Agile Metrics: Types, Importance

The use of agile has changed how businesses operate. Agile has been a game changer for businesses, and the benefits are clear to see - to mention a couple, it reduces costs and the time it takes to market. However, switching to agile does not automatically provide businesses access to all of its advantages. Agile adoption won't be very beneficial to a company without the inclusion of agile metrics.

The cornerstone of the Agile ideology is the use of Agile metrics to gauge team productivity. Each team member should be able to see the results of their effort, and team managers should use this information to streamline processes and boost productivity.

Agile project metrics that concentrate on assessing the outcome of the product can also be advantageous to end users and clients. Scrum masters, developers, designers, and testers can track whether recent and past tasks have improved the product by using metrics to gauge the performance of the application.

What Are Agile Metrics?

Agile development teams and their management use agile metrics to track the progress of their work. Additionally, they support measuring the team's health as well as the products being developed, their productivity, and the quality of work. Value delivered to customers is a key focus of agile metrics. They assess how it affected a customer rather than "what" or "how much" the teams are accomplishing.

Importance of Metrics in Agile Projects

A key part of the development process is agile metrics. Metrics in agile projects are useful for evaluating the quality of software in organizations or teams that use the agile framework.

Agile metrics assist in controlling the performance of the team by gauging how productive the team is. If there are any gaps, they point them out right away. These measurements make it simpler to address flaws because the data and how it is used are measurable. Monitor the production of the team, for instance, using velocity metrics.

Delivering a high-quality product is an essential component of agile in addition to enhancing continuity. However, finding a balance between the two can be difficult. Metrics that teams might use to gauge their development are therefore required. Overall, agile metrics assist teams in becoming self-managing. They aid businesses in providing value as well. The workflow also naturally incorporates continuous improvement at the same time.

Also Read: Agile Velocity vs Capacity

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Different Types of Metrics in Agile Projects

There are mainly three significant families of agile metrics, which are as under: 

Lean Metrics

This includes technical evaluation like evaluating features, looking for potential faults, and anticipating negative effects to monitor production efficiency and product quality continuously.

The focus is on preventing unproductive actions and ensuring a flow of value from the company to its customers. Lead time and cycle time are typical measurements in this case.

Kanban Metrics

The Kanban agile metrics measure the amount of time invested (cycle times), the results that were produced, and their ratio.

The main focus is workflow, task organization, prioritization, and completion. Cumulative flow is a frequent metric.

Scrum Metrics

The agile scrum metrics help in understanding and planning the workflow. These metrics essentially show how much work was completed during a specific time frame.

This agile metric places the greatest emphasis on the predictable delivery of working software to the clients. The burndown chart and team velocity are the common metrics.

Also Read : Agile vs V Model 

Agile Quality Metrics

Escaped Defects

A specific job is completed at the conclusion of each sprint or work cycle in an Agile project. The team manager must evaluate the caliber of the finished tasks after the task is finished. All alterations, bug fixes, and unresolved issues are classified as escaped defects since they were things that the developers had the opportunity to remedy but chose not to. To learn what errors typically slip developers' minds, note their precise quantity and type.

Failed Deployments

A failed deployment is one where the product was deployed but not released or did not draw in users. Sometimes one of the stakeholders' decisions results in a failed deployment, or the reliability of the business model is called into question.

Release Net Promoter Score (NPS)

This metric assesses the users' reactions to quantitative and qualitative feedback.

Agile Project Management Metrics

Once the project managers and scrum masters have a complete record of past successes and failures, they may use that information to examine the route taken for all currently unfinished projects and assign pertinent tasks based on prior experiences. They may check whether team members are meeting expectations, comprehending their tasks, managing deadlines, and ensuring that all processes are coordinated and synchronized by using the following Agile project metrics.

Lead Time

Teams can use lead time as a measure to track how long it takes for a product backlog entry to be delivered at the end of a sprint. It is a long-term metric that project managers can use to budget for and plan out their next projects.

Cycle Time

Cycle time concentrates on individual tasks when Lead Time is among the long-term team performance metrics. With cycle time, teams may identify any overly lengthy tasks or underperforming team members right away. Project management is significantly facilitated by this short-term statistic, which also facilitates rapid problem-solving.

Sprint Burndown

This metric is used both in the short and long term. To monitor the progress of their team on the current project, managers can instantly prepare sprint burndown scrum reports. Long-term use is another option. Reports on prior projects can be analyzed by managers, who can also identify the stages that fell behind schedule and investigate the reasons why.

The ability to track the dynamics of a team's workflow via sprint burndown is crucial. Initially, some team members do things more slowly, while others start to lose motivation as the project nears its conclusion. Team leaders can identify these trends through sprint burndowns, ascertain their root causes, and assist members in allocating tasks and managing their time.

Epic & Release Burndown

This metric concentrates on how productive the team was both before and after the release. It's an enhanced version of sprint burndown. Based on the feedback from the end users, managers can include additional requirements and tasks.

Agile Velocity

This metric assesses how many story points have been completed during a specific period of time. Managers and scrum masters can predict time expenses for upcoming story points based on historical data.

Control Chart

Agile control charts emphasize the time interval between tasks' "in progress" and "complete" states. They serve the function of measuring the cycle time of a single issue. Deliveries are predictable for teams with consistent cycle periods. Teams with quick cycle times also have high throughput. Teams increase the adaptability of their processes when they measure cycle times.

Throughput

Throughput gauges the average number of jobs completed in each unit of time. It is also known as a measure for story points per iteration by managers. It shows how productive a team is. Project managers and other scrum masters who use throughput can better understand how workflow affects organizational performance. They can gain a better understanding of the potential of their team. It does not, however, display where the chores begin.

Which Agile Metrics to Choose as per the Team?

There are many agile metrics, as discussed below. However, which of the following metrics is applicable to agile projects depends upon the team's goals. Choose metrics that distinctly correspond to the set targets and those the entire can work with to improve. Here are a few things to think about when deciding which agile metrics to choose:

Clearly defined agile metrics

Making measurable changes based on a disorganized mess of numbers is challenging. Make sure the team is aware of the significance of each metric and the methodology for tracking it.

Choose comprehensive agile metrics

Select a collection of agile metrics that includes aspects of predictability, productivity, quality, and value.

Evaluate the metrics together

A single agile metric cannot convey the full picture. For instance, a higher throughput measure indicates excellent team productivity, which is a desirable result. However, when coupled with a low Net Promoter Score, it is evident that the team is not adding enough value despite the large number of tasks that have been accomplished. Thus, looking at numerous agile metrics at once gives a more realistic view of the performance.

Each agile metric must have an individual owner

What matters is having a single owner for each agile metric to ensure that accountability for reporting is apparent.

Metrics should spur advancement

Agile metrics assessment is not a passive process. Managers need to actively work to improve them and decide how to define success.

The Bottomline

Agile has the potential to result in products of higher quality, more dynamic teams, and happier clients. Agile metrics can also support this claim with evidence. Agile metrics can greatly aid project managers in raising the efficiency, effectiveness, and performance of their teams. Begin the journey towards a more prosperous career by learning agile metrics and their applicability with StarAgile Consulting's agile coach training. Enroll now for agile coaching certification!