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Metrics and Learning: Turning Data into Continuous Improvement

Turning data and feedback into actionable insights for continuous improvement, informed decisions, and adaptive, high-performing teams.

Using data, metrics, and feedback to drive continuous improvement in teams and processes.

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https://nkdagility.com/resources/metrics-and-learning/

Overview

Metrics and Learning is not about tracking velocity or producing dashboards to appease managers. It’s about creating the conditions for continuous improvement by making performance transparent, exposing constraints, and enabling teams and leaders to respond with evidence rather than assumption.

This approach builds a culture of empiricism—where progress is inspected regularly, and data informs decisions. Metrics become a feedback loop, not a control mechanism. They allow teams to observe how value flows, understand where it’s blocked, and adapt their systems of work accordingly. If you’re not measuring flow, quality, and outcomes, you’re not managing; you’re guessing.

Metrics are not just about operational tracking—they are a leadership tool for adaptation.

To make this work across your company, we recommend metrics in two distinct but complementary domains: the Product/Project/Organisation- level and the Team- level.

Product / Project / Organisation Metrics

These metrics help us understand the overall health of delivery, customer experience, and organisational capability. They are most useful for Product Owners, stakeholders, and leaders who are accountable for strategic outcomes.

Team Metrics

At the team level, metrics should reflect how effectively value flows through the system. These are diagnostic tools for self-management and improvement, not tools for judgement or control. They inform the team’s own decisions.

We explicitly do not- track velocity, story points, remaining work, or original estimate. These are internal planning tools, not outcome metrics. They promote illusion over insight and encourage teams to optimise for the wrong things.

Closing the Loop

Metrics are only useful when they’re tied to learning and action. That means:

By embedding metrics in how we work, we move from anecdote to evidence, from hope to hypothesis, and from activity to outcomes.

We don’t measure to report. We measure to learn. We don’t track metrics. We inspect systems.

Learn More about Metrics and Learning

Signals

Velocity isn’t how many story points a team burns down

Velocity measures how quickly teams turn ideas into value, using build, test, deploy, and feedback times—not just story points—to track real delivery speed.
Tags

Evidence Based Management

Evidence-Based Management (EBM) is a strategy for improving an organisation’s ability to deliver value by making decisions based on evidence, not opinion. It enables data-informed investment in agility, innovation, and outcomes rather than output.
Tags

Time to Market

Time to Market is one of the four key value areas of Evidence‑Based Management that focuses on organizational capability. It is not a single measure but a group of metrics that evaluate the speed at which ideas are transformed into deliverable products or features. This collection of measures may include lead time, cycle time, and overall development duration—providing a comprehensive view of how quickly value reaches the customer.
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Service Level Expectation

A Service Level Expectation predicts how long work items take to complete, helping Scrum Teams improve workflow, identify issues, and set clear delivery timelines.
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Current Value

Current Value is one of the four key value areas of Evidence‑Based Management. Rather than being a single measure, it comprises a group of indicators that collectively assess the tangible, real‑time value a product or service delivers. This group of measures includes, for example, customer satisfaction data, revenue impact, and performance feedback—all of which help determine how much value is being realized at present.
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Unrealised Value

Unrealized Value is one of the four key value areas of Evidence‑Based Management and represents a group of measures focused on the potential value that could be captured with further improvements. Instead of being a single metric, it includes various indicators that assess untapped opportunities, such as latent market demand or areas for innovation. These combined measures offer insight into how much additional value remains available for the organization.
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Metrics that matter with evidence-based management

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The Evidence-Based Management Guide: Improving Value Delivery under Conditions of Uncertainty

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The Evidence-Based Management Guide Improving Value Delivery under Conditions of Uncertainty

Discover more about The Evidence-Based Management Guide
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Harnessing Evidence-Based Management: Transform Your Decision-Making with Data-Driven Insights

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Tags

Lead Time

Measuring the time from work initiation to customer delivery, helping teams monitor workflow efficiency and improve value delivery.
Signals

Every delay increases the risk of failure

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Tags

Forecasting

Enhance forecasting in Agile and Scrum. Use empirical data to predict delivery timelines, manage risk, and optimise value delivery.
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Continuous Improvement

