Agile metrics should reveal flow and predictability, not rank individuals. The most useful ones describe how work moves through the team: burndown, velocity, cycle time, and throughput. Read together, they show whether the team is healthy and improving.
Core metrics
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BURNDOWN remaining work over the Sprint; flags scope/pace issues
VELOCITY points completed per Sprint; forecasting aid
CYCLE TIME time from "start" to "done" per item; flow speed
THROUGHPUT items completed per period; flow volume
A cumulative flow diagram visualizes WIP and bottlenecks across columns.
Concrete example
A team's burndown stays flat for a week then drops sharply at the end — a sign of large, late-finishing items. They respond by slicing stories smaller, and cycle time falls.
