What is velocity? (or Veni, Vidi, Velocity)

I came, I saw, I measured velocity.

So what is velocity and how does it help?

Velocity is a very simple, straightforward measurement of the amount of work being delivered on a project. Velocity is calculated by summing the estimates of the features (user stories, backlog, requirements, etc.) completed during an iteration. Every iteration has a velocity. Only features that are completed are included in the calculation of velocity. By tracking velocity, a team is able to accurately gauge overall project progress and health.

When I was first introduced to velocity, I have to admit that its value was not at all apparent. Yes, the general idea made sense, but what could it really offer someone with years and years of experience on hundreds of software projects. I do not remember how long it took. It definitely wasn’t just a couple of weeks, but it also wasn’t six months. Somewhere in between, it sank in though. To me, one of velocity's greatest values is that it is a metric that removes most of the gray that permeates each and every day of software development by focusing on the one thing that really matters – working features.

Yes, there are meetings, issues, risks, bugs, changes, tasks, etc., but by tracking velocity, it is extremely easy to tell whether a team is making consistent, customer-valued progress on a project and how fast that progress is being made. Now, on the other hand, someone might not like that rate of progress (which is a different matter entirely), but there it is, a number that tells me approximately how much longer a project will take if I know the total estimate of the project and how much is being completed each iteration. Velocity cuts through the daily confusion and describes, in very simple terms, what is really going on. Velocity is all about project predictability, and that is really what we have been trying to achieve for decades now.