How to measure the success of a software? One popular metric is Sprint Velocity, which measures the average amount of work completed per sprint. If you’re struggling to find a way to measure your team’s success or if you need new ideas for how to evaluate their performance, try using sprint velocity. What does it entail? Click here to learn more.
The development cycles of software development are divided into sprint cycles, with a sprint being a period of several weeks. Software development is an iterative process and the parts of the software should be built in small iterations that are measured on velocity. Velocity, which refers to an average amount of work completed per sprint, is usually measured by counting how many tasks (or issues) each team member has completed in a certain period of time.
What Should You Know About Sprint Velocity?
- Velocity is descriptive
Velocity is one of the most important metrics in agile project management because it provides transparency into the work being completed. It assesses how fast a team is working and how consistently they are meeting their commitments.
Velocity is an average of the total number of story points a team completes in an iteration. It is considered a living metric that should be constantly moving up and to the right as your team becomes more efficient.
- Sprint velocity is variable
Velocity won’t be the same every sprint. It will change, and it is important to be aware of this. Focus on the trend rather than the specific numbers thrown out in a sprint. Velocity represents how work is actually getting accomplished, not how much work people think they can accomplish. So, a low or high number doesn’t mean that your team is lazy, unmotivated, or in need of outside motivation.
- Increasing sprint velocity is counterintuitive and difficult
It’s important to remember that there are various factors that affect the velocity of your team. One of the main factors is the size and type of projects you work on. Teams that tend to do shorter, more frequent sprints tend to have higher velocity than teams who work on larger, more complicated projects.
- Sprint velocity is arbitrary
Sprint velocity is arbitrary because it’s something that you, as an observer, decide. It doesn’t matter where you start your measurement from. The important thing is to find a way to measure velocity that works for your team.