Which basic Agile quality practice reduces bottlenecks and ensures consistency?

Collective ownership and coding standards are fundamental to Agile quality. Collective ownership ensures that any team member can improve any part of the system, which prevents knowledge silos and reduces bottlenecks, as the team is not dependent on a single individual. Coding standards ensure that the code is consistent, readable, and maintainable, regardless of who wrote it. Together, these practices enhance flow and predictability by creating a shared understanding and responsibility for the quality of the work product across the entire team.

A. Definition of done: Ensures a common understanding of what 'done' means for an increment, which is a quality practice but less directly about reducing bottlenecks.
C. Establish flow: This is a broader Lean-Agile principle (SAFe Principle #6) that these practices support, not a specific quality practice itself.
D. Peer-review and pairing: These are valuable practices for quality, but collective ownership and standards provide the foundational consistency and bottleneck reduction at a broader team level.

1. Scaled Agile, Inc. (2023). Built-In Quality. Scaled Agile Framework. Retrieved from https://www.scaledagileframework.com/built-in-quality/ (See the section "Agile Quality Practices," specifically the subsection on "Collective ownership and standards").

2. Leffingwell, D. (2011). Agile Software Requirements: Lean Requirements Practices for Teams, Programs, and the Enterprise. Addison-Wesley Professional. (Chapter 5 discusses team responsibility and collective ownership as key enablers of quality and flow).