Continuous Improvement is the ongoing practice of relentless reflection and adaptation, driven by empirical evidence, aimed at consistently enhancing processes, products, and team effectiveness. It embodies a commitment to incremental and measurable advancements, fostering a culture of proactive experimentation, rapid feedback, and learning to achieve sustainable and strategic business agility.
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Professional Agile Leadership - Evidence-Based Management (PAL-EBM)

Scrum.org created the Evidence-Based Management™ (EBM) framework which is an Agile approach to help leaders guide their teams toward continuously improving customer outcomes, organizational capabilities, and business results. EBM focuses on customer value and intentional experimentation to systematically improve an organization’s performance and achieve its strategic goals.
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Stop Hiding Behind Complexity and Start Delivering Continuously

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Explains why Story Points are subjective and unsuitable for comparing teams, and highlights objective metrics like throughput and value for measuring and improving team performance.
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What my father taught me about Evidence-based Management (34 years before it was invented!)

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Tags

Revenue per Employee

A financial observability metric showing how much revenue is generated per employee, used to inspect workforce efficiency and strategic alignment over time.
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    Explores how immersive learning in product management blends practical assignments, evidence-based metrics, and reflection to drive real organisational change and improvement.
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    Evidence-Based Management: The Key to Agile Success

    Evidence-based management uses data-driven decisions to help organisations achieve business outcomes, adapt to market changes, and maximise value beyond agile processes.
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    Kanban Guide for Scrum Teams

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    3 best ways to wreck Kanban. Use vanity metrics.

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    Understanding the Difference: Traditional Management vs. Evidence-Based Management

    Explains how traditional management relies on authority and intuition, while evidence-based management uses data, analysis, and meaningful metrics for better decisions.
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    Does Kanban integrate into a Scrum environment?

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    Mastering Evidence-Based Management (EBM) for Product Owners: Maximizing Value Delivery

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    Unlocking Business Value: The Power of Evidence-Based Management for Effective Leadership

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    Harnessing the Power of Empiricism: Transform Your Decision-Making with Data-Driven Insights

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    Signals

    If software is not delivered, it is not valuable

    Undelivered software provides no value. Frequent, iterative releases reduce risk, cost, and failure, enabling faster learning and real user impact in software development.
    Tags

    Ability to Innovate

    Ability to Innovate is one of the four key value areas of Evidence‑Based Management that gauges organizational capability in terms of innovation. It is composed of a group of measures that assess how effectively an organization generates, implements, and sustains innovative solutions. Rather than a single metric, this group may include indicators like the frequency of experiments, innovation throughput, and learning cycles, offering a broad view of the organization’s capacity to innovate.
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    Applying Metrics for Predictability

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    Tags

    Value Stream Mapping

    Visualising workflows to identify inefficiencies and optimise value delivery.
      Signals

      Rethinking Dev-Test-Staging-Production Pipelines for Safety

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      Signals

      Why Measuring Individual Cycle Time Fails to Help Teams

      Measuring individual cycle time overlooks team performance and system bottlenecks. Focus on lead time, throughput, and process efficiency to improve workflow.
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      Unlocking Continuous Improvement: How Metrics and Visual Tools Transform Your Workflow

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      Maximising Product Value: The Power of Hypothesis-Driven Engineering

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      Unlocking Success: How Small Experiments Transformed Feature Delivery from 25 to 150 in Software Development

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      How Do You Know the Value Currently Delivered in Your Organization?

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      Story Points: A Ghost of Agile Past

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      Unlocking Unrealised Value: The Key to Elevating Your Product Development Strategy

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      This one-day course on product discovery and validation equips participants with essential hands-on skills to enhance value creation in product development. It covers key techniques for both new product development and improving existing products, focusing on experimentation, evidence collection, and risk control. Through an ongoing case study, students will learn practical methods to apply in their workplace, helping Product Owners, Managers, and teams drive customer outcomes, improve ROI, and adopt an iterative, user-centric approach to product development.
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      All software development teams aim to enhance flow and throughput. This one-day course combines Kanban principles with Azure Boards, showing agile teams how to configure and effectively use the platform for Kanban practices. Participants will collaborate in teams on a shared project and case study to maximize learning.

      Connect with Martin Hinshelwood

      If you've made it this far, it's worth connecting with our principal consultant and coach, Martin Hinshelwood, for a 30-minute 'ask me anything' call.

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