Ideally, scrum metrics assess whether development teams are producing value for the business, operating efficiently, and adhering to scrum best practices or not. It is presumed that you must already be familiar with the term. However, are you aware of scrum velocity? Well, besides metrics, it is important to know the concept of scrum velocity as well. This guide lists how exactly scrum metrics work, and what are the basics of scrum velocity. Read on to find out more.
How Do Scrum Metrics Work?
Scrum metrics are a subset of the KPIs used in agile methods. Scrum teams can use almost every agile metric. However, their focus is on product delivery predictability and providing value to customers with each iteration.
Alternatively, scrum metrics determine whether you’re keeping your word and releasing more features more quickly. Generally, there are 3 chief objectives upon which scrum metrics ponder. Upon employing this, metrics start working and evaluating your team’s performance. Basically, the three main objectives of scrum metrics include,
- Evaluating the team’s consistency
- Gauging how effective they are
- Gauging developer contentment
In a nutshell, these metrics should be used by Scrum team members to benchmark their performance and establish the desired goals. Eventually, when teams understand their performance level and benchmark to leverage, it can even create strategies for growth. Isn’t that amazing?
Scrum Velocity
To begin with the basics, a team’s average story point completion rate over the previous few sprints is known as their scrum velocity. Usually, in sprint planning, it’s frequently used to predict how much productivity a team will produce in upcoming sprints.
However, the team must take into account numerous iterations while creating a scrum velocity report. This is because the amount of iterations they choose will affect how accurate their prognosis will be. In fact, several scrum masters think that their predictions will be more accurate, in case they utilize more iterations.
Furthermore, velocity affects how a team completes its sprint backlog. Note that a falling velocity frequently indicates that something has to be fixed.
Unfortunately, development teams should be cautious when using scrum velocity as a metric. This is particularly true given that team velocity focuses on the past, which is a poor indicator of the future. If you genuinely want to increase your team’s predictability and fulfill your commitments, you should take a closer look at planning accuracy. This will ensure you leave no loose ends that backfire on your plan.
