On Tuesday, we looked at a simple idea: a new Sprint does not erase the history of work already in progress.
So what can that history tell us?
Velocity shows how much estimated work a team completed in previous Sprints. Throughput counts the items completed over a period. Both tell us about finished work, but neither tells us how long a particular unfinished item has been in progress or has been waiting.
Notice the work that is getting older
The age of a work item is the time since the team started it. An older item is a prompt to look more closely, especially if newer work keeps moving past it.
Ask the team:
- Where is this item now?
- Is anyone actively working on it, or is it waiting?
- What decision, information or help would allow it to move?
- Have we started more work than we can finish?
The answers may reveal a dependency outside the team, an item that needs to be broken down or a queue that has become easy to overlook.
Use age to start a conversation
An old item is not proof that someone has done something wrong. Nor does every item need to take the same time. Its age gives the team a reason to ask what is happening while there is still time to help.
At the next Daily Scrum, look at the work already in progress. Which item has been open longest? What could the team do today to move it towards completion?
Velocity and throughput tell us something about what finished. The age of unfinished work helps us pay attention to what has not.
Photo by Vitaly Gariev on Unsplash
