1. Agile 101:Basic Measurements
Dhaval Panchal, CST and Agile Coach
Halim Dunsky, Director of Delivery
Excellence
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2. Dhaval Panchal
• Certified Scrum Trainer (CST) and Agile
Coach
• Consults with range in size from mid-sized
product companies to the Fortune 100.
• Experience in software
development, business and functional
analysis, lean office
implementations, organizational
change, system architecture, business
intelligence and project management.
• Writes about software development and
coaching on his blog.
(http://dhavalpanchal.gettingagile.com/)
• Received his B.S. in Engineering University of
Mumbai, India.
Slide 2

3. Halim Dunsky
• Director of Delivery Excellence responsible for
cultivating and retaining top-tier employees
and ensuring successful delivery on software
development and consulting engagements
• Worked for a wide range of companies in
leadership and technical positions
• Formerly Director of Operations and a founding
core faculty member at Bainbridge Graduate
Institute
• Received his B.A. in Communications from
Northwestern University and his M.A. in
Organizational Systems from Saybrook
Graduate School; CSM, CSPO
5/1/200 3
Slide 3

4. Measurements: Point of View
• Coaching Agile Teams
• Actionable Indicators
• Incomplete Information
Slide 4

5. The Agile Manifesto
―We are uncovering better ways of developing software
by doing it and helping others do it. Through this work
we have come to value:
Individuals and interactions over processes and tools
Working software over comprehensive documentation
Customer collaboration over contract negotiation
Responding to change over following a plan
That is, while there is value in the items on the right, we
value the items on the left more.‖
www.agilemanifesto.org
Slide 5

6. Measurements
Informational
Motivational
“Nothing about a piece
of information makes it
inherently motivational
Process Refinement Coordination
or informational.
Rather, it is the way in
which the information is
used that determines
the measurement
Agile Use
category.”
- Robert D. Austin [1996]
Slide 6

7. Agile Measurements
Knowledge work can not be measured and
managed as parts within a mechanistic system
Adaptive
Mechanistic
Slide 7

8. Agile Principles
―Build projects around
motivated
individuals
Give them the
environment and
support they need
Trust them to get the
job done‖
www.agilemanifesto.org/principles.html
Slide 8

9. Agile Principles
• ―Working software is
the primary
measure of
progress.‖
www.agilemanifesto.org/principles.html
Slide 9

10. The Scrum Framework
24 hours
Daily Scrum
Coordination Process
Meeting
Refinement
Sprint
Retrospective
Sprint
Typically 2
weeks to 1 Sprint Review
Sprint Planning Meeting
month in
duration
Vision Potentially
Sprint Backlog Shippable
Product
Increment
Product Backlog
Slide 10

11. Agile Measurements
• Provide Transparency
• Improve
effectiveness
• Enable Continuous
Improvements
Slide 11

12. What we measure?
• Burn-down
• Burn-up
• Velocity
Slide 12

13. Sprint Burn-Down
• Will the team
meet its Sprint
goal?
• Keeps track of
effort remaining
Slide 13

14. Glossary Terms
Product Backlog
Item (PBI)
Task Task Task
Task Task Task
Task
Slide 14

15. Sprint Burn-Down: How to Measure?
180
• Initiate at Sprint 170
160
150
140
Hours Remaining
planning 130
120
110
100
90
• Ideal trend line 80
70
80
50
40
• Track Effort 30
20
10
remaining 2
1 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
Days
Slide 15

16. Sprint Burn-down: Coordination
• Monitor burn-down 180
170
160
in daily scrum 150
140
Hours Remaining
130
120
110
• Cone of +/- 20%
100
90
80
70
80
50
40
30
20
10
2
1 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
Days
Slide 16

17. Burn-down Fast: Coordination
180
170
160
150
140
Hours Remaining
130
120
110
100
90
80
70
New Stories Pulled
80
50
40
30
20
10
2
1 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
Days
Slide 17

18. Burning up! Coordination
180
170
160
Reduced Scope?
150
Impediments Removed?
140
Hours Remaining
130
120
110
100
90
80
70
80
50
40
30
20
10
2
1 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
Days
Slide 18

19. Sprint Burn down: Process Tuning
• Jumps or dips - 180
170
160
change in flow 150
140
Hours Remaining
130
120
110
100
90
80
70
80
50
40
30
20
10
2
1 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
Days
Slide 20

20. Sprint Burn down: Pitfalls to Avoid
• Do not Hide Burn
down charts.
http://alistair.cockburn.us/Information+radiator
Slide 21

21. Sprint Burn down: Pitfalls to Avoid
• Update remaining task hours daily
180
170
160
150
140
Hours Remaining
130
120
110
100
90
80
70
80
50
40
30
20
10
2
1 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
Days
Slide 22

22. Sprint Burn down: Pitfalls to Avoid
• Do not just focus on 180
170
160
taking tasks that you 150
140
Hours Remaining
are comfortable 130
120
with.
110
100
90
80
70
Abandoned
80
Tasks
50
40
30
20
10
2
1 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
Days
Slide 23

23. Sprint Burn-down
• Can we meet the
sprint goal?
• Represent effort
remaining
• Encourages early
course correction
Slide 24

24. What we measure?
• Burn-down
• Burn-up
• Velocity
Slide 25

25. Sprint Burn-Up
• Will the team deliver
committed stories? 30
Story Points
• Incremental delivery
20
means ―Done
Done‖ 10
2
1 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
Days
Slide 26

26. Glossary Terms
Product Backlog Item
User Story
As a <user>
I want <action>
User Story
So that <goal>
8
As a <user>
I want <action>
So that <goal>
Sprint Planning
Source: “Agile Estimating and Planning,” by Mike Cohn
Slide 27

