Story Points Completed Per Week Report

Overview

The Story Points Completed Per Week report is a rate-normalized productivity metric that measures how many story points your team completes on average per week, adjusted for actual working time. By automatically accounting for time off and varying calendar periods, this metric enables fair comparisons across different time periods, team sizes, and organizational structures.

What This Metric Measures

Story Points Completed Per Week provides a normalized view of team velocity by measuring:

• Normalized throughput: Story points delivered per week per active contributor

• True capacity: Team velocity adjusted for vacation, holidays, and absences

• Comparable productivity: Fair benchmarking across different time periods and teams

• Sustainable pace: Weekly delivery rate that accounts for real working days

This metric answers the question: "What is our reliable, sustainable weekly velocity when people are actually working?"

Why Use This Metric Over Total Story Points?

Use Story Points Per Week when:

• Comparing velocity across different time periods (Q1 vs Q2)

• Benchmarking teams of different sizes

• Accounting for holiday periods or high vacation seasons

• Establishing sustainable capacity baselines

• Tracking productivity trends over time

Use Total Story Points when:

• Reporting sprint outcomes

• Measuring absolute delivery volume

• Communicating with stakeholders about "what got done"

How It's Calculated

Formula:

Story Points Per Week = (Total Story Points Completed ÷ Active Days) × 7

Where:

• Total Story Points Completed = Sum of all story point estimates from issues marked as completed

• Active Days = Total count of days when team members were NOT out of office

• × 7 = Converts the daily rate to a weekly rate

Understanding "Active Days"

Active Days is calculated by:

1. Identifying all team members contributing to the work

2. Counting each calendar day in the period

3. Excluding days when individuals were marked as:

   • On vacation

   • Out sick

   • On parental leave

   • Any other out-of-office status

4. Summing the remaining working days across all team members

Example Calculation:

Your 5-person team completed 80 story points during a 2-week sprint (14 calendar days):

• Person A: worked 10 days (4 days vacation)

• Person B: worked 14 days (fully present)

• Person C: worked 12 days (2 days sick leave)

• Person D: worked 14 days (fully present)

• Person E: worked 8 days (6 days parental leave)

Total Active Days: 10 + 14 + 12 + 14 + 8 = 58 active days

Calculation: (80 ÷ 58) × 7 = 9.7 story points per week

This represents the team's true velocity when actually working, not the artificially lower rate that would result from including absence days.

Where to Find This Report

Access the Story Points Completed Per Week report from:

• Team dashboards → Rate-normalized metrics section

• Individual contributor views → Personal velocity metrics

• Search for "Story Points Per Week" or "Estimate Completed Per Week"

The metric appears with one decimal place for accuracy (e.g., 12.4 story points/week).

Available Breakdowns & Filters

Analyze Story Points Completed Per Week across multiple dimensions:

Team & People Dimensions

• Individual contributors (personal velocity rates)

• Teams and organizational groups

• Department or job family

• Team hierarchy paths

• IC level or seniority

Issue Dimensions

• Issue type (Story, Task, Bug, etc.)

• Issue status and lifecycle stages

• Planned vs. unplanned work

• Custom issue categories

Sprint Context

• Sprint-by-sprint velocity tracking

• Planned work vs. unplanned additions

• Sprint commitment accuracy

Time Periods

• Week-over-week trends: Track velocity changes weekly

• Monthly aggregations: Longer-term velocity patterns

• Quarterly comparisons: Seasonal or strategic period analysis

• Custom date ranges: Any time period you need

• Historical trending: Multi-period velocity evolution

Key Use Cases

1. Fair Cross-Period Comparison

Compare velocity across different time frames without calendar bias:

• Q4 (heavy holidays) vs. Q2 (fewer holidays)

• Summer months (high vacation) vs. other quarters

• Varying sprint lengths (1-week vs. 2-week sprints)

2. Team Benchmarking

Compare teams of different sizes fairly:

• 3-person team vs. 8-person team

• Teams with different vacation patterns

• Teams across global offices with different holiday schedules

3. Capacity Planning with Real Numbers

Forecast delivery based on actual working capacity:

• "Our team delivers 45 points per week when actively working"

• Account for planned vacation in upcoming sprints

• Calculate realistic timelines for roadmap features

4. Identify True Productivity Trends

Spot real improvements or declines without calendar noise:

• Did the new development process actually help?

