As an introduction, I have been experimenting with running a ‘burn down’ spreadsheet.
If you are familiar with agile environments and methodology, you may be familiar with the ‘burn down’. It could be in the form of a burn down chart or a burn down spreadsheet.
Last month, I created four iterations of the burn down spreadsheet. Each iteration addressed a particular problem or scenario. Let’s infer, these are hypothetical and not all related to me, that Scenario A details a one-year full-time graduate school pathway, Scenario B details a six-month travelling, six-month internship-in-a-new-field-in-a-new-country plan and Scenario C is continuance of an existing career but with an exit plan of a vertical-upwards/horizontal move in the organization. While these scenarios are different, we can infer that Scenario B is the one that is the most volatile or dynamic, Scenario A is the most stable and Scenario C is somewhere in-between.
So in the burn down chart for this current sprint so far (let’s say, 2 sprints per month so that a fortnight long spring), I would make a comment that I am making high velocity progress utilizing a good amount of effort. The timing, not so much. I think that I have underestimated myself. I thought that I would only reach 10-20 velocity points (5 points per reply) but it turned out that I am completely maxing out on 50 velocity points (1o replies). I am maxing out, either because I’ve underestimated how much velocity I can actually drum up…..or how I am timing things is really bad.
I would measure Career Zoo as a 50 velocity point activity (researching companies, researching roles, following up with people, networking), which means that, I am not sure if I can take on board any new activity in the next few days and maybe rest of the month…