Flow distribution helps you follow and prioritize different tasks. That way, you avoid bottlenecks, reduce wait times, and deliver value consistently.
But it’s not as easy as it sounds.
Combining flow distribution with other flow and Agile metrics is key to getting the bigger picture.
That’s what this article teaches you. We’ll:
Let’s begin.
Insider tip: Use Axify to track all your metrics in one dashboard so you can meet deadlines and expectations consistently while also keeping your team happy.
Flow is a concept in the Agile methodology. As its name suggests, it refers to the smooth, continuous movement of work items through development.
The goal is to maintain a good flow.
That means your software delivery team can complete tasks quickly and with fewer interruptions. In a well-maintained flow, work moves steadily from one stage to the next without piling up at any point.
You can do that by following flow metrics and making the necessary adjustments.
That brings us to the next point.
Flow metrics follow how well work items are moving through the development process. Here are some key flow metrics:
Insider tip: Read this in-depth article to better understand flow metrics, their uses, and how they compare to other DevOps metrics.
Flow Distribution helps you visualize how much work is allocated to each type of work item, such as features, bugs, and technical debt. This metric enables you to understand how your team's effort is distributed, allowing you to see, for example, how much time and resources you dedicate to creating new value versus fixing issues.
In some cases, you can even translate this metric into financial terms. For instance, if 40% of your team's work is spent on bugs, 40% of the budget was allocated to addressing bugs.
Insider tip: Axify lets you follow a similar metric – issue-type time investment. Our KPI helps you understand whether you focus too much on one type of work and neglect others. As a result, you can address all your priorities and tasks without creating imbalances that slow down your progress.
Flow distribution offers several specific benefits as part of the Flow approach to software delivery:
A tool like Axify can be a game changer to make the most out of flow distribution. Axify’s real-time dashboards let you inspect your throughput and its distribution for all of your teams.
Basically, Axify creates visibility seamlessly for all teams.
Flow metrics and DevOps metrics both play crucial roles in agile development, but they focus on different aspects of the process.
Flow metrics measure the efficiency and effectiveness of work processes by tracking the progress, speed, and balance of tasks. As such, they help your team ensure that all necessary tasks are addressed.
Agile software delivery metrics like velocity, throughput, and cycle time measure the speed and efficiency of work. Together, they provide a comprehensive view of team performance.
Let’s see how these metrics stack up against each other.
Velocity measures how fast developers write, edit, and deliver top-notch code.
Flow distribution adds another layer of insight by examining the types of work being done. Analyzing both metrics together helps you maintain a balanced focus on features, bug fixes, technical debt, and other important areas.
Solution: Flow distribution, on the other hand, provides a deeper insight by categorizing the work completed into different types. This categorization allows you to understand how your efforts are distributed across various areas.
Basically:
This unique edge helps you avoid the trap of only chasing high velocity at the expense of critical maintenance or quality tasks.
Throughput is a common software delivery metric. It measures the number of work items a team completes within a specific timeframe. As you can see, this metric is similar to velocity, but it’s typically used in continuous delivery contexts.
Throughput is useful for tracking how efficiently an Agile delivery team is processing work. Together with flow distribution, it will give you a holistic view of your team’s workflow.
Solution: Flow distribution complements throughput by providing context to the numbers.
While throughput tells you how many items were completed, flow distribution explains what those items were. This distinction is important because a high throughput might look good on the surface, but if the work is overly focused on one area, such as bugs, other critical aspects might be neglected. Flow distribution ensures that throughput reflects a well-rounded effort, leading to better overall outcomes.
Insider tip: Axify is an essential tool with a broad application if you’re looking to balance flow distribution with other DevOps metrics like velocity, throughput, and cycle time. Axify’s real-time dashboards and data visualization capabilities give you a comprehensive view of both the quantity and quality of work being done.
For instance, you can use Axify to monitor your velocity and throughput. Axify’s Value Stream Mapping feature further enhances this by visually mapping out the entire development process. Therefore, your team can identify any imbalances in how work is distributed, set their priorities, and address bottlenecks.
Basically, the main benefit of Axify is getting a more holistic view of your performance, improving speed and quality and helping you in your journey to continuous delivery. This leads to a more sustainable, efficient, and effective development process.
Axify can empower you with the necessary tools and insights to make complex decisions.
If you want to balance competing priorities effectively and reach all your business goals while keeping your team happy, book a virtual tour with us to see exactly how Axify can help.
