Velocity metrics can be a powerful tool to track software development projects. But these metrics have a dark side that many project managers don't consider. In fact, scrum velocity metrics are largely misunderstood by project managers and failing to consider the dangers of velocity can cause serious problems. In fact, you should learn about the dark side of velocity metrics, what velocity doesn't take into account, and how it could put your project at risk.

Velocity is not something that every person in a development team must know. It's a focus on data that many organizations find useful for real-time decision making but others don't care about because they're not focused on increasing revenue or reducing expenses.

We will now see different ways you can avoid the dangers involved in velocity metrics.

1. Use empirical data to set expectations

Implementing velocity metrics on your scrum team can set some expectations for the team. For example, it could make the team focus on delivery or it can also give some sense of how much work they're doing in a set period. But, you should be careful about using velocity as a goal because it sets unrealistic expectations for the team.

So, you better use empirical data to set these expectations. When a team is tracking their velocity, they're not tracking what was done, but what was planned to be done and what actually came out of it. Having empirical data means that you're basing these expectations on data, not on an arbitrarily set number.

2. Plan sprints in detail

It's a good practice to plan sprints in detail. In fact, scrum development organizations that plan their sprints at a high level and then dive into them usually end up improving velocity metrics. Even if you're tracking velocity metrics, you should still plan every sprint in detail before executing it. These details will help the development team to estimate better, and thus manage the project better in the long run.

3. Leave room for growth

Velocity is not something that you can define exactly. And it's also a common misconception that velocity is a sprint-specific thing. Even if you choose to track your sprint's velocity, make sure that you leave some room for later measurements to measure the growth of the team.