• Is onboarding a new team member temporarily reducing velocity?

• Are we sustaining productivity improvements over time?

5. Sustainable Pace Monitoring

Ensure healthy, sustainable team velocity:

• Track whether you're maintaining consistent pace

• Detect unsustainable "crunch mode" patterns

• Validate work-life balance initiatives

6. Account for Team Changes

Understand velocity impact when:

• Onboarding new team members

• Team members take extended leave

• Teams are restructured or resized

7. Sprint Commitment Accuracy

Use historical per-week rates to commit to realistic sprint goals:

• "We average 40 points/week, and next sprint has 8 active team-days, so we should commit to ~45 points"

How It Relates to Other Metrics

Story Points Completed Per Week works best alongside complementary metrics:

Powerful Combination:

Story Points Per Week (throughput) + Issue Cycle Time (speed) + Planning Accuracy (predictability) 
= Complete velocity picture

Insights You Can Gain

Velocity Stability Analysis

• Is our velocity consistent? Low variance indicates predictable delivery

• Do we have velocity volatility? High variance suggests capacity planning challenges

• What's our velocity range? Establish minimum, average, and maximum weekly rates

True Productivity Trends

• Are we getting faster? Upward trend indicates improving efficiency

• Did changes help or hurt? Compare velocity before/after process changes

• Seasonal patterns? Identify predictable high/low velocity periods

Capacity Reality Checks

• What's our sustainable pace? Long-term average reveals true capacity

• How much do absences affect us? Compare periods with high vs. low time off

• Are we over-committing? Planned sprint points should match per-week capacity

Team Health Indicators

• Sudden velocity drops may indicate burnout, blockers, or team issues

• Unsustainable spikes might reveal crunch mode or technical debt acceleration

• Stable upward trends suggest healthy team maturation and process improvement

Planning Accuracy

• Historical average provides reliable baseline for sprint planning

• Velocity variance indicates confidence level for commitments

• Per-week rate helps size features realistically

Best Practices

1. Establish Your Baseline

Track 6-8 weeks of data to calculate your team's baseline velocity:

• Calculate the average per-week rate

• Note the range (minimum to maximum)

• Identify and understand outliers

• Use the average for future sprint planning

2. Focus on Trends, Not Single Points

• Week-to-week fluctuations are normal

• Look for patterns over 4+ weeks

• Investigate significant sustained changes

3. Context Matters

Lower velocity isn't always bad:

• Onboarding new team members temporarily reduces velocity but builds long-term capacity

• Technical debt work may show lower story point completion but improves future velocity

• Complex infrastructure work might have lower weekly rates but high strategic value

4. Use for Forecasting

Apply your per-week rate to future planning:

Estimated Weeks = (Remaining Story Points ÷ Weekly Velocity Rate) 
                  × (Total Calendar Days ÷ Expected Active Days)

5. Combine with Qualitative Data

Metrics tell you "what," but not "why":

• Pair velocity analysis with retrospective feedback

• Investigate velocity changes through team conversations

• Don't optimize for velocity at the expense of quality or team health

6. Account for Scale Differences

Remember that story point scales vary:

• Compare teams using the same estimation scale

• Focus on individual team trends rather than cross-team absolutes

• When comparing teams with different scales, look at relative changes (% improvement) rather than absolute values

7. Monitor Consistency

Consistent velocity is often more valuable than high velocity:

• Predictability enables better planning

• Stable rates indicate healthy, sustainable pace

• Extreme variability may signal process issues

Common Scenarios & Interpretations

Scenario 1: Declining Velocity

What you see: Per-week rate dropping over multiple sprints

Possible causes:

• Accumulating technical debt

• Team member departures or absences

• Increasing scope/complexity of work

• Process inefficiencies or new blockers

• Burnout or motivation issues

Actions:

• Review retrospective feedback

• Analyze Issue Cycle Time for bottlenecks

• Check for increasing unplanned work

• Assess team health and workload

Scenario 2: Increasing Velocity

What you see: Per-week rate rising over time

Possible causes:

• Process improvements taking effect

• Team gaining expertise in domain/technology

• Better estimation practices

• Reduced blockers or dependencies

• Maturing development practices

Actions:

