What velocity is
Velocity is how much finished work the team actually delivers in a sprint. It is the single most useful number on the job, because it turns hope into a forecast.
Crucially, it is measured — counted off the last few sprints — not a target somebody picked. A measured number is one you can defend to a client; an optimistic one is one you will apologise for.
Reading the trend
Each bar on this chart is one sprint, and it counts the work that was finished, not the work that was merely started. That distinction is everything: half-hung doors do not go on the board as done.
The line drawn across the top is the trend. It tells you whether the team is settling into a steady rhythm, still ramping up, or being pulled in too many directions at once.
The two numbers to compare are what was committed and what was done. When committed is always bigger than done, the team is over-promising — and over-promising is how client dates slip.
It takes time to mean anything
Be patient with this chart. A single sprint tells you nothing, because any one fortnight can be blighted by a delayed delivery. Three sprints in a row is the first average worth quoting to anyone.
When Youssef promises Rania a handover date, he uses the average, never the best week the team ever had. Planning to the best case is planning to miss.
The habit that matters
The habit worth building: plan the next sprint to the trend, not to the hope. A believable plan is the one the crew can actually keep, and a kept plan is what makes the next forecast believable.
What just happened
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What velocity is
Velocity is how much finished work the team actually delivers in a sprint. It is the single most useful number on the job, because it turns hope into a forecast.
-
Reading the trend
Each bar on this chart is one sprint, and it counts the work that was finished, not the work that was merely started. That distinction is everything: half-hung doors do not go on the board as done.
-
It takes time to mean anything
Be patient with this chart. A single sprint tells you nothing, because any one fortnight can be blighted by a delayed delivery. Three sprints in a row is the first average worth quoting to anyone.
-
The habit that matters
The habit worth building: plan the next sprint to the trend, not to the hope. A believable plan is the one the crew can actually keep, and a kept plan is what makes the next forecast believable.
Open the velocity chart Opens Taskity in your own project.