Velocity
A measure of the amount of work a team completes in a Sprint, usually expressed in story points, used for forecasting rather than performance evaluation.
What it means
Velocity is not part of the official Scrum Guide; it is a common estimation and forecasting practice teams adopt to plan future Sprints based on past throughput.
It is calculated by summing the story points of items that met the Definition of Done in a Sprint. A team's velocity stabilizes over several Sprints as its composition and practices mature.
Common mistakes
Velocity should never be compared across different teams, since story points are relative to each team's own estimation baseline. Using it as a productivity metric to pressure teams typically backfires, encouraging inflated estimates.
Example
A team with an average velocity of 30 points plans roughly 30 points of work into the next Sprint.