How do we use velocity without turning it into a target?
Forecast metric misuseUse historical team delivery information cautiously for planning, with awareness of changes in work and context. Avoid rewarding higher numbers, which can distort estimation without increasing useful output.
What to do now
- Clarify the planning purpose
- Use comparable historical data
- Account for team and scope changes
- Pair forecasts with outcome and quality evidence
When to escalate
The metric is being used to pressure artificial estimate inflation.
The relevant Scrum accountability or delivery owner
Example
The team uses recent delivery patterns as one input to a forecast, not as an individual performance score.
Mistake to avoid
Demanding a fixed percentage increase in story points every iteration.
Prevent a repeat
Inspect useful outcomes and feedback; apply Scrum-specific rules only when the team is actually using Scrum.
Suggested ApprovedFlow setup
- Tasks
- Documents
- Resources
Represent agreed work and evidence with enabled task features; do not imply native Scrum automation or certified Scrum compliance. See the platform
Related cases
- Our daily meeting is a status report to the manager. How can it improve?Coordination event misuse
- Our team has a different definition of ready for every item. Is that a problem?Inconsistent work preparation
- The benefit target is unrealistic. How do we revise it?Unsupported outcome target
- How do we forecast the final project cost?Incomplete cost-to-complete forecast