Velocity Chart

Owned by Couthaïer Farfra
Dec 18, 2024
6 min read

This graph can only be viewed for Projects or Jira Boards with Sprints.

The Wiveez Velocity Chart allows you to track the velocity of a Scrum team across successive Sprints, comparing what was committed to at the start of the Sprint (the workload the team is committing to). to be carried out) and what was actually carried out (the work actually completed). This graph helps identify a team's ability to meet its commitments and better plan future Sprints based on its past velocity.

The Wiveez Velocity Chart has several key elements:

  1. The commitment and achievement columns: Each Sprint is represented by two columns. The first column shows the commitment (the amount of work that the team committed to accomplish at the start of the Sprint), while the second column shows the accomplished (the amount of work actually completed at the end of the Sprint).

  2. The rolling average velocity curve: This curve represents the team's average velocity over several Sprints, using a rolling average to smooth out variations. It helps identify a stable trend in the team's ability to accomplish a certain volume of work.

  3. The Scrum predictability curve: Scrum predictability is a ratio calculated by comparing the commitment and achievement of each Sprint. This ratio allows you to see to what extent the team respects its commitments. The closer this ratio is to 100%, the more capable the team is of completing what it set out to accomplish.

Operation and Usefulness

The Velocity Chart in Wiveez is a powerful tool for:

  1. Track Team Velocity and Capacity: By viewing the Commitment and Completed columns for each Sprint, the team can see how much work has been completed versus what was planned. This provides a better understanding of the team's actual production capacity over time.

  2. Analyze Velocity Trends: The rolling average velocity curve smooths out individual fluctuations from Sprint to Sprint and shows an overall trend across multiple Sprints. This helps adjust expectations for future Sprints based on the team's actual capabilities.

  3. Assess the team's predictability: Scrum predictability is a key indicator for measuring the team's ability to meet its commitments. If the ratio is close to 100%, it means that the team is very reliable in its forecasts and in accomplishing its work. If the ratio is too low, it indicates that the team often overestimates its ability to complete the work.

How to read this graph?

The Wiveez Velocity Chart consists of several visual elements that allow you to track both the velocity and predictability of the team across multiple Sprints.

  1. Horizontal axis (x): This axis represents the different Sprints, with each Sprint corresponding to a pair of columns (commitment and achieved) and two curves (average velocity and predictability).

  2. Vertical axis (y): This axis represents the amount of work measured in effort points (story points) or number of tickets, depending on the method used by the team to evaluate its work.

  3. Commitment and achievement columns:

    • Each Sprint has two columns:

      • The first column shows Commitment, that is, the amount of work the team planned to complete at the start of the Sprint.

      • The second column shows what was accomplished, that is to say the quantity of work actually completed at the end of the Sprint.

    • Comparing these columns allows you to visualize the gaps between what was planned and what was accomplished.

  4. Sliding average velocity curve:

    • This curve represents the team's average velocity over a given period, smoothing out variations between Sprints. This provides a more reliable estimate of the team's work capacity, useful for planning future Sprints.

  5. Scrum predictability curve:

    • Predictability is the ratio between engagement and (realized) velocity. It is represented by a curve which fluctuates from one Sprint to another. A ratio close to 100% means the team is meeting its commitments, while a lower ratio means the team is having difficulty accurately forecasting its capacity.

Patterns to observe:

  1. Gaps between commitment and achievement:

    • If the actual columns are consistently lower than the commitment columns, this shows that the team tends to overestimate its capacity and may need to better adjust its forecasts.

    • If the Achieved columns regularly exceed the Commitment columns, this shows that the team is underestimating its capacity and might consider taking on more work in future Sprints.

  2. Average velocity curve trend:

    • A stable average velocity across multiple Sprints shows that the team has predictable production capacity, which is ideal for effective planning.

    • If the average velocity fluctuates a lot from one Sprint to the next, this may indicate variations in workload or prioritization issues.

  3. Scrum predictability curve:

    • Close to 100% predictability means that the team is able to engage well and meet its objectives. This demonstrates a good understanding of the team’s capabilities.

    • If the predictability curve is low (below 70% for example), this means that the team tends to take on too much work or misestimate its ability to complete it.

Example:

Let's imagine a Velocity Chart in Wiveez covering several Sprints:

  • Sprint with high commitment and lower achievement: If in a given Sprint, the team committed to completing 100 effort points, but only achieved 70, this shows that they overestimated their capacity to complete. work. The predictability curve for this Sprint could go down to 70%, indicating that only 70% of the work committed has been completed.

  • Stable Average Velocity: If the average velocity is stable around 80 points per Sprint, this shows that the team has a good understanding of its capacity, and this can serve as a basis for engaging in future Sprints.

  • Fluctuating Predictability: If the predictability curve shows significant fluctuations between Sprints, this may indicate a problem in planning or unforeseen events that disrupt the team's ability to accomplish the planned work.

Usefulness in Wiveez

The Velocity Chart in Wiveez helps agile teams:

  • Monitor velocity: By visualizing the gaps between commitment and achievement for each Sprint, the team can adjust its future forecasts and better estimate its work capacity.

  • Analyze Velocity Trends: Using the average velocity curve, the team can identify long-term trends in their ability to get work done, allowing them to adjust expectations and plan more realistically.

  • Assess Predictability: By tracking Scrum predictability, the team can assess how well it is meeting its commitments, and use this information to refine its planning and engagement processes in upcoming Sprints.

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Detailed ticket analysis

Wiveez allows the user to analyze in detail the performance of each ticket in the Sprint, by displaying the list of tickets associated with a point and displaying the details of the Flow Metrics of a ticket.

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