Scrum. The final frontier. These are the voyages of the Scrumship Agileprise. (groan) Ok. Enough Star Trek. Scrum has been in use for project management for at least 20 years now. It still works great but like all things in technology, there are changes, improvements, and new techniques that can make it even better and more effective. For example, what if I told you that you didn't need to estimate anymore? Or that you could skip those awkward conversations with your bosses trying to explain the meaning of Story Points and velocity?

Enter the concept of 'flow' and 'flow metrics'. These things make Scrum easier. Described briefly, you have things to work on. Work starts on those things. Work finishes. Measure how long that takes and how many things you got done. Make sure that things are getting done. That's pretty much it.

In this session, Ben will talk about how you can upgrade your team's Scrum practices using flow and flow metrics. Along the way, expect to hear a lot about Little's Law, Work in Progress (WIP), Cycle Time, and Throughput. The goal of this talk is to show you how to predict the future – how long will things take and how much can you get done – using statistical forecasting, throughput, and Monte Carlo simulations.

You will learn:

• How to stop estimating and still answer all your boss's questions about when and which things will get done
• The pieces and basis of this new way of thinking: Little's Law, Work In Progress, Cycle Time, and Throughput
• How to apply statistical forecasting to your team's historical performance to calculate what will likely get done and when