The measures being collected are important, but what is done with the measures is just as important. For information to be useful, it has to be timely, accessible, easy to absorb and digest, and presented so that it correctly conveys the degree of uncertainty associated with the information.

Information Radiators – Information radiators, also known as big visible charts (BVCs), are visible, physical displays that provide information to the rest of the organization, enabling timely knowledge sharing.

• Burndown Chart → Shows how much work is yet to be completed.
• Burnup Chart → Shows how much work has been completed.
• Combined Burn Chart → Shows how much work has been completed and how much remains.

Visual Controls – In lean environments, information radiators are known as visual controls. Visual controls illustrate processes to easily compare actual against expected performance. Visual controls show a process using visual cues.

• Kanban Board (columns: Ready, Develop and Unit Test, Dev-Done, System Test, Done).
  • Cycle time: from the time you start a task until you complete it.
  • Deliver to Customer.
  • Lead time: from the time you put it on the board until you deliver it. Because you can change the order of the items in the Ready column, this can be unpredictable.
• Story Points Done Chart → Tracks progress over days against expected line.