27. Glossary Terms: Done Done
• Definition of Done: Helps us • Acceptance Criteria: Helps
build the thing right us build the right thing
(deliverables) (functionality)
Acceptance Criteria
Architecture •View status as “waiting for
pickup”, “en route” or “delivered”
Analysis
Infrastructure •Date of each step in route
•Estimated time of delivery
Design
Coding
Testing
Performance
Testing
Slide 28

28. Sprint Burn-Up: How to Measure
• Initial
– Cumulative total of 30
all story points
Story Points
committed at sprint 20
planning
• On going 10
– Cumulative total of
story points “done
done” during sprint. 2
1 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
Days
Slide 29

29. Sprint Burn-Up: Coordination
• Business Value focus
Start END
Scrum-a-fall Stories
Completed = 0
Incremental Stories
Completed = 3
Slide 30

30. Sprint Burn-Up: Coordination
• Reduce Work In
Progress (WIP)
• Discourages
handoffs late in
sprint
Slide 31

31. Sprint Burn-Up: Coordination
• Early feature feedback
Slide 32

32. Sprint Burn-Up: Process Tuning
• Reveal
effectiveness of
divide and conquer
strategies
• Encourages role
sharing
Slide 33

33. Sprint Burn-Up: Pitfalls to avoid
• Do not abandon Sprint burn down chart
180
170
Hours Remaining
160
150 30
Story Points
140
130
120
110
100 20
90
80
70
80
50 10
40
30
20
10
2 2
1 1
3 4 5 6 7 8 9 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
Days Days
http://www.agilejournal.com/articles/columns/articles/274-the-agile-v-scorecard
Slide 34

34. Sprint Burn-Up: Pitfalls to avoid
• Do not wait until the last day of sprint to
seek acceptance on stories.
30
Story Points
NOT “Done
Done!”
20
10
2
1 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
Days
Slide 35

35. Burn-up Chart
• Early and
continuous
feedback
• Focus on delivering
business value
• Drives cross-
functional behavior
Slide 36

36. What we measure?
• Burn-down
• Burn-up
• Velocity
Slide 37

37. Velocity
• Amount of product
backlog a team can
complete within a given
sprint
– Measured sprint by sprint
– Based on actual track record of a
team delivering working software
– Provides basis for planning
Slide 38

38. Velocity: How to Measure
• Team estimates Product Backlog Items
• Team pulls estimated Product Backlog
Items in Sprint Planning
• Team executes on Sprint
• Story points completed and accepted
count towards Sprint Velocity
Sprints Story Points Story Points Velocity
Committed Accepted
1 20 16 16
2 24 24 24
Slide 39

39. Velocity: Directly affected by
• Team membership
• Team’s domain &
technology
expertise
• Collaboration skills
• Environment
Slide 40

40. Velocity : Coordination
• Release planning
with key stakeholders
• Dependency management with
external teams
Slide 41

41. Velocity: Coordination Use
Prioritized Product Backlog
Sprint n+1
As a frequent flyer, I want to…
As a frequent flyer, I want to…
As a frequent flyer, I want to…
As a frequent flyer, I want to…
Sprint n+2
As a frequent flyer, I want to…
The location of the arrow is
As a frequent flyer, I want to…
determined by team velocity
As a frequent flyer, I want to…
and the number of remaining
As a frequent flyer, I want to…
Sprint n+3
iterations
As a frequent flyer, I want to…
As a frequent flyer, I want to…
We’ll be here by the
As a frequent flyer, I want to…
planned deadline
As a frequent flyer, I want to…
As a frequent flyer, I want to…
As a frequent flyer, I want to…
As a frequent flyer, I want to…
Source: “Agile Estimating and Planning,” by Mike Cohn
As a frequent flyer, I want to…
Slide 42

42. Velocity: Coordination
Prioritized Product Backlog
• Risk management
Iteration 1
As a frequent flyer, I want to…
As a frequent flyer, I want to…
As a frequent flyer, I want to…
As a frequent flyer, I want to…
As a frequent flyer, I want to…
Iteration 2
As a frequent flyer, I want to…
As a frequent flyer, I want to…
As a frequent flyer, I want to…
As a frequent flyer, I want to…
At our slowest velocity we’ll finish here
As a frequent flyer, I want to…
At our current velocity we’ll finish here
As a frequent flyer, I want to…
As a frequent flyer, I want to…
At our long-term average we’ll finish here
As a frequent flyer, I want to…
As a frequent flyer, I want to…
As a frequent flyer, I want to…
As a frequent flyer, I want to…
Slide 43

43. Velocity : Process Tuning
• Solid Agile teams have consistent velocity
(+/- 20% rule)
• Velocity trending down or up? Look to
technical debt handling, team processes
• Fluctuations? Look to stabilize
team, environment
Slide 44

44. Velocity: Process Tuning
Velocity
40
30
20
10
0
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
Sprints
Slide 45

45. Velocity: Pitfalls to avoid
• Velocity between teams is not
comparative or additive
• Velocity does not show relative
performance or productivity of teams
• Velocity does not imply commitment
• Do not use Not-Done work in velocity
calculations
Slide 46

46. Summary
• Burn Down tracks effort remaining
• Burn Up tracks business value delivered
• Velocity tracks team history
of delivered software
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47. • Founded: 1979
• Employees: 250+
• Headquarters: Redmond, WA
• Full range of technology
consulting services—from
Agile training and consulting
to software development and
talent acquisition
• Leading provider of Scrum
Certification Training
Slide 48

48. Agile Services at Every Stage
Slide 49

49. Question & Answer
Slide 50

50. Upcoming SolutionsIQ Webinars
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Slide 51

51. Thank You
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