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Glossary
Agile & Scrum

What is Velocity?

Velocity is a measure of the amount of work an Agile team successfully completes within a specific period, usually a sprint. It is calculated by totaling the story points or units of work for all items marked as 'Done' at the end of the iteration.

When to use it

Teams use velocity to estimate how much work they can realistically commit to in future sprints and to forecast delivery timelines for larger projects. It helps identify trends in team performance and highlights when process changes or blockers are affecting output. Velocity is most effective as an internal planning tool rather than a performance metric to compare different teams.

Example

A software development team finishing their first three sprints completes 20, 24, and 22 story points respectively. Their average velocity is 22 points per sprint. When planning for their next release with a backlog totaling 110 story points, the Product Manager can estimate that the team will need approximately five sprints to complete the work. This allows the team to set realistic expectations for stakeholders regarding the projected launch date.

How Planet Roadmap helps with Velocity

Planet Roadmap features dedicated sprint boards that automatically calculate velocity based on completed story points across past iterations. This data is visualized in velocity charts to help teams improve the accuracy of their capacity planning.

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FAQ

Is a higher velocity always better?
No, velocity is a measure of consistency and predictability, not absolute productivity. A higher velocity that results in technical debt or burnout is less valuable than a stable, predictable velocity that allows for reliable long-term planning.
Can you compare velocity between two different teams?
Velocity should not be compared across teams because every team estimates story points differently. A team completing 40 points per sprint isn't necessarily faster than a team completing 20 points if their internal scale for effort and complexity differs.

Related terms

SprintStory PointsBurndown ChartSprint PlanningProduct BacklogScrumSprint VelocitySprint Retrospective

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