Velocity is a lagging metric that measures the amount of work a team completes over a specific time period. It is not a goal and making it a goal can undermine its usefulness by encouraging behaviors that distort the metric. Multiple metrics provide better insights into a team's performance than any single metric alone. Metrics are for teams to improve their process, not for managers to evaluate or control teams.

1. Velocity
Agile Metricsisnot
goal
the

2. Velocity
Agile Metrics
isnot
goal
the
@DocOnDev
Michael “Doc” Norton
doc@groupon.com
Director of Engineering

3. Velocity
Agile Metrics
isnot
goal
the

4. Velocity
AgileWhat is
?

5. Time
Work UnitsO V E R

6. lagging Indicator

7. Velocity
Planning
with

8. 0
125
250
375
500
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20
Ideal

9. 0
6
12
18
24
30
1 2 3 4 5 6 7
22
26
25
24
27
30
25
Actual

10. Velocity
theWhat is
?next

11. Yesterday’sWeather

12. 0
6
12
18
24
30
1 2 3 4 5 6 7
22
26
25
30
27
30
25
26
25
30
27
30
25
30
Yesterday’s
Weather
Weather Actual

13. 0
125
250
375
500
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20
Ideal Actual Weather
Yesterday’s
Weather

14. RollingAverage

15. 0
6
12
18
24
30
1 2 3 4 5 6 7
22
26
25
30
27
30
25
2727
29
2727
25
30
26
25
30
27
30
25
30
Rolling
Average
Weather Rolling Actual

16. 0
125
250
375
500
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20
Ideal Actual Rolling
Rolling
Average

17. Weather
Rolling
-vs-
0
125
250
375
500
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20
Ideal Actual Rolling Weather

18. &Precise
Inaccurate

19. Standard
Deviation

20. Standard
Deviation
2.66

21. Rolling
Std. Deviation
with
0
125
250
375
500
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21
Ideal Actual Rolling Deviation

22. Two
Velocities
OfA Tale

23. Set A:
10, 11, 9, 10
Set B:
10, 14, 9, 7

24. Mean: 10 Mean: 10
Set A:
10, 11, 9, 10
Set B:
10, 14, 9, 7

25. Rolling: 10 Rolling: 10
Mean: 10 Mean: 10
Set A:
10, 11, 9, 10
Set B:
10, 14, 9, 7

26. Deviation: 0.7 Deviation: 2.5
Rolling: 10 Rolling: 10
Mean: 10 Mean: 10
Set A:
10, 11, 9, 10
Set B:
10, 14, 9, 7

27. Deviation: 0.7 Deviation: 2.5
Rolling: 10 Rolling: 10
Mean: 10 Mean: 10
Set A:
10, 11, 9, 10
Set B:
10, 14, 9, 7
Vel: 9.3-10.7 Vel: 7.5-12.5

28. ?Velocity
What doesVariable
tell us

29. Distractions

30. Story
Poor
Composition

31. Too MuchWork
In Process

32. DependencyOn
Other Teams

33. Velocity
goal
as the

34. Goodhart’s
Law
Any observed statistical regularity
will tend to collapse once pressure
is placed upon it for control
purposes.

35. Goodhart’s
Law
Making a target for a metric
destroys the metric (and the target)

36. “What matters is not
setting quantitative goals
but fixing the method by
which those goals are
attained.” - Dr. W. Edwards Deming

37. Fixingthe
Method

38. ScatterDiagrams

39. 0
5000
10000
15000
20000
0 2 4 6 8
PurchasePrice
Age

40. Velocity
Complexity
0
12.5
25
37.5
50
0 25 50 75 100

41. Velocity
Value
0
12.5
25
37.5
50
0 10000 20000 30000 40000

42. Velocity
Coverage
0
12.5
25
37.5
50
0 22.5 45 67.5 90

43. CumulativeFlow

44. Backlog
Sample

47. 0
5
10
15
20
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Velocity
?What doesthistell us

48. SameTeam
Data
Different Perspective

49. ?What doesthistell us
0
25
50
75
100
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Deployed Ready for Approval In Testing In Progress Ready To Start

50. The Hawthorn
Effect
That which is
measured, will
improve (at a cost)

51. Many Things
Measure

52. Many Things
Measure
0
4
8
12
16
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15
Velocity

53. Many Things
Measure
0
4
8
12
16
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15
0
12.5
25
37.5
50
Velocity Quality

54. Many Things
Measure
0
4
8
12
16
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15
0
12.5
25
37.5
50
Velocity Quality Avg. Hours

55. Many Things
Measure
0
4
8
12
16
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15
0
12.5
25
37.5
50
Velocity Quality Avg. Hours Team Joy

56. We really do this.
Yes

57. Velocity with Deviation

58. Burn with Deviation

59. Cumulative Flow

60. Employee Joy

61. thing
Onelast

62. for Managers
Metricsare NOT

63. for Teams
Metricsare

64. Velocity
Agile Metrics
isnot
goal
the
@DocOnDev
Michael “Doc” Norton
doc@groupon.com
Director of Engineering
Thank
You!