How to Manage Development Metrics and KPIs?

How to manage development metrics and KPIs?

Manage development metrics by focusing on team-level outcomes (not individual surveillance), tracking leading indicators (WIP, cycle time) alongside lagging indicators (bugs, velocity), using metrics for improvement discussions, and avoiding gaming incentives. Document metric definitions in NoteVault and review trends, not snapshots.

Development metrics categories

Key metrics definitions

## Metric Definitions

### Velocity
- Definition: Story points completed per sprint
- Measured: Sprint completion
- Target: Stable trend (not always increasing)
- Use: Capacity planning

### Cycle Time
- Definition: Time from work started to done
- Measured: Start date → Done date
- Target: Decreasing trend
- Use: Flow improvement

### Lead Time
- Definition: Time from request to delivery
- Measured: Created date → Production
- Target: Decreasing trend
- Use: Customer perspective

### Change Failure Rate
- Definition: % of deployments causing incidents
- Measured: Incidents / Deployments
- Target: < 15%
- Use: Quality indicator

NoteVault metrics documentation

# Development Metrics Dashboard

## DORA Metrics - January 2025

| Metric | Value | Trend | Target |
|--------|-------|-------|--------|
| Deploy frequency | 12/week | ↑ | 20/week |
| Lead time | 3 days | ↓ | 1 day |
| Change failure rate | 8% | ↓ | < 5% |
| MTTR | 45 min | ↓ | < 30 min |

## Team Metrics

| Metric | Value | Trend |
|--------|-------|-------|
| Velocity | 45 pts | Stable |
| Cycle time | 2.5 days | ↓ |
| Bug rate | 3/sprint | ↓ |
| WIP average | 4.2 | Stable |

## Quality Metrics

| Metric | Value | Target |
|--------|-------|--------|
| Test coverage | 78% | 80% |
| Critical bugs | 0 | 0 |
| Tech debt items | 12 | < 10 |

## Trends
[Charts showing 6-month trends]

Metrics that cause problems

Using metrics constructively:

1. Team-level - Not individual comparison
2. Trend focus - Week-over-week, not snapshots
3. Context matters - Discuss why, not just what
4. Improvement focus - What can we do better?
5. Balance metrics - Speed AND quality
6. Change if gamed - Metrics serve goals, not vice versa

GitScrum Reports for metrics

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