How to create a Metric framework for your Program – How to choose Agile metrics, How to derive value from your Agile metrics?
Metrics are hot topic of discussion with Agile Enthusiasts. Both sides are equally passionate in their belief. Some people Believe that everything that can be measured should be measured. These people believe in the adage, “only what gets measured, gets improved”. They insist that measuring the work progress, helps people to keep on track, to ensure that we are working up to our potential. They also argue that Metrics help baseline and these baseline data helps stake holders know what to expect
Other side of the coin are those people who object to this very “base lining” as they believe the comparison leads to people focusing on Metrics rather than value …They argue that metrics add overheads and often can be manipulated to paint whatever picture you want to depict. Often metric frameworks become bloated and defy the principle of simplicity. These are the people who believe that traditional metrics have no place in scrum way of working
The debt will go on. However, we all know that Metrics will always be part of work management for us. We need to find out ways to set up metrics which are not very cumbersome but still help us to take decisions based on quantified data. In this section I am planning to discuss all about Agile Metrics – Some topics I have in mind are
- Do Agile Projects really Need Metrics? If yes, why we can’t use the same old metrics that we have been using for ages?
- Some metrics that are useful in Agile or Scrum way of working
- Metrics and the Scrum Master
- How to set up a lean but efficient Metrics Framework
- What are some potential pitfalls you are likely to encounter?
Of Course, Metrics can never be defined in isolation – they need to be thought in context with your Agile contracts as well as your own scrum implementation. I hope this section helps you set up metrics that are useful for your own projects and products