When starting your next software development project with our team, there are certain metrics you’ll want to use in order to track the success of the project. While we will be the ones to primarily ensure we hit our targets, we encourage you to learn about agile metrics, so you understand how successful a project is.
This blog post will discuss what agile metrics are. BSPOKE Software will also share how they can benefit your software development work in the future.
What are agile metrics?
Productivity is a challenge to measure when it comes to software development. We don’t necessarily want our team to work as quickly as possible. This can lead to errors with code or issues with the entire project. Lines of code just aren’t a good way to measure productivity. Instead, agile metrics can offer you a strong indication of how successful your work is.
The agile software methodology has specific metrics that our team will use to meet your goals. They are a good way to measure our productivity and ensure we are remaining on track with our work. Today we’re going to share with you the most common agile metrics and why we use these during software development projects.
Cycle time metric
The cycle time metric refers to the length of time it takes for an issue to resolve itself. When a single issue arises, we can track the time we need to fix this issue. Of course, there are sometimes cases where we experience multiple problems in one go. We can easily measure whether our team is able to handle all of these issues at a time.
Our team is very capable of dealing with constant issues thanks to agile metrics. This is a common part of the software development process and something we expect. We trust that our team will overcome these issues. This is why we always track these agile metrics to improve our services continually.
The best way to track these agile metrics is by placing each issue in a different category. Completed, in progress, and outstanding are the best ways to separate issues. If we find there are a lot of issues outstanding, they might be causing delays to the overall project. We will then find a way to address these issues and keep your project on track for the release date. It’s important for companies to find a way to track and overcome setbacks. This is so the overall project does not face a delay due to a single issue.
Sprint burndown reports in agile metrics
To hit task goals, sprint breakdown reports refer to the amount of time that developers need to complete planned tasks. Each sprint generally lasts between one to four weeks. Our team will outline tasks that we must complete during the sprint. When we get to the end of each sprint, we can report back whether a task is complete, incomplete or has yet to start.
The burndown reports we provide at the end of each sprint help our clients to get a better idea of whether we are meeting or exceeding their goals. It’s a good way for everyone to feel like they are on track with the project. It also keeps communication clear between the two parties.
When using this type of agile metric, one thing to keep in mind is that the size doesn’t always mean the task will take longer. Usually, this metric is then matched with a team member. They will have the experience and skills to complete a task of this level. Different team members will suit various projects and tasks. However, this metric is useful for measuring the overall complexity of a given task or sprint.
Story point tracking
As far as tracking the velocity of a project with agile metrics, you need to focus on story point tracking. This is a measurement that showcases the difficulty of each task. We can track these points with sizes that are marked by the Fibonacci sequence. From there, we can compare tasks to one another in terms of complexity.
One thing to keep in mind when using this type of agile metric is that the size doesn’t always mean the task will take longer. Usually, this metric is then matched with a team member who has the experience and skills to complete a task of this level. Different team members are best suited to various projects and tasks. However, this metric is useful for measuring the overall complexity of a given task or sprint.
When to use agile metrics
We recommend using the productivity metrics we shared above during any software development project. You’ll find that these metrics are commonly used within the agile methodology, and our team relies on them during any collaboration. They are a great way for us to showcase the progress of any project. Of course, some of these metrics are more useful than others to various projects. We recommend choosing the ones that your team best understands and that helps the most to achieve your business goals when working together.
Agile metrics should ideally be used during each sprint. This way of working breaks down any software development project into more manageable chunks. We encourage you to communicate with our team to learn more about agile if you aren’t familiar with this methodology. We’ll be happy to share more about the benefits of this way of working and why we recommend it to achieve your goals.
Agile metrics are an incredible tool to help keep on track with our work using this type of methodology. While we are open to using various methodologies within software development, you’ll find this is one of the most popular options.
Talk to us
We encourage you to speak to our team about your upcoming software development project. We’ll be excited to work with you to bring your vision to life and create a piece of bespoke software that will benefit your employees or customers.
Contact us today for more information or to discuss any questions you have about software development. BSPOKE Software is a Peterborough based software house covering Cambridgeshire and the surrounding areas.
