Analyzing Scrum team velocity in Jira: Agile Velocity Chart Gadget's story

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Disclaimer: there’s nothing wrong with the native velocity chart in Jira

Released in early 2000s, the built-in velocity chart is awesome, simple, and included in the Jira offering by default. It shows just what you’d expect: the ratio between the Initial Commitment and Completed Work.

But while using it, you might notice two major downsides.

1. While two default metrics on the velocity chart are important, they are more of a starting point rather than the end of the discussion. They raise a lot of questions. Why do we see what we see on the chart? How did the scope change affect the delivery? Did we focus more on bug fixes or on development? How did every team member contribute to this?

2. Velocity chart is not available on the Jira dashboard, therefore it’s often feels out of reach.

And for us, it became a trigger.

A bit limiting, we thought. Why not add it to the Jira dashboard as a gadget?

This would make it easier for teams to keep track of their progress at the same Jira dashboard without having to switch between different views. So, we did just that. This was our first step in making the velocity chart more accessible and useful.

Then, we gave it another look, and it was still limiting, especially for enterprises

After implementing the gadget, we received feedback from several enterprise customers. They pointed out that many large organizations have multiple teams working together. The default chart’s limitations became apparent – it couldn't track aggregated cross-team performance.

And a cross-team velocity chart was created.

Individual velocity chart

It was a matter of time to start tracking velocity on a new level: individual. When you start analyzing velocity, you just can’t stop. You want to see the progress of multiple teams and individuals. After all, it’s fair to give team members the recognition they deserve. So, we added that to the chart.

Metrics, metrics, MORE sprint metrics

Somewhere in between developing the cross-team and individual charts we realized: measuring sprint health with only two metrics is simply not enough. There are so many details in each sprint that need to be highlighted!

So, we set out to add more metrics. We started with Added and Removed Work and couldn’t stop until we had 10 sprint metrics for advanced sprint analysis:

• Initial Commitment

• Final Commitment

• Rollover

• Total Scope Change

• Added Work

• Removed Work

• Estimation Change

• Not Completed Work

• Completed Work (Initial)

• Completed Work

These metrics resulted from discussions with our customers and processing their issues and desires. Finally, we could rest at night knowing that our customers' sprints are measured properly.

But just to make sure, we added a bunch of extra features on top

We didn’t stop at metrics. To ensure our tool was as user-friendly and comprehensive as possible, we added several additional features:

• Custom JQL Functions to create custom queries to extract specific data.

• Grouping by Month/Quarter to organize data over longer periods.

• Breakdown by Teams and Boards for detailed insights into different project segments.

• Sub-Tasks: Tracks smaller tasks within larger ones for more granular tracking.

• Target Lines and Moving Averages to help track progress against targets.

• Benchmarking to compare team performance against predefined benchmarks.

• Dark Theme Support is for those squinting at the Jira light theme.

• Export Options for data export to CSV, PDF, PNG, or sharing via Data Link.

• Filtering Options by epic, release version, or JQL queries for tailored views.

This is how we turned an ordinary velocity chart into the powerful Agile Velocity Chart Gadget it is today. But it’s still (and always will be) in progress because we’re constantly looking for ways to improve it and add new features based on your feedback.

Our journey is ongoing, and we’re excited to see where it takes us next.

Meanwhile, thank you, Jira Velocity Chart, for being part of our journey and our biggest inspiration!