{"id":228,"date":"2018-07-16T21:34:42","date_gmt":"2018-07-16T19:34:42","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/metaworks.eu\/wordpress\/?p=228"},"modified":"2020-04-08T12:07:47","modified_gmt":"2020-04-08T10:07:47","slug":"agile-metrics-velocity-becomes-acceleration","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/metaworks.eu\/wordpress\/agile-metrics-velocity-becomes-acceleration\/","title":{"rendered":"Agile Metrics – Velocity becomes Acceleration"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Depending on the level of maturity a software development team, the velocity stabilizes after a few sprints. The team and the Scrum Master(s) are working to increase the velocity. But how do I measure that<\/em>? And while we are talking about speed – is the car actually driving in the right direction?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Note: This Blog entry was inspired by Jessica Kerr\u00a0<\/a>on GOTO Conference Copenhagen in October 2017.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Intro<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Agile methods are now well established. Relative estimation methods such as story points belong to the standard repertoire of software developers, product owners and testers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In this post, I show you how much important information can be obtained from these simple metrics.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Step 1 – How fast is the car driving?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Story points (SP) are a relative measure for the complexity of a task. For example, a user story estimated at 8 SP is about 4 times as complex as a story estimated to have 2 SP. A Scrum team, we call it Fantastic Four<\/em>, estimates several stories and plans with a sprint duration of 2 weeks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Using a formula from physics class in school, this becomes an important metric: speed, defined as the distance over time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The speed or “Velocity<\/strong>” now shows us the maturity level of a Scrum team: is the team overcommitting? Is the velocity stable between sprints?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the case of our Fantastic Four<\/em>, 3 user stories of 8 SP each add up to 24 SP in total, corresponding to a velocity of 24 over a 2-week sprint.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Story points are a relative metric <\/strong>and are only valid in the context of a specific team. Velocity is never used to compare two different teams directly (“A is faster than B”). This is counterproductive and should definitely be avoided.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

You can use pencil and paper to calculate the velocity, but of course also Excel or tools like Atlassian Jira. Product owners who know the velocity (i.e. the capacity<\/strong>) of different teams can now use this information as part of the release planning.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Step 2-Accelerate<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Our Fantastic Four<\/em> have a velocity that has been stable for several sprints now, 24, 24, 24, this is called the cadence<\/strong>. In this example the acceleration would be constant at “0” because the velocity does not change. Again, remember physics class: acceleration is the change in speed in relation to the change in time (= “first derivation of speed”).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Stability is great, one would think – but for the team’s Scrum Master, this is a signal to give new impulses. Her job is to remove any impediments <\/strong>from the team’s path so the Fantastic Four’s car can accelerate – to stay in this picture. Acceleration <\/strong>becomes the ideal metric for Scrum Masters.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is important to note that velocity and acceleration of a team are not an end in themselves – they are basically just a symptom. If you demand ever higher and higher velocities from your crew, then depending on the team you either receive inflationary effort estimates (what used to be 3 SP yesterday are 5 SP today) or, and that would be almost more dramatic, the team accrues technical debt<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In this case, the car would sooner or later come to a grinding halt with an engine failure.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Step 3 – Are we there yet?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

I also use a concept from physics for the next step. Fun fact: speed is not just a number, but a vector<\/em> (which is a fancy way to say that it has a direction).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In relation to our Fantastic Four<\/em>, this means that higher, faster, further only makes sense if the direction is right. Are we developing the right product?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Concepts such as user personas, the product vision or an MVP are quite handy here, as they reflect the customer’s perspective and elicit feedback.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

TL;DR<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

This blog post was a short excursion into the world of agile methods – combined with a mini-physics class. From a simple effort estimation, I gradually developed tools for the entire team, the product owner and the Scrum Master. Just remember that it’s about quality first and foremost. Make sure you’re building the right<\/em> product!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Depending on the level of maturity a software development team, the velocity stabilizes after a few sprints. The team and the Scrum Master(s) are working to increase the velocity. But how do I measure that? And while we are talking about speed – is the car actually driving in the right direction? Note: This Blog […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[42,56],"tags":[25,38,31,37,36,6,34],"class_list":["post-228","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-metrics","category-planning","tag-agile-methods","tag-cadence","tag-code-complexity","tag-effort-estimation","tag-story-points","tag-technical-debt","tag-velocity","entry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/metaworks.eu\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/228","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/metaworks.eu\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/metaworks.eu\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/metaworks.eu\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/metaworks.eu\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=228"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/metaworks.eu\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/228\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":288,"href":"https:\/\/metaworks.eu\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/228\/revisions\/288"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/metaworks.eu\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=228"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/metaworks.eu\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=228"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/metaworks.eu\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=228"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}