In a scenario where many agile teams work on different products, which approach provides the best insights into progress for management?

• A. Common dashboard of work performed
• B. Progress against goals provides the best insights into a team's progress
• C. Performance against schedule
• D. Team velocity

Answer: (B)

When many agile teams are working on different products, the clearest signal for management is progress toward clearly defined goals rather than just activity or schedules. Goals tie work to value. They translate what each team delivers into a common narrative about advancing strategic objectives, so leaders can see whether the collective effort is moving the organization toward its desired outcomes. This framing supports forecasting, prioritization, and timely investment decisions across teams and programs, even when individual teams have different backlogs, velocities, or delivery cadences.

A dashboard that only shows work performed focuses on tasks or features completed, not on whether those outputs realize the intended value or move toward strategic aims. Performance against schedule emphasizes timing, which is a less stable signal in agile environments where scope can flex and documentation is not the primary measure of progress. Team velocity is an internal, team-centric metric and often isn’t comparable across teams or directly tied to business outcomes, so it misleads when reporting progress at scale.

Thus, tracking progress against goals provides the most meaningful, cross-team visibility for management, aligning every team’s work with the overarching objectives and value delivery.