What velocity is
Velocity is the average number of story points your team has completed per sprint, calculated over the last six iterations. It's a trailing indicator, not a plan — it tells you how much a team has actually delivered recently, not how much it should deliver next.
Hover the velocity figure on a sprint's summary band to see its definition.
How to read it
A rising velocity across several sprints usually means the team's throughput is stabilizing or improving. A flat or falling velocity isn't automatically bad — check whether scope, team size, or sprint length changed before drawing conclusions. Because it's a rolling average, a single unusually good or bad sprint won't swing it much.
What to do about it
Use velocity as an input to sprint planning, not a target. When planning a future sprint, compare planned points against recent velocity rather than against backlog pressure — planning well above velocity is a common cause of an Overdrive Momentum state. If velocity swings widely sprint to sprint, check Velocity Volatility (in the app) to understand how predictable your team's pace really is.