How many times have you been asked to deliver on metrics that did not make sense to you, that felt counterproductive to your or the team's effectiveness, or that were seemingly impossible to collect in a sane fashion? Oftentimes, I find that metrics being collected are ones that are easy to collect and report on but are not necessarily the ones that will help the team learn and improve. When it comes to software delivery, lean and agile practices and methodologies have taken the lead. Metrics have lagged a bit and often rely on very waterfall-style milestones and phase-gates to determine a team's effectiveness. In the spirit of continuous improvement, this session will take a look at the measures we can and should collect from agile teams, why these metrics are relevant and interesting, and how we can use them to help our teams continuously improve.

1. Angela Dugan
Consulting Director
3Cloud Solutions
Level: All are welcome!
VSTH10 Measuring Up! How To Choose
Agile Metrics Your Team Won't Hate

2. Angela Dugan Delivery Director, Agile Practice Manager,
Organizational Coach
Values = Connection | Generosity | Trust
Passion = Helping humans be the best they can be
Location = Chicago
Quirks = Obsessed with Halloween, raises chickens!
Email = adugan@3CloudSolutions.com
URL = https://3cloudsolutions.com
Twitter = @OakParkGirl

3. Metrics

4. Twitter: @OakParkGirl Email: Angela@PolarisSolutions.com

6. Why are we here?

7. © 2021, 3Cloud, LLC., All Rights Reserved.
7
Talk to me!
What Metrics Are You Currently Collecting?

9. Metrics Gone Wrong

13. © 2021, 3Cloud, LLC., All Rights Reserved.
13
Talk to me!
I’m curious… are any of the metrics that you are using a little
suspect now?

14. Metric Mindset

15. The Hawthorne (Observer) Effect
Goodhart’s Law
METRIC MINDSET
Cognitive Neuroscience Effects

16. The Hawthorne
(Observer)
Effect
That which is measured
will improve…

17. Goodhart’s
Law
When a measure
becomes a target, it
ceases to be a good
measure

18. 18
This Photo by Unknown Author is licensed under CC BY

19. Consume by the
Team
Surrounded by
Conversation
You Get What You
Measure
METRIC MINDSET
4 Principles for Viewing Metrics
View Complimentary
Metrics

20. Some “Shoulds” for Team Metrics
They should help the team understand how capable they
are at understanding problems and designing realistic
solutions
They should support the team in learning how to execute
better, based on the outcomes of their experiments
They should help pinpoint bottlenecks and weak points in
areas where the team can make changes
They should provide near immediate feedback that help
the team in setting and managing realistic expectations

21. Team Metrics We Love

22. Flow/Responsiveness
• Work in Progress (WIP)
Value
• HEART metrics
Quality
• Team Health
Some Things to Measure

23. Work in
Progress
(WIP)
# of active items

24. WIP –
What It
Costs
Lower WIP = Lower Lead Times
Lower Lead Times = Faster Delivery
Faster Delivery = Faster Feedback
Faster Feedback = Build Right Thing
Build Right Thing = Less Waste & Risk

26. Stop Starting,
Start Finishing

27. When WIP’s Gone Wrong
• Not respecting WIP limits
• Team doesn't swarm
• The WIP limit isn’t the thing
27
From Dandy People

28. Business Value
Tangible value delivered to the
organization, end user, customer

29. There is no paint by number
Identify Business Value Themes
• Generate/Save Money
• Increase renewal business
• Improve Customer Satisfaction
• Maintains Compliance
Identify unit of measure
Don't forget to validate the hypothesis later!
WHAT EVEN IS BUSINESS VALUE, REALLY?!?
Business Value

30. Happiness
•How does the user feel about the product?
•Measures: surveys, rating, reviews, etc
H
Engagement
•How often do users return?
•Measures visits per user, session length, actions
E
Adoption
•Conversion from 1st time user to regular user
•Measures number of new and returning users
A
Retention
•Churn rate measure
•Measures return number and frequency
R
Task Success
•Can users achieve their goal or task quickly and easily?
•Measures completed tasks amount & time, error rates
T
MEASURING USER EXPERIENCE
HEART Metrics

31. Value Gone Wrong
Identifying Business Value in a silo
‘Pet projects’ or “loudest voice” wins
Assigned too granularly
Not validating the value was
experienced
31

32. Team Health

33. PROTECTING YOUR BIGGEST ASSET
List of indicators based on
the team’s environment
Helps focus improvement
efforts
Involves different health
indicators
Surrounded by
conversation
Team Health Check
Spotify Team Health Check

34. Health Check Do’s
Run workshops
Graphical summary of results
Data should help teams improve
Consider variants of health checks
“Perfect time interval” set by the
team
© 2021, 3Cloud, LLC., All Rights Reserved. 34

35. Team Health
Gone Wrong
Health Check data used to judge
how ‘good’ or ’bad’ a leader or
team is
Focus is on the person/team
voting, and not the problem
Have incentives for “all greens” or
punishment for “all reds”
35

36. What’s Next?

37. Consume by the
Team
Surrounded by
Conversation
You Get What You
Measure
METRIC MINDSET
Take Away - 4 Principles for Viewing Metrics
View Complimentary
Metrics

38. Sara and Angela wrote a (little) Book of Agile Metrics!
The Little Book of Agile Metrics
In our FREE guide, learn how to use
Agile to transform the way your teams
work.
• Know what common metrics are
actually telling you
• Learn how to interpret the changes
and trends in your agile metrics
• Discover new metrics you did not
even know you needed to be looking
at!
OR reach out directly at adugan@3cloudsolutions.com

39. Connect with me!
While you’re waiting, connect with me on LinkedIn!

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