Sprint metrics

About this report

The sprint metrics report (also known as the M1 report) is an informative page showing various characteristics of sprint performance across numerous teams connected with a given program increment (PI). Some metrics are relatively qualitative, while others are quantitative in nature (e.g., Variance in velocity, that is, velocity of a sprint divided by the velocity of the previous sprint, for individual teams participating in a specified program.) The report is generated by selecting a target program and PI.

The report displays the data in a series of grids. Clicking various values will open specific filtered grids (e.g., team defects) or the sprint coaching report for the sprint in question (e.g., team objectives). N/A indicates that no sprints were generated for the anchor date.

The report is best described as a series of sprint grids across the PI. This report is most useful to Scrum Masters, team leads, product owners, or release train engineers who require a sprint-by-sprint view of the program increment. The report provides visibility into how the teams in the program are progressing. It is beneficial to review the report with team members during sprint planning, retrospectives, and post-PI meetings.

To navigate to this report:

1. Select Programs or Teams in the top navigation bar and select the entity you want to view information about.
2. On the sidebar, select Reports in the list of options.
3. Select Sprint metrics (M1); the report displays.

Sections of the report include: 

• Team Emotion: A stylized chart using a weather format to capture the mood of the sprinting team. Conditions are expressed as cloudy, partly cloudy, or sunny forecast.
  Note: Team emotion was entered through sprint review functionality in Jira Align, which has been removed. 

• Team Objectives: Expressed as a percentage, this metric displays how many team-level objectives were completed.
  • The percentage is calculated as:
    ((# team-level objectives completed) / (# team-level objectives planned)) * 100
  • Colors:
    • Green for 100% or greater.
    • Orange between 85% and 99%.
    • Red below 85%.
  • Clicking any colored cell will open the Sprint Coaching report.

• Stories Committed vs Accepted: Expressed as a percentage, this metric is calculated as:
  • ((Count of accepted stories) / (Count of stories committed)) * 100
  • Committed stories must be associated with the sprint before the sprint start date to be included.
  • Any stories that were dropped, deleted, or canceled during the sprint are removed from the count of committed stories.
    • This behavior is different when compared to other reports that show committed story counts, such as the Sprint Coaching report.
  • Colors:
    • Green for 100% or greater.
    • Orange between 85% and 99%.
    • Red below 85%.
  • NONE indicates that no team-level objectives were planned for the team and sprint.
  • Clicking any colored cell will open the sprint coaching report.

• Points Committed vs Accepted: Expressed as a percentage, this metric is calculated as:
  
  • ((Sum of effort points from accepted stories) / (Sum of effort points from stories committed)) * 100
  • Committed stories must be associated with the sprint before the sprint start date for their effort points to be included.
  • Any effort points from stories that were dropped, deleted, or canceled during the sprint are removed from the count of committed points.
    • This behavior is different when compared to other reports that show committed story counts, such as the Sprint Coaching report.
  • Colors:
    • Green for 100% or greater.
    • Orange between 85% and 99%.
    • Red below 85%.
  • Clicking any colored cell will open the sprint coaching report.

• Split and Dropped Stories: This metric is expressed as the sum of all splits and drops for each team within each sprint.
  • Cells are colored as follows:
    • Red > 1 split or drop
    • Orange = 1 split or drop
    • White = 0 splits or drops
  • Clicking any colored cell will open the sprint coaching report.

• Team Defects: A metric that sums the number of bugs that remain open.
  • Cells are colored as follows:
    • Red > 1 open defect
    • Orange = 1 open defect
    • White = 0 open defects
  • Clicking any colored cell will open the defects page.

• Goal State: This metric is a Boolean indicator, simply flagging those sprints where the team either missed or attained its sprint goal.
  Note: Goal state was entered through sprint review functionality in Jira Align, which has been removed. 

• Sprint Goals: Goals are entered in the sprint details panel, and ideally created by the team during a sprint planning session. Coloring is used to indicate the teams finding at the conclusion of the sprint. Sprints flagged Green indicate the goals have been met, otherwise they are Pink if missed.
• Selecting any colored cell will open the Sprint details panel.

• Sprint Completion: Each sprint is marked complete when all stories in a sprint are accepted, split, or moved.

Prerequisites

1. PI must exist in the system, and be tied to a program. 
2. Sprints must be created and tied to a PI.
3. Teams must be created and tied to a program. 
4. Stories must be created and tied to a sprint. 
5. Stories must be pointed (have story points assigned). 
6. Teams must be using the ceremonies within Jira Align for maximum benefit.

How to interpret this report

An overall scan of the report will quickly give a feel for the health of the program increment for all the teams on the selected program.

Team Emotion – The important factor is not if a team has a single bad sprint, but whether the trend is positive or negative. If a team's emotion is trending negative, then some sort of intervention may be necessary by a coach or other stakeholder.

Team Objectives – The important factor is not if a team misses an occasional objective, but whether the team is meeting sprint objectives most of the time. If a team is consistently missing self-selected objectives, then some sort of intervention may be necessary by a coach or other stakeholders.

Stories Committed vs Accepted – The important factor is whether the team is consistently completing all stories (or almost all) to which they've committed, which is represented by 100%. Once a team is consistently completing all committed stories, they should be also completing some or all of their stretch goal stories. A team that consistently misses completing committed stories means they may be having trouble estimating their stories. 

Points Committed vs Accepted – The important factor is whether the team is consistently delivering the story points to which they've committed, which is represented by 100%. Once a team is consistently completing all committed stories (and therefore story points), they should be also completing some or all of their stretch goal stories' story points. A team that consistently misses completing committed velocity means they may be having trouble estimating their stories. 

Split and Dropped Stories – A team should, ideally, not have any split stories or dropped stories in a sprint. Both are signs of improper estimation of sprint scope and story complexity. Split stories are a sign of story complexity being underestimated. Dropped stories are a sign of an entire sprint being underestimated. 

Team Defects – A high-functioning team will generate very few defects during the course of a sprint. The important factor is defect trend. An occasional defect is normal and to be expected. A growing trend of defects is a sign of either a team not focused on quality or a team cleaning up a buggy code base. 

Goal State – Ideally, a team reaches their sprint goals on a regular basis. If a team always meets every goal, that could be a sign the team isn't stretching enough. If the team is consistently failing to reach their goals, then it is likely either the team is overreaching or the goals are being imposed on the team - either situation leads to demotivated teams.

Sprint Goal – Decided by the team and entered by Scrum Master during the sprint planning ceremony. Each team's sprint goal listed. Green if met. Pink if missed. This aligns with the Goal State above, simply providing the details of each team's sprint goals. 

Sprint Completion – Ideally, all closed sprints are marked with a green check to indicate they have been completed. If any closed sprint is missing a checkmark it is an indicator of an issue – either with the team or the Scrum Master.