Metrics: Decisions Needed When Using A Cumulative Flow Diagrams

The simple cumulative flow diagram (CFD) used in Metrics: Cumulative Flow Diagrams – Basics  and in more complex versions provide a basis for interpreting the flow of work through a process. A CFD can help everyone from team members to program managers to gain insight into issues, cycle time and likely completion dates. Learning to read a CFD will provide a powerful tool to spot issues that a team, teams or program may be facing. But to get the most value a practitioner needs to decide on granularity, a unit of measure, and time frame needed to make decisions.

 

Metrics: Adding Complexity to Cumulative Flow Diagrams

A waterfall is an example of a complex flow!

The simple cumulative flow diagram (CFD) used in Metrics: Cumulative Flow Diagrams – Basics introduces most of the concepts needed to read and use a CFD. However, software development, regardless of the size of the work or the method used, is more complicated.  CFDs adapt to the true complexity of software development. CFDs allow teams and managers to visualize the flow of work .

 

Metrics: Cumulative Flow Diagrams – Basics

A Cumulative Flow Diagram (CFD) is a measurement tool for tracking and forecasting work. CFDs are typically associated with Kanban, however, it can be used as a measurement tool for any type of work.  In its simplest form, a CFD is a set of measures that are presented in a visual form.  A simple version of a CFP shows the amount of work that has been completed, how much work is in-progress, and the amount of work still to be done over time.