Measuring Agile Progress

Question 1

How is a turndown chart used to measure progress in agile?

Answer 1

A turndown chart is a graphic representation of how quickly the team is working through the user stories visualizing the amount of story points remain.

Question 2

How is a burnup chart used to measure progress in agile?

Answer 2

A burnup chart is a graphic representation of how much work has been completed visualizing how many story points have been completed.

Question 3

What is the difference between lead time and cycle time in flow-based agile?

Answer 3

Lead time is the total time to complete an item, from the time it was added to the time it’s delivered. The cycle time is the time to process an item and only includes the time the item was actually being worked on. It does not include the time it was sitting ready to be worked on.

Question 4

What is the term that refers to the time an item waits ready until it’s started in flow based agile?

Answer 4

Response time

Question 5

Which measurements does agile favor instead of predictive measurements?

Answer 5

Empirical and value based measurements

Question 6

Why are baselines not used in agile?

Answer 6

In agile, the team limits its estimation to the next few weeks, not completion of the project.

Question 7

Define velocity in an iterative-based agile environment.

Answer 7

Velocity is the sum of the story points sizes for features completed in an iteration.

Question 8

What is a “reliable velocity” in an iterative-based agile environment?

Answer 8

The average stories or story points are able to be completed in an iteration. This allows the team to predict project length.

Question 9

What chart can a team use to measure Earned Value (EV) in an agile environment?

Answer 9

Teams can use a burn up chart where the left Y axis represents story points as scope and the right Y axis represents the project spend.

Question 10

How do you calculate the schedule performance index (SPI) in agile terms?

Answer 10

SPI = Completed Features/Planned Features

For example, if a team planned to complete 50 story points in an iteration, but only completed 30 then the SPI is 30/50 = 0.6

This means that the team is only working at 60% of the rate planned.

Question 11

How do you calculate cost performance index (CPI) in agile terms?

Answer 11

CPI = Earned Value / actual costs to date

EV = completed features to date