Flow Metrics for Scrum Teams - Because story points were never a part of Scrum anyway

Oct 26, 2026

Flow Metrics for Scrum Teams presents a data-driven approach to managing work in Scrum environments, focusing on measuring and interpreting flow rather than relying on story points. The book explains what flow means, how to set up measurement, and the core metrics such as cycle time, work in progress, work item age, throughput, and the role of randomness. It further covers probabilistic thinking and practical Scrum events, including sprint planning, daily scrum, sprint review, and retrospectives, plus tooling guidance.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages105

Reading Time4 h 25 min

AccessFree to download

Why This Book

Chapter 1-Let’s Begin

What Is Flow?

Setting Up To Measure Flow

Chapter 2-The Basic Metrics of Flow

Work In Progress

Cycle Time

Work Item Age

Throughput

Data Collection and Calculation

Randomness

Chapter 3-Probabilistic Thinking

The End of Determinism

The Flaw of Averages

Chapter 4-Two Charts

The Cycle Time Scatterplot

The Most Important Chart That You Have Never Heard Of (And How to Use It)

Chapter 5-Sprint Planning, Part I

What Can Be Done In This Sprint?

MCS in Sprint Planning

Chapter 6-Sprint Planning, Part II

Right Sizing

Tooling

Chapter 7-The Daily Scrum

The SLE

Percentiles as Intervention Triggers

Chapter 8-The Sprint Review

What Did We Learn Last Sprint?

When Is It Done?

Chapter 9-The Sprint Retrospective

The Triangle

Clusters of Dots

Chapter 10-Tooling

What To Look For In A Tool

Red Flags

Chapter 11-Getting Started

Starting Steps

Bibliography

Flow Metrics for Scrum Teams Because story points were never a part of Scrum anyway Daniel Vacanti and Will Seele This book is for sale at [http://leanpub.com/flowmetricsforscrumteams](http://leanpub.com/flowmetricsforscrumteams) [This version was published on 2022-08-10](This version was published on 2022-08-10)[ ](This version was published on 2022-08-10)[ISBN 979-8-9867724-2-4](ISBN 979-8-9867724-2-4) This is a Leanpub book. Leanpub empowers authors and publishers with the Lean Publishing process. Lean Publishing is the act of publishing an in-progress ebook using lightweight tools and many iterations to get reader feedback, pivot until you have the right book and build traction once you do. © 2022 Daniel Vacanti and Will Seele Contents Why This Book .......................... 1 Thanks ............................. 1 Chapter 1-Let’s Begin ..................... 2 What Is Flow? ......................... 2 Setting Up To Measure Flow ................ 3 Conclusion .......................... 7 Chapter 2-The Basic Metrics of Flow ............ 8 Work In Progress ....................... 9 Cycle Time .......................... 10 Work Item Age ........................ 12 Throughput .......................... 12 Data Collection and Calculation .............. 14 Randomness .......................... 18 Conclusion .......................... 19 Endnotes ............................ 19 Chapter 3-Probabilistic Thinking .............. 20 The End of Determinism .................. 20 The Flaw of Averages .................... 23 Conclusion .......................... 25 Endnotes ............................ 26 Chapter 4-Two Charts ..................... 27 The Cycle Time Scatterplot ................. 27 CONTENTS The Most Important Chart That You Have Never Heard Of (And How to Use It) ............... 33 Conclusion .......................... 35 Endnotes ............................ 36 Chapter 5-Sprint Planning, Part I .............. 37 What Can Be Done In This Sprint? ............. 37 MCS in Sprint Planning ................... 39 The Language of Forecasting ................ 47 But What About Complexity? ............... 48 Endnotes ............................ 50 Chapter 6-Sprint Planning, Part II .............. 51 Right Sizing .......................... 51 Tooling ............................. 54 Drastically Reduce Planning Time ............. 54 Conclusion .......................... 55 Endnotes ............................ 56 Chapter 7-The Daily Scrum .................. 57 The SLE ............................ 58 Percentiles as Intervention Triggers ............ 60 What If PBIs Aren’t Flowing As Expected ........ 62 A Daily Scrum Example ................... 68 Conclusion .......................... 70 Endnotes ............................ 71 Chapter 8-The Sprint Review ................. 72 What Did We Learn Last Sprint? .............. 72 When Is It Done? ....................... 73 What Can Be Done? ..................... 75 Now What? .......................... 77 Conclusion .......................... 77 Endnotes ............................ 78 Chapter 9-The Sprint Retrospective ............. 79 CONTENTS The Triangle .......................... 80 Clusters of Dots ........................ 81 Gaps .............................. 83 Internal and External Variability .............. 84 Conclusion .......................... 86 Endnotes ............................ 86 Chapter 10-Tooling ....................... 87 What To Look For In A Tool ................ 88 Red Flags ........................... 92 Conclusion .......................... 94 Endnotes ............................ 94 Chapter 11-Getting Started .................. 95 Starting Steps ......................... 95 Conclusion .......................... 97 Bibliography ........................... 98 Why This Book This book came about from Slack dis

FAQs

Why does the book emphasize flow metrics instead of story points in Scrum?

It argues that story points were never a part of Scrum and aims to help teams move away from story point theater. The focus is on measuring flow to manage work more effectively.

What are the basic metrics of flow covered in the book?

The book covers work in progress, cycle time, work item age, throughput, and how to collect and calculate the data. It also discusses randomness and its impact on interpretation.

How does the book connect flow measurement to Scrum events like planning and daily scrum?

It explains how to use forecasting language and metrics during sprint planning, applies flow concepts in the daily scrum with percentiles as intervention triggers, and guides how to learn from sprint review and retrospective insights.

Oct 26, 2026

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