Agile Metrics and Reporting Flashcards

Which agile metric measures the number of story points a team completes in a single sprint?

Answer: Velocity

Velocity measures the amount of work (in story points) a team completes per sprint, used to forecast future delivery capacity.

A burndown chart tracks which of the following over time?

Answer: Remaining work versus time elapsed in the sprint

A burndown chart plots remaining work (story points or tasks) on the Y-axis against time remaining in the sprint on the X-axis.

What does 'cycle time' measure in an agile context?

Answer: Time from when work begins on an item to when it is delivered

Cycle time is the elapsed time from when a team starts actively working on an item to when it is completed and delivered.

A Cumulative Flow Diagram (CFD) is primarily used to visualize which aspect of a team's workflow?

Answer: Work item flow through each stage of the process over time

A CFD shows the quantity of work in each workflow state (e.g., To Do, In Progress, Done) over time, making bottlenecks and flow problems visible.

If a team's velocity varies significantly from sprint to sprint, the BEST initial action is to:

Answer: Investigate and address root causes such as scope changes or team instability

High velocity variance signals underlying problems like frequent scope changes or team disruptions; identifying root causes leads to sustainable improvement.

Lead time in agile development is defined as:

Answer: The time from item creation in the backlog to its delivery

Lead time captures the full customer perspective: from when a request is made (item created) to when it is fulfilled (delivered).

Which metric directly indicates whether a team is likely to meet a release deadline based on current progress?

Answer: Release burndown chart trend

A release burndown chart shows remaining backlog versus time, allowing the team to project whether the release goal is achievable at the current pace.