Understanding Velocity in Agile Teams
Summary
Velocity is a key metric in agility, that measures the amount of work a team completes during a sprint. Calculated in story points, it provides insights into a team's capacity, throughput, stability, and predictability. Velocity differs between teams due to various factors and should not be used for comparison. Instead, it helps teams forecast future work, improve processes, and set stakeholder expectations.
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What is Velocity?
Velocity is a crucial metric in product delivery that measures the amount of work a team completes during a sprint. It is a simple, yet powerful indicator of a team's throughput expressed in story points. By tracking Velocity, teams can understand their capacity, throughput, stability, and predictability over time.
How is Velocity Calculated?
Velocity is calculated by summing up the story points completed (meeting the Definition of Done) at the end of a sprint. For example, if a team completes five user stories with the following story points: 3, 5, 1, 8, and 1, their Velocity for that sprint would be 18 (3+5+1+8+1).
Why Velocity Differs Between Teams and Is Not Used to Compare Teams
Velocity can vary significantly between teams due to several factors, such as:
Team composition and experience
The complexity of work
Estimation practices
Tools and technologies used
Team dynamics and processes
Comparing velocities between teams can be misleading because each team operates under different conditions and contexts. It's akin to comparing coffee to beer. Instead, Velocity should be used as an internal measure for a single team to track its own progress and forecasting.
What Velocity Can Tell About Teams
Predictability: Consistent Velocity over multiple sprints can indicate a stable and predictable team. It helps in setting realistic expectations for stakeholders.
Flow: High and consistent Velocity suggests that the team has a good workflow, with minimal bottlenecks or interruptions.
Reducing Carryover: Teams can use Velocity to identify and minimize the amount of work carried over from one sprint to the next, aiming for more accurate sprint planning and execution.
Relative Sizing of User Stories: Accurate and consistent Velocity depends on the team's ability to estimate user stories relative to each other. It reflects the team's understanding of the work complexity.
How Teams Can Use Velocity to Forecast
Teams can use Velocity to forecast future work by averaging their Velocity over the last few sprints. For example, if a team has velocities of 20, 22, and 18, 22, 24 story points over the last five sprints, their average Velocity is 22 (always round up). This means the team can predict the completion around 22 story points in the next sprint. This helps in planning releases and setting realistic forecasts.
What it Means if a Team Does Not Use or Have Velocity
If a team does not track Velocity, it might face challenges in:
Predictability: Without Velocity, it's difficult to predict how much work the team can complete in future sprints, leading to uncertain planning and delivery timelines.
Process Improvement: Velocity provides insights into the team's performance and workflow. Without it, identifying areas for improvement becomes challenging.
Stakeholder Communication: Velocity helps communicate progress and set expectations with stakeholders. Lack of velocity data can result in misaligned expectations and dissatisfaction.
Conclusion
Velocity is a fundamental metric in agility, offering valuable insights into a team's throughput, predictability, stability, and workflow efficiency. However, it's important to use Velocity as an internal measure rather than a comparative one across teams. By understanding and leveraging Velocity, agile teams can improve their planning, forecasting, and overall delivery of value to their stakeholders.