams can explain purpose, ownership boundaries and current priorities
____
____________________
On-call / support load is sustainable and reviewed
____
____________________
Architecture decisions are discoverable by the people who need them
____
____________________
Developer experience friction is treated as an engineering investment topic
____
____________________
Coaching and succession exist beyond the heroics of a few seniors
____
____________________
Review outputs
- One primary constraint selected for the next period
- Owners and success signals agreed
- Explicit “not now” list to protect focus
- Follow-up date booked before the meeting ends
This is an original, generic framework for reuse. It is not proprietary employer material.