Measuring and tracking adaptive projects

Question 1

What is the primary focus of measuring progress in adaptive projects?

Answer 1

The primary focus is to track how much work has been completed using story points, which helps teams understand their progress.

Question 2

How do teams determine if they are on track in an adaptive project?

Answer 2

Teams compare the planned story points with the earned story points to see if they are meeting their goals.

Question 3

What does the term “velocity” refer to in Agile project management?

Answer 3

Velocity refers to the amount of work completed in a sprint, measured in story points.

Question 4

True or False: Earned value can be applied to story points.

Answer 4

True. Earned value can be applied to story points to measure completed work against the plan.

Question 5

What does a burn-down chart represent?

Answer 5

A burn-down chart shows the number of story points remaining over time, helping teams visualize their progress.

Question 6

What is the purpose of a burn-up chart?

Answer 6

A burn-up chart plots the story points completed over time, providing a clear view of work done against the plan.

Question 7

How does the features chart differ from burn-up and burn-down charts?

Answer 7

The features chart includes the total number of features, which may increase as new features are added, providing additional context to the progress.

Question 8

Why is it important to communicate progress to the customer?

Answer 8

It is important to keep the customer informed about progress and any potential issues, ensuring alignment on project goals.

Question 9

How can teams use the information from tracking charts effectively?

Answer 9

Teams can use tracking charts to identify trends, assess performance, and make informed decisions about adjustments needed in their workflow.

Question 10

What is the significance of measuring customer value in Agile projects?

Answer 10

Measuring customer value helps ensure that the work being done aligns with customer needs and expectations, guiding prioritization.

Question 11

How can teams improve their sprint velocity over time?

Answer 11

Teams can improve their sprint velocity by reflecting on past sprints, identifying areas for improvement, and implementing changes to their processes.

Question 12

What is the relationship between planned story points and earned story points?

Answer 12

Planned story points are the target set for a sprint, while earned story points are those that have been completed, indicating progress.

Question 13

Why is simplification important in Agile project management?

Answer 13

Simplification helps streamline processes, making it easier to estimate, track, and manage projects effectively.

Question 14

What is Agile Earned Value?

Answer 14

Agile Earned Value is a method used to measure a project’s progress and performance by comparing planned work with completed work using story points.

Question 15

Agile Earned Value graph

Answer 15

• Y axis: Points
• X axis: Time
• Line/curves: Planned story point, actual story points, earned story points and time now (vertical line)

Earned story points are the planned points that have been completed based on the project’s progress.

Question 16

Formula for velocity (aka CPI)

Answer 16

Earned story point/actual story points

Question 17

Why is the budgeted number of story points considered less useful in Agile projects?

Answer 17

Because the budgeted number of story points is often changing in adaptive projects, making it less reliable for measuring performance.

Question 18

What is a Kanban board?

Answer 18

A Kanban board is a visual tool used in Agile to manage workflow by limiting the number of tasks in progress at any given time.

Question 19

What does the term “lead time” mean in the context of Kanban?

Answer 19

Lead time is the total time taken from when a task is added to the board until it is completed.

Question 20

How does cycle time differ from lead time?

Answer 20

Cycle time measures the time taken to process an item once it starts being worked on, while lead time includes the entire duration from start to finish.

Question 21

What are internal metrics in Agile?

Answer 21

• Cost and schedule, efficiency, velocity, burndown
• Employee engagement, morale and satisfaction
• Creativity of solution

Question 22

What are customer metrics in Agile?

Answer 22

• Stakeholder satisfaction
• Customer perceived value

Customer metrics measure how satisfied stakeholders and customers are with the project’s outcomes and perceived value.

Question 23

How to measure pitfalls?

Answer 23

• Hawthorne
• Vanity metric
• Demoralisation
• Misuse
• Confirmation bias
• Correlation vs causation

Question 24

What is the Hawthorne effect?

Answer 24

The Hawthorne effect refers to the phenomenon where individuals modify their behavior in response to being observed or measured.

Question 25

What are vanity metrics?

Answer 25

Vanity metrics are data points that may look impressive but do not provide meaningful insights or contribute to decision-making.

Question 26

Why is it important to set achievable goals in Agile?

Answer 26

Setting achievable goals is crucial because unrealistic targets can demoralize team members and hinder productivity.

Question 27

What is confirmation bias?

Answer 27

Confirmation bias is the tendency to search for, interpret, and remember information that confirms one's preexisting beliefs.

Question 28

How can correlation be confused with causation in project metrics?

Answer 28

Correlation indicates a relationship between two variables, but it does not imply that one causes the other, which can lead to incorrect conclusions.

Question 29

How can Agile metrics be misused?

Answer 29

Metrics can be misused if they are manipulated to present a false narrative or if they are applied inappropriately to evaluate performance.