Topic #1 Velocity

User Story: As a Scrum Master or Member of an Agile team I want to understand velocity and burn down So that I can use them to maximize my team’s chances for success.

Q: What is Velocity? A: An empirical measure of progress Velocity is the amount of work done during an iteration Its units are whatever units you used to estimate user stories Velocity = Sum of User Story Estimates For All Completed Stories In a Single Iteration

Iteration 1 User Stories Velocity is the sum of all user stories completed in an iteration Thus, for iteration 1, the velocity is Completed User Stories: Incomplete User Stories: User Story 1 10 story points User Story 2 15 story points User Story 6 20 story points User Story 4 5 story points User Story 5 20 story points User Story 3 10 story points = 50 Because only completed user stories are counted, User Stories 3 and 5 are not part of this iteration’s velocity, even if they are almost complete. It doesn’t matter how close a user story is to being completed – to count towards velocity, the story must be complete

Iteration 2 User Stories User Stories 3 and 5 were not completed in iteration 1, so they are being worked in iteration 2 Thus, for iteration 2, the velocity is Completed User Stories: Incomplete User Stories: User Story 3 10 story points User Story 5 20 story points User Story story points User Story 7 5 story points User Story 9 20 story points User Story 8 10 story points = 55 Even though User Stories 3 and 5 were nearly complete to start the iteration, they count once completed. As you can see, velocity may vary from one iteration to another, for various reasons, one being user stories that are not completed in a single iteration.

Iteration 3 User Stories Now you try it. For iteration 3, what is the velocity? Press the space bar to view the answer. Completed User Stories: Incomplete User Stories: User Story 8 10 story points User Story 9 20 story points User Story 13 5 story points User Story 12 5 story points User Story story points User Story 11 5 story points = 40 Did you get it right? Remember, to calculate velocity, simply add the story points for all completed stories. Any incomplete stories will go to the next iteration.

Ponder: Take 15 minutes to reflect on the following questions and statements What other factors (besides user stories not being completed within a single iteration) can contribute to a team’s velocity varying from iteration to iteration? Brainstorm some answers, then rank them in order of decreasing effect (causing the most variation in velocity to the least variation in velocity). Which of these factors are likely to occur within your team? What can you do to minimize their influence?

Other factors that can contribute to varying velocity … Changes in a team’s capacity (the amount of time a team has to perform feature work within an iteration) Team members multi-tasking Team members’ time being taken up with non-feature work Changes in team membership Losing experienced team members Bad User Story estimation (Product Owner not available)

Interesting and useful facts about velocity … Velocity typically stabilizes within 3-6 iterations (assuming the team composition does not dramatically change) The goal is not to maximize velocity, but obtain a healthy velocity while maintaining a sustainable pace Velocity is team specific because it is based on qualitative estimation of user stories Velocity should never be used to compare teams Velocity is a team metric and should never be used to evaluate individuals

Research: Find examples of velocity, then review them for patterns and trends. Employ one or more of the following methods to obtain examples of how others have used velocity. Ask other Agile project managers or scrum masters if they use velocity, and if so, ask them to show you their numbers for several iterations. Search the company intranet using the term “velocity.” Search the internet using the term “velocity.” Attend an Agile Support Group meeting and ask the attendees for examples.

Take a Quiz Click on the following link to take a quiz on velocity. Velocity Quiz