What is concept of velocity, and how can it be leveraged by a Scrum team?

Some Scrum teams elect not to track their velocity. However, it is considered to be a powerful and required metric for most teams. Avoid promoting team scenarios in which velocity was not tracked or valued.

Velocity in Scrum represents the rate of user story production for a team. Each sprint has a velocity, and it goes up and down sprint-to-sprint. Over time, a Scrum team can use their average velocity to project when a project will be complete or to project cost metrics, such as cost per point, cost per sprint, or total project cost. These numbers are valuable for planning and communication purposes.

Velocity can serve as an indicator of Scrum team process adjustment opportunities. Downward trends or an unstable velocity may indicate that changes are necessary. Velocity can also be an indicator of the success or growth of a team. Upward shifts in velocity or a velocity that becomes more consistent over time can indicate the positive effect of process changes made by a team.