Measuring metrics?

I'd also like to ask if Jira is the best platform for Agile management

Some ideas around assessing individual performance in Scrum teams:

• How are the teams performing for the individuals in question?
• What has the individual learned?
• What has the individual taught others?

I’ve read up enough on Agile / Scrum to know that measuring individual performance is not the point and I do get that

From your post, it doesn't sound like your level of trust in your teams is at the point yet where you "get it".   Regarding your concerns over 1-2 individuals not pulling their weight, are these your observations, or is this feedback from the team?   Are the teams meeting their Sprint Goals and forecasts, despite your concerns?   

Ask yourself - How can you support each team as they try to work out among themselves whatever issues they may have?

Now I’ve read up enough on Agile / Scrum to know that measuring individual performance is not the point and I do get that, however as a business leader I do need to know how individuals are performing in the business.

Why do you need metrics for that? Why isn't the experience and authority of the team enough to rely on?

I completely accept that Scrum reports are are focused on the performance of the team, and individual performance issues are more of a resourcing problem, but are there any metrics I can monitor on an individual basis to give me any insight here?

https://www.scrum.org/resources/what-scrumbut

Additionally I have concerns about one or two team members that (I think) are not pulling their weight and I’d like something to provoke discussion on this position, if possible.

Why do you feel that is necessary? Might this be something that should be handled by the team itself?

Thanks for the responses.  Perhaps I could ask the question a different way;  if I needed to remove a member of my team from the business for lack of performance, are there any metrics within Jira that could corroborate that decision, were I to be challenged by the individual?

Although not an ideal fact of life people do underperform and sometimes allow other team member to carry them.  I'm not challenging Agile or Scrum, I'm just looking for some data to fall back on were I to make a decision to remove the person from the team.

Has anyone been in this position?

Try thinking about the issue itself a different way. If team members made representations to you for one of their number to be removed, what would you do?

  if I needed to remove a member of my team from the business for lack of performance,

What makes you think you are the best judge of that, as opposed to their peers?

Hi Julian,

I've managed development teams for 15+ years so I feel I well enough qualified to make a decision on removing staff from the business if I see fit - it's part of my job and the business pays me to make decisions like this.

This forum seem very defensive.  All Im asking is can the data produced from an Agile way of working help support decisions like this when I come to make them.

If you dont feel able to provide an answer then no problem and thanks everyone for your time. 

All Im asking is can the data produced from an Agile way of working help support decisions like this when I come to make them

No they can't. Which is why we're asking all these questions, I guess.

The gist of it is this: Those who are best able to judge a team members performance are his team mates. Because they work with each other on a daily basis. Because they may be better able to assess the value a member brings to a team through collaboration, which may be "hidden" to an outsider.

Whether or not the team actually makes the decision to remove a team member or that decision rests with management is another question. In a truly self-managing team, the team would make that call, but in an organisation still in transition to agile, that decision may still rest with a manager. But the only basis on which that decision can be made is peer feedback from those who work with the individual in question on a daily basis. Not a number in a project management tool.

Not the answer you were looking for - I still hope this helps.

Mind you, I wasn't saying you were unqualified to make such a decision, I asked whether you were the best judge to  make it. Which, from an agile viewpoint, you aren't.

Thanks Julian, that is helping me understand.  So to follow that train of thought, if the team made a case to remove a person from the team (or indeed the business) I would then to ask for something to back up this case.  In my mind I guess data is always best, as numbers are difficult to argue with.  

I guess your saying that I should trust the team and take them at their word?  However from my position I feel that leaves me a little exposed if the individual challenges the decision and I've nothing demonstrable to back things up.

Does that make sense?

Perhaps the answer to my original question is that Jira isnt the right place to look for this as its designed to serve a different purpose, which I now understand.

if the team made a case to remove a person from the team (or indeed the business) I would then to ask for something to back up this case.

The team can only make a case for removing one of their own members from the team. They cannot make a case for removing someone from the business. That's another matter entirely.

You don't need anything to "back up the case" if a team decides they don't want one of their own number on board. There is of course due diligence to be performed in making sure that the team's decision is genuinely expressed, fairly arrived at, balanced, and transparent. The Scrum Master is the anchoring role in such matters and also in trying to mitigate problems in the first place. My advice would be to focus on building that role and its skill-set rather than trying to gather performance metrics from Jira.

Dave,

Apologies if you feel attacked, but from what I've read in this thread, many responses are asking questions of you that seem challenging for you to answer.

I would boil it down to these few questions:

• Is the team as a whole meeting their Sprint Goals and/or Sprint Forecasts?   If not, what are some of the reasons why?
• How is the team developing as a consistently-performing unit, and developing an Agile mindset?
• How is management supporting the development of the team, and an Agile mindset within the organization?
• How much do you trust the Scrum team to grow, perform, and deliver value to the business

Please note that the shift in Scrum is to the team and the organization, and away from the individual.   If the team is performing well, does individual performance really matter?   Perhaps your focus on individual evaluation in Agile is one reason you're not finding answers you seek?

There is an old adage in Agile - "take it to the team".   Perhaps you should ask yourself how you can support the team in self-management of their issues and processes?

I hope this is helpful to you.

Hi Dave - a few thoughts here. 

The retrospective is the time for the team to inspect itself, and occasionally, personnel problems will emerge out of these meetings. For the 1-2 developers for whom you think there's an issue, I would keep your ears open during the retrospective to see if anything regarding their work comes up.  Afterwards, that can be a seed for a private conversation with him / her. 

Also - to your question about JIRA... I believe JIRA is a highly effective tool for managing teams using Scrum. The reports make it easy to compare sprint-to-sprint how much the team forecasted vs. completed.  One guiding principle can be including a "definition of done" in every ticket --- this ensures that the ticket 1) is in accordance with the Product Owner and Dev Team's requirements and 2) can be tested to ensure it meets the definition of done.  .