My Approach to Throughput & Flow Efficiency for Effective Teams

Here is the “why” that drives me as I evaluate, encourage, and celebrate teams in regards to their Flow Metrics.

Why Throughput matters?

When teams work on large tickets that take a week or more, it's hard to spot where time is being wasted. These big chunks of work tend to move slowly, and it's not clear how long each step should take. By breaking work into smaller pieces, we can better understand the actual effort needed and spot delays quickly. This helps teams stay focused and productive.

When teams handle smaller, well-defined pieces of work, they naturally become more efficient and can better manage their own progress. This transparency also makes it easier for everyone to see how work is flowing. 😊

While breaking work into smaller chunks helps teams stay focused and productive (measured via increased Throughput), the real benefit is that it lets us spot and eliminate wasteful delays. When we can clearly see how work moves through each stage, we can find ways to make the whole process smoother and more efficient (measured via Flow Efficiency).

Why Flow Efficiency matters?

When we have enough work items moving through our process, we can easily spot where things are flowing smoothly and where they're getting stuck.

The ratio between active work time and waiting time tells us how efficiently work is moving. This is harder to manipulate than just counting completed items, since it shows us the actual time work spends moving between steps.

This measurement helps us spot several common problems:

1. Teams aren't working together as well as they could be
2. Decisions are taking too long to make
3. Work is getting held up waiting for other teams

Remember: The real goal isn't just getting more work done - it's reducing the time work sits waiting. This helps us deliver value to our customers “smoother” (slow is smooth and smooth is fast), produces healthier teams that enjoy their work, and ultimately leads to better business outcomes.

How Do We Support Team Growth?

• For teams working with large, complex tasks:
  • Help them learn to break work into smaller, manageable pieces
  • Recognize progress when they start completing work more frequently
  • Acknowledge improved visibility into their workflow
• For teams already working with smaller tasks:
  • Help them identify and address workflow bottlenecks
  • Celebrate both improvements and setbacks in their work flow - every change is a learning opportunity. And, ultimately, celebrate them taking action on an issue.
  • Encourage open discussions about challenges and collaborate on solutions