| | DECEMBER 20198CIOReviewIN MY OPINIONRETHINKING AGILE METRICS TO BE OUTCOMES FOCUSEDBy Emily Clark, Transformation Coach, Prudential In the age of big data, there is more information at our fingertips than ever before. We measure in order to establish a barometer that informs us if performance is matching expectations. Sounds harmless, right? And yet, metrics can be a source benefit or harm, depending upon how they are welded. Metrics, used correctly, can help align business and technology and be powerful indicators that inform if an organization should persevere with its current strategy or pivot to a new strategy. Used incorrectly, however, metrics can produce unintended consequences such as anti-patterns in teams' behaviors. As part of any large-scale agile transformation,it is critical for an organization to understand exactly what is being measured and why, and to determine how these measures will be used to inform and guide teams on such a journey. Understanding Anti-Patterns in MetricsAs a unit of measure, velocity is a common means by which a team can trend their rate of completion of work per iteration. So you might be asking, how could such a solid piece of data cause an anti-pattern in teams? Well, anyone who has spent time on an Agile team has seen velocity metrics misused as an indicator of output that is expected to increase over time or as a comparison of productivity among different teams. This misuse causes teams, willingly or sub-consciously, to sandbag their estimates to increase velocity and thus lose out on what is supposed to be a practice to drive common understanding and predictable planning from the team.Even the most well-intentioned metrics will result in teams adjusting their behavior, so it is best to be thoughtful in order to promote positive behavioral change versus anti-patternsEmily Clark
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