• Document what's working well

• Share successes with other teams

• Ensure quality metrics remain strong

• Verify sustainability (not crunch mode)

Scenario 3: High Variability

What you see: Wide swings in per-week rate sprint-to-sprint

Possible causes:

• Inconsistent story point estimation

• Unpredictable unplanned work

• External dependencies causing delays

• Team composition changes

• Varying work complexity

Actions:

• Improve estimation consistency

• Reduce unplanned work through better planning

• Establish clearer sprint boundaries

• Review and refine Definition of Done

Scenario 4: Flat/Stable Velocity

What you see: Consistent per-week rate over time

Interpretation:

• Positive: Predictable, sustainable pace; reliable planning

• Consider: Is there room for process improvement? Are we plateauing?

Actions:

• Celebrate consistency if team is healthy

• Explore optimization opportunities if interested

• Maintain current practices if working well

Frequently Asked Questions

Q: What's a "good" story points per week rate?
A: There's no universal "good" number—it depends on your team size, estimation scale, and work complexity. A 5-person team might average 50 points/week while a 3-person team averages 25 points/week, and both could be equally productive. Focus on your team's baseline and trends.

Q: Should velocity always increase over time?
A: Not necessarily. Velocity should stabilize at a sustainable pace. Consistent velocity is more valuable than constantly increasing velocity, which may not be sustainable or healthy.

Q: How do I compare teams with different story point scales?
A: You can't directly compare absolute values across different scales. Instead, compare:

• Each team's trend (% change over time)

• Velocity stability (consistency)

• Planning accuracy (predicted vs. actual) Focus on each team improving against their own baseline.

Q: Why is this metric different from what I see in Jira/Linear?
A: Your project management tool shows raw totals for a sprint or time period. Span's per-week metric normalizes for working time and converts to a weekly rate, enabling fair comparisons across different calendar periods.

Q: How does Span know when someone is out of office?
A: Span integrates with calendar systems and HRIS platforms to automatically track OOO status. Ensure these integrations are configured for accurate calculations.

Q: Should I use this metric for performance reviews?
A: Use cautiously and with context. Individual velocity can be influenced by many factors (work complexity, mentoring, technical debt, etc.). It's one data point among many—combine with qualitative feedback, code quality, collaboration, and impact.

Q: What if our team doesn't estimate consistently?
A: Story point metrics are most valuable with consistent estimation practices. If estimates are unreliable, consider using Issues Completed Per Week (count-based) instead, or invest in improving estimation consistency through team calibration sessions.

Q: How do I improve our per-week velocity?
A: Focus on:

1. Remove blockers: Reduce wait times and dependencies

2. Improve estimation: Better estimates lead to better planning

3. Reduce unplanned work: Protect sprint capacity

4. Invest in technical debt: Improve long-term velocity

5. Optimize processes: Remove unnecessary ceremonies or handoffs

6. Maintain team health: Sustainable pace beats short-term speed

Q: Can I see historical trends?
A: Yes! Span provides time-series visualizations showing per-week velocity over time. Use these to identify trends, seasonality, and the impact of changes.

Getting Started Checklist

To effectively use Story Points Completed Per Week:

Setup Requirements

• ✓ Project management tool integrated (Jira, Linear, etc.)

• ✓ Story points consistently assigned to issues

• ✓ Calendar integration enabled for OOO tracking

• ✓ Team membership properly configured in Span

• ✓ Historical data available (ideally 6+ weeks)

First Steps

1. Review 6-8 weeks of historical data to establish your baseline

2. Calculate your average and range for typical velocity

3. Identify outliers and understand what caused them

4. Set realistic expectations based on your baseline, not aspirational goals

5. Monitor weekly but analyze trends monthly

6. Combine with qualitative data from retrospectives and team feedback

Ongoing Usage

• Review velocity trends in sprint planning

• Adjust sprint commitments based on per-week capacity

• Investigate significant deviations from baseline

• Celebrate consistency and sustainable improvements

• Share insights with team in retrospectives

Need Help?

For additional support with the Story Points Completed Per Week report:

• Visit the Span Help Center

• Contact your Customer Success Manager

• Email support@span.app

This documentation reflects Span's platform capabilities as of the current version. Features and calculations are subject to updates.