Agile Metrics Dashboard Setup

Metrics dashboards help teams improve by making work visible. Good dashboards surface actionable insights. Bad dashboards create vanity metrics that don't drive change. This guide covers setting up dashboards that matter.

Key Metrics

Dashboard Design

What to Include

DASHBOARD LAYOUT
════════════════

SPRINT HEALTH:
─────────────────────────────────────
┌──────────────────────────────────────┐
│  Sprint Progress                      │
│  ▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓░░░░░░  65%               │
│  Day 7 of 10                         │
│  Goal: Complete API redesign         │
└──────────────────────────────────────┘

┌──────────────────────────────────────┐
│  Burndown                            │
│  30 ┤\                               │
│  20 ┤ \  ___                         │
│  10 ┤  \/   \___                     │
│   0 ┼─────────────                   │
│     D1  D3  D5  D7  D9               │
└──────────────────────────────────────┘

FLOW METRICS:
─────────────────────────────────────
┌────────┐ ┌────────┐ ┌────────┐
│ WIP: 7 │ │ Block: │ │ Done:  │
│        │ │   2    │ │   12   │
└────────┘ └────────┘ └────────┘

TRENDS:
─────────────────────────────────────
┌──────────────────────────────────────┐
│  Velocity (last 6 sprints)           │
│  40 ┤    ___                         │
│  35 ┤___/   \  ___                   │
│  30 ┤        \/   \___               │
│     S1  S2  S3  S4  S5  S6           │
│  Stable velocity                     │
└──────────────────────────────────────┘

Metrics Selection

Choose What Matters

METRICS SELECTION
═════════════════

LEADING INDICATORS:
─────────────────────────────────────
(predict future results)
├── WIP count
├── Blocked items count
├── Cycle time trend
├── Code review wait time
├── Test coverage trend
└── Early warning signs

LAGGING INDICATORS:
─────────────────────────────────────
(measure past results)
├── Velocity
├── Sprint goal completion
├── Bug count
├── Customer issues
├── Deployment frequency
└── Outcome measures

TEAM HEALTH:
─────────────────────────────────────
├── Team satisfaction survey
├── Retrospective action completion
├── On-call burden
├── Meeting load
├── Sustainable pace
└── Qualitative measures

AVOID:
─────────────────────────────────────
├── Lines of code
├── Story points per person
├── Hours worked
├── Individual velocity
├── Vanity metrics
└── Gaming-prone metrics

Setting Up

Building the Dashboard

DASHBOARD SETUP
═══════════════

STEP 1: IDENTIFY GOALS
─────────────────────────────────────
What questions to answer?
├── Are we predictable?
├── Are we improving?
├── Where are bottlenecks?
├── Is quality improving?
├── Are we sustainable?
└── Goal-driven metrics

STEP 2: SELECT METRICS
─────────────────────────────────────
Map metrics to goals:
├── Predictability → Velocity trend
├── Improvement → Cycle time trend
├── Bottlenecks → WIP, blocked count
├── Quality → Bug trend, test coverage
├── Sustainability → Team health survey
└── Metrics match goals

STEP 3: DATA SOURCES
─────────────────────────────────────
Where does data come from?
├── GitScrum → Sprint data
├── Git → Code metrics
├── CI/CD → Build/deploy data
├── Monitoring → Production health
├── Surveys → Team feedback
└── Connected sources

STEP 4: BUILD VIEWS
─────────────────────────────────────
├── Sprint-level view
├── Trend view (6-12 sprints)
├── Flow view (board state)
├── Quality view (bugs, tests)
└── Multiple perspectives

STEP 5: REVIEW CADENCE
─────────────────────────────────────
├── Daily: Sprint burndown
├── Sprint: Velocity, completion
├── Monthly: Trends, patterns
├── Quarterly: Big picture
└── Regular review

Using Metrics

Driving Improvement

USING METRICS EFFECTIVELY
═════════════════════════

IN STANDUPS:
─────────────────────────────────────
├── Glance at burndown
├── Note blocked items
├── Quick context
├── Not detailed analysis
└── Just awareness

IN RETROSPECTIVES:
─────────────────────────────────────
├── Review sprint metrics
├── Discuss what data shows
├── Connect to team experience
├── Identify patterns
├── Set improvement goals
└── Metrics inform discussion

IN SPRINT PLANNING:
─────────────────────────────────────
├── Reference velocity
├── Inform capacity
├── Not rigid constraint
├── Historical context
└── Data-informed commitment

WITH STAKEHOLDERS:
─────────────────────────────────────
├── Share trends, not absolutes
├── Provide context
├── Explain what metrics mean
├── Focus on improvement
├── Prevent misuse
└── Educate on interpretation

GitScrum Metrics

Built-in Analytics

GITSCRUM ANALYTICS
══════════════════

VELOCITY CHART:
─────────────────────────────────────
├── Sprint-over-sprint velocity
├── Commitment vs completed
├── Trend line
├── Visible in Reports
└── Historical data

BURNDOWN:
─────────────────────────────────────
├── Real-time sprint burndown
├── Ideal line
├── Remaining work
├── Daily progress
└── Sprint health

THROUGHPUT:
─────────────────────────────────────
├── Items completed per period
├── Flow metrics
├── Cycle time
├── Lead time
└── Flow visibility

CUSTOM DASHBOARDS:
─────────────────────────────────────
├── Create views
├── Filter by team, project
├── Save configurations
├── Share with team
└── Flexible reporting

Best Practices

For Metrics Dashboards

1. Trends over absolutes — Direction matters
2. Team-owned — Team selects metrics
3. Actionable — Metrics drive change
4. Contextual — Share the why
5. Few and focused — 5-7 metrics max

Anti-Patterns

DASHBOARD MISTAKES:
✗ Too many metrics
✗ Individual metrics
✗ Metrics for judgment
✗ No action on data
✗ Vanity metrics
✗ No context
✗ Absolute comparisons
✗ Gaming-prone measures

Related Solutions

• Measuring sprint health
• Tracking velocity without story points
• Project reporting best practices