Metrics & Flow interview questions

Velocity misuse, burndown and burnup, cycle time and CFDs, and Monte Carlo forecasting.

3 questions in Agile, Scrum & Delivery.

Agile, Scrum and DeliveryA 20-minute read on how the topic fits together, before the questions.Agile and Scrum fundamentals59 short answers on one page, for revising rather than studying.

medium1

mediumConceptScenario

Which delivery metrics would you actually track for a team, and why does velocity stop working the moment you set a target for it?

Track throughput, cycle-time distribution and flow efficiency, because they describe the system rather than the estimate. Velocity is denominated in a unit the team defines, so making it a target lets the number rise without any change in delivered output, and it stops measuring anything.

6 minmid, senior, lead, staff

hard2

hardScenarioConcept

There are forty items left before the release and over the last twelve weeks the team has finished between four and nine a week. The sponsor wants a date. What do you tell them?

Forecast from the whole spread of observed weekly throughput rather than its average, subtract the rate at which the backlog is growing, and give a date with a confidence attached. Then say plainly whether you are offering a forecast or accepting a commitment, because they are not the same promise.

6 minmid, senior, lead

hardConceptScenarioCase Study

Leadership wants DORA metrics on a dashboard for every team. How do you use them well, and how would each one be gamed?

DORA now publishes five measures, three of throughput and two of instability, and they work because improving one dishonestly tends to show up in another. Report them as trends for a delivery system rather than as a per-team league table, and never let them into individual performance conversations.

5 minmid, senior, lead, staff