How to measure sprint performance in Jira with visual cues like target lines

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Reading the temperature of your sprints

Target lines are a staple in charts, but to truly unlock the potential of this tool, we need to take a closer look at the target line type and setup.

Choosing the right target line for the job

Moving (Relative) vs. Flat (Absolute) Lines

• Flat Lines: Provide a consistent benchmark, ideal for maintaining stability over time. Think of them as your trusty baseline. They’re great for long-term goals where consistency is key, giving you a fixed point of reference against which to measure.

• Moving Lines: These adjust based on your goals for each sprint - perfect for when project needs are constantly evolving. They allow you to set targets that move with your team’s commitment, Initial or Final, ensuring that benchmarks remain relevant even as circumstances change.

Sprint health monitoring with target lines

Quick tips on configuring target lines

🙌 Establish clear thresholds for what constitutes acceptable and unacceptable performance. Target lines act as these thresholds, helping teams quickly assess performance as good, bad, or needing improvement.

🚦 Use visual indicators, like RAG (Red, Amber, Green) colors, to make performance easily understandable.

🪢 Avoid viewing a single metric in isolation. Use target lines alongside other metrics for more clarity.

How to set healthy benchmarks with target lines

🚀 If your team consistently hits around 20 story points, set it as a healthy benchmark. When a sprint deviates from this line, use it as a conversation starter in your retrospective.

🔄 A 10% total scope change might be your norm indicating that the team adapts to changing requirements. If so, use it as a health metric.

📊 If your team finally decreased average rollover to 15%, you can consider it a health indicator and monitor further.

🎯 If your Say/Do ratio (Initial Commitment/Completed Work(Initial) is normally around 85% and you hit key goals, this can be your health benchmark. Use a moving target for tracking.

📝 If you defined that your Initial or Final Commitment is 50%+ user stories, set it as a goal and check up on it during sprint planning to ensure you’re following this team rule. Inspect it further with breakdowns and highlights.

Applying target lines to your charts

In the Agile Velocity Chart Gadget and Agile Reports and Gadgets, you can easily put target lines on velocity and benchmarking charts. The configuration is easy and straightforward.

By placing these charts side by side on the Jira dashboard, you can visualize data on different levels.

Both the Agile Velocity Chart Gadget and Benchmarking Chart Gadget (part of the Agile Reports and Gadgets family) are ready for you to explore with a 30-day trial - why not give them a try to gain a deeper insight into your sprints?