Is it possible to reset estimation/velocity when there is a major team change?

Question

Is it possible to reset estimation/velocity when there is a major team change?  Would disabling board estimation and then enabling it reset the velocity calculation?  We have just restructured our team and the size of the team is significantly smaller than it was.  The velocity of the larger team is still being used in reports when in reality the velocity of the new team needs to be re-established over the next few sprints and will be significantly different than the prior sprint velocities.

Is there a Jira best practice for managing velocity following major team changes?

Dave Mathijs · Accepted Answer

Hi @Tracy A Stimac

Personally, I would just start where you are and keep an eye on the burndown/burnup chart and sprint report from now onwards in order to re-evaluate what amount of work the new team can commit to.

The velocity (chart) will level out after a few sprints.

Bill Sheboy · Accepted Answer

Hi @Tracy A Stimac

You noted: Is it possible to reset estimation/velocity when there is a major team change?

How would you envision that working?

Jira tracking of velocity is based on what happened for a specific Scrum board for specific sprints.  That is historical data.  Changing the history would not necessarily reflect what the new team can accomplish.

In addition to the idea from @Dave Mathijs (i.e., do nothing and let the new velocity emerge), you could speed things along by breaking the connection to the past: make a new Scrum board, as this would reset the reporting history of velocity, and when there is enough data the Version Report will start working again.

In the interim, the team could use their forecasts of velocity or throughput, and other means (e.g., manual, spreadsheet, etc.), to forecast the duration of work for the new release.

Kind regards,
Bill