spilling the beans on the importance of flow
TRANSCRIPT
Spilling the beans on the importance of flow
Tyson Nutt Element Digital
@tysonnutt
Imagine…
Click icon to add picture
Feeling the flow..
Visualise Flow
Measure Flow
Improve Flow
Flow in Nature
Flow in traffic
Ticket machines at train station
Queues of people
Ordering a coffee
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Restaurant Kitchen
Flow of work through software teams
“”
When we start to look for it, flow is everywhere
My morning coffee
#caffeine
It works a ‘similar’ way in our teams
I think we need to build a
widget that does <this>
Sure. Lets capture that in a couple of user stories, and get them ready for the take into our next planning session
Lets build them and make sure they work.
Wow. That’s awesome. I bet our customers are gonna love it..
Dose beans, tamp, extract
50s
Fill jug, steam milkpour milk
serve60s
idle40s
Waiting to order2mins 40
Lid waiting for barista 90s
The Value Stream
Order20s
Dose beans, tamp, extract
50s
Fill jug, steam milkpour milk
serve60s
idle40s
Waiting to order2mins 40
Lid waiting for barista 90s
7mins
Cycle Time
Lead Time
2mins 30
Lead time and Cycle time
Order20s
Cycle Time
Lead Time
Impact of pressure
Spill!
No
Beans!Oh Fred! You don’t do it that way
Impact of impediments
Cycle Time
Lead Time
The flow of work in our teams
I think we need to build
a widget that does <this>
Sure. Lets capture that in a couple of user stories, and get them ready for the take into our next planning session
Lets build them and make sure they work.
Wow. That’s awesome. I bet our customers are gonna love it..
Cycle Time
Lead Time
BlipTrack enables more efficient operations by providing both real-time and historical detailed information on passenger travel times, wait times and flow.
http://www.blipsystems.com/airport-queue-measurement-module/
Cumulative Flow Diagrams Cumulative Flow Diagrams show
the progress of work towards a goal (eg release)
By understanding the flow of work, they give us insights into what’s happening within a team.
Release
How does it work?A snapshot of
a normal team board
Backlog49pts
Defined
13pts
In Prog26pts
In testing0pts
DONE20pts B
acklo
g4
9p
tsD
efin
ed
13
pts
In P
rog
26
pts
DO
NE
20
pts
CFD: Daily snapshots of the board over time
What insights can it tell us?
Rem
ain
ing
work
Backlog changes
Lead time
Pro
gre
ss t
rends
Visibility of backlog issues and changes
Amount of work still to be done
Lead time (the time from requesting a piece of work to getting it DONE)
Are we gonna make it? Team progress towards a goal
What insights can it tell us?
WIP
Amount of work in progress
Cycle Time(the time from starting a piece of work to getting it DONE)
Blockers & bottlenecks
Cycle time
Blockers
Visualise the impact of changes within a team
A CFD can teach us a lot about what’s going on in a team
WIP
Cycle time
Rem
ain
ing
work
Backlog changes
Lead time
Pro
gre
ss t
rends
Blockers
- Work moving to DONE early, and consistently.- No major flat spots / blockages- Limiting WIP (coloured bars are close together)- Backlog is reasonably stable throughout the release
Healthy Flow(reasonably)
- Work not moved to DONE until very late- Flat spots showing that work isn’t moving- Variable / unrealistic backlogs - Large amounts of WIP – coloured bars widening
Unhealthy Flow
Bottlenecks and constraints within flowhttps://hohmannchris.wordpress.com/2014/06/25/bottleneck-explained-with-water-pipes/
Feeling the flow..
Visualise Flow
Measure Flow
Improve Flow
Feeling the flow..
Visualise the Flow• How many steps in your
value stream?
• How much is adding value?
• Do you have queues and delays? For how long?
• Does work flow smoothly?
• Where is our work stacking up?
Measure the Flow• Do you know your lead
time and cycle time?
• What slows us down?
• What impact is it having?
• What can we do about it?
• What help do we need
• What happens when we’re under pressure?
Improve the Flow• Shorten feedback loops
• Discuss flow with your team
• Identify waste and actively look for opportunities to remove/reduce it.
• Look for opportunities for cross skilling
• Have the right conversations
• Within the team
• As a way of communicating out
Our job is to get more DONE, not get more into DOING
Optimising flow is all about doing more with less:
“”
Spilling the Beans on the importance of Flow
Questions, comments, opinions?
Tyson Nutt Element Digital@tysonnutt
Visualise Flow
Measure Flow
Improve Flow