If you’ve ever been asked:
“Why isn’t the team’s velocity going up?”
…you know how frustrating that conversation can be.
Velocity gets treated like a scoreboard, when really it’s just one signal among many.
After running 100+ sprints, here’s why I stopped obsessing over velocity — and what I measure instead in Zenhub.
Why Velocity Misleads 🚦
Velocity is just the total points completed in a sprint.
But it says nothing about:
- The quality of the increment
- The amount of unplanned work handled
- Team morale or burnout
- Whether the work delivered was even valuable
Chasing velocity creates pressure to inflate estimates or cherry-pick easy tickets. That’s not agility — that’s gaming the system.
What to Measure Instead 📊
Here are 3 healthier metrics I track in Zenhub:
-
Cycle Time
- How long does it take for an issue to go from “In Progress” to “Done”?
- Shorter cycle time = healthier flow.
-
Work in Progress (WIP)
- How many issues are active at once?
- Too much WIP = context switching = slower delivery.
-
Sprint Goal Completion
- Did we meet the outcome we set at Sprint Planning?
- Even if velocity was “low,” the sprint was valuable if the goal was hit.
Wrapping Up 🎯
Velocity is a data point, not a target. If you want to really understand team health in Zenhub, look at cycle time, WIP, and sprint goal completion.
💡 I created a free Scrum Master Checklist that helps you keep retros, dailies, and sprint planning focused — so metrics actually reflect reality.
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