Course Correcting with Burn Up Charts

A software development company had a team on payroll serving its own client, and the team was not covering its costs. There was little progress, it was unclear whether the team or the client was the cause, and there was a deadline for a conference.

Acorn interviewed the five-person team to learn who did what and how much capacity each had. It then charted billable hours month to date against the break-even point on a burn-up chart, and used a behavioral assessment to look at the composition of the team.

Each week Acorn met with leadership and changed the team: it added QA and a client-facing product role, swapped the project manager, and later added two application engineers. It also worked with the client to prioritize scope and planned for poor Wi-Fi at the conference.

The team exceeded break-even. The client had a successful conference, with positive press and new connections.

The agency covered its costs, made a profit and grew its team.

Leaders of a software team that is not covering its costs or hitting a fixed event deadline, and who want to see where the problem actually is.