Human Factors in Engineering

VH08 Measuring Up! How to Choose Agile Metrics Your Team Won't Hate

07/20/2023

9:30am - 10:45am

Level: Introductory to Intermediate

Angela Dugan

Cloud Solution Architecture Manager

Microsoft

How many times have you been asked to deliver on metrics that did not make sense to you, that felt counterproductive to your or the team's effectiveness, or that were seemingly impossible to collect in a sane fashion? Oftentimes, I find that metrics being collected are ones that are easy to collect and report on but are not necessarily the ones that will help the team learn and improve.

When it comes to software delivery, lean and agile practices and methodologies have taken the lead. Metrics have lagged a bit and often rely on very waterfall-style milestones and phase-gates to determine a team's effectiveness. In the spirit of continuous improvement, this session will take a look at the measures we can and should collect from agile teams, why these metrics are relevant and interesting, and how we can use them to help our teams continuously improve.

You will learn:

  • Why it is so difficult to identify meaningful metrics in the software world
  • The importance of developing a healthy "metrics mindset"
  • The best types of quality-focused team metrics to focus on in an agile organization