The document discusses cumulative flow diagrams (CFDs) which provide a visual representation of work item flow across a team's board. It explains how to construct a CFD by tracking work items in different stages over time. Key flow metrics like throughput, cycle time and work-in-progress that can be understood from a CFD are also described. The document suggests that CFDs provide deeper insights than typical burnup or burndown charts and help identify patterns, bottlenecks and predictability issues. It includes examples of workshop activities where participants analyze sample CFDs to observe patterns and discuss possible causes and improvements.

1. Understanding Cumulative
Flow Diagrams (CFDs)
Mark Grove
mkgrov
Learn How to Interpret CFD Patterns to Better
Understand Your Team’s Flow of Work

2. Understanding Cumulative
Flow Diagrams (CFDs)
Learn how to interpret CFD patterns to better understand
your team’s flow of work
Mark Grove
mkgrov

3. Mark Grove
mkgrov
Managing Consultant @ Excella / Ten years as Agile Coach
Professional Interests: System optimization / Value delivery / Flow of work
Personal Interests: Amateur astronomy / Photography / Pop & rock music history

4. This is a workshop. Meet your neighbors!
• Take a minute to think of a toy that best
reflects your personality and why!
• Take 5 minutes to share your name, where
you’re from, and why you picked the toy you
did with others at your table.
Get to Know Each Other

5. Today’s
Agenda
5
Part One:
 My Motivation
 Why care about the CFD?
 Constructing the CFD
 Three important flow metrics
Part Two (Workshop):
 Identifying CFD patterns
 CFDs and burndown charts
(complementing, replacing?)
Today’s discussion is tool agnostic.

6. Part One:
My Motivation
6
• Beginner agilists/metrics
• Moved to Kanban recently
• Not enough attention to flow
• For Scrum teams: Burndowns only
• Complements my other flow
workshops

7. Why Care
About the CFD?
7
 Provides graphical view of work
item flow across team board
 Identify recurring patterns
 Highlight bottlenecks and their impacts
 Provide insight into predictability
 Keeps front and center the
interrelationship of three very
important flow metrics
 Provides deeper insight than a
velocity-based burnup or
burndown chart

8. Benefits of
Understanding
CFDs
• Visualizes your flow of work
• Identifies bottlenecks
• Provides insight into predictability
8
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9. Constructing
the CFD
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Discover Implement Verify Done
Options
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10. Constructing the CFD
1-Oct
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Discover
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Implement
2
Verify
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Total Done
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11. 0
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Constructing the CFD
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1-Oct 2-Oct
Discover 2 3
Implement 2 3
Verify 2 2
Total Done 0 2
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12. 0
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Constructing the CFD
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1-Oct 2-Oct 3-Oct
Discover 2 3 4
Implement 2 3 3
Verify 2 2 2
Total Done 0 2 4
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Constructing the CFD
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1-Oct 2-Oct 3-Oct 4-Oct
Discover 2 3 4 5
Implement 2 3 3 2
Verify 2 2 2 3
Total Done 0 2 4 7
Discover Implement Verify Done
Options

14. Constructing the CFD
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0
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Total Done
1-Oct 2-Oct 3-Oct 4-Oct 5-Oct
Discover 2 3 4 5 4
Implement 2 3 3 2 2
Verify 2 2 2 3 3
Total Done 0 2 4 7 11
Discover Implement Verify Done
Options

15. Constructing the CFD
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0
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Total Done
1-Oct 2-Oct 3-Oct 4-Oct 5-Oct 6-Oct
Discover 2 3 4 5 4 4
Implement 2 3 3 2 2 3
Verify 2 2 2 3 3 3
Total Done 0 2 4 7 11 15
Discover Implement Verify Done
Options

16. Constructing the CFD
16
1-Oct 2-Oct 3-Oct 4-Oct 5-Oct 6-Oct 7-Oct
Discover 2 3 4 5 4 4 4
Implement 2 3 3 2 2 3 3
Verify 2 2 2 3 3 3 4
Total Done 0 2 4 7 11 15 17
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Discover Implement Verify Done
Options

17. Constructing the CFD
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0
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Implement
Verify
Total Done
1-Oct 2-Oct 3-Oct 4-Oct 5-Oct 6-Oct 7-Oct 8-Oct
Discover 2 3 4 5 4 4 4 5
Implement 2 3 3 2 2 3 3 3
Verify 2 2 2 3 3 3 4 4
Total Done 0 2 4 7 11 15 17 20
Discover Implement Verify Done
Options

18. Constructing the CFD
18
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Discover
Implement
Verify
Total Done
1-Oct 2-Oct 3-Oct 4-Oct 5-Oct 6-Oct 7-Oct 8-Oct 9-Oct
Discover 2 3 4 5 4 4 4 5 5
Implement 2 3 3 2 2 3 3 3 4
Verify 2 2 2 3 3 3 4 4 4
Total Done 0 2 4 7 11 15 17 20 23
Discover Implement Verify Done
Options

19. Constructing the CFD
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0
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Discover
Implement
Verify
Total Done
1-Oct 2-Oct 3-Oct 4-Oct 5-Oct 6-Oct 7-Oct 8-Oct 9-Oct 10-Oct
Discover 2 3 4 5 4 4 4 5 5 6
Implement 2 3 3 2 2 3 3 3 4 5
Verify 2 2 2 3 3 3 4 4 4 3
Total Done 0 2 4 7 11 15 17 20 23 25
Discover Implement Verify Done
Options

20. Three
Important
Flow Metrics
Throughput
(Number of
items
completed per
unit of time)
Cycle Time
(time to
complete)
Work in
Progress
(WIP)
20

21. Little’s Law
21

22. WIP
On October 29, the
20th work item was
pulled onto the board,
and 11 total items
were completed.
Thus, the WIP is 9
(20 – 11)
0
5
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45
Number
of
Items
Discover
Implement
Verify
Done
9 Items
22
WIP

23. 0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
45
Number
of
Items
Discover
Implement
Verify
Done
Approximate Average
Cycle Time
Beginning around Oct
29th and ending
around November
19th, the cycle time is
approximately three
weeks.
21 Days = 3 weeks
Approximate
Average Cycle Time
23

24. Average Throughput
9 items over 21 days.
Throughput is 9/21 =
3/7 or 3 items per week
0
5
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35
40
45
Number
of
Items
Discover
Implement
Verify
Done
Average
Throughput
9 Items
21 Days = 3 weeks
24

25. 0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
45
Number
of
Items
Discover
Implement
Verify
Done
Average WIP
Approximate
Average Cycle Time
Average
Throughput
WIP can play a big role
in affecting time to
completion
25

26. 0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
45
Number
of
Items
Discover
Implement
Verify
Done
WIP can play a big role
in affecting time to
completion
Approximate
Average Cycle Time
Average WIP
Average
Throughput
26

27. 0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
Number
of
Items
The more in your
system, the longer it
takes any item to
complete
27

28. Start Starting and Stop Finishing
28

29. Start Starting and Stop Finishing
Stop Starting and Start Finishing!
29

30.  What do you see?
Observe each CFD. What are you noticing?
What patterns may be present? Are there
any trends? What does the team see?
What could be causing this pattern? Have
you seen this before? What has prior
experience taught you? What questions
would you have for the team? What does
the team think?
What ideas do you have that may address
the pattern? Are there experiments worth
trying? What has the team already tried?
Did it work?
 Why might it be occurring?
 What might you suggest?
Part Two:
Identifying
CFD Patterns
30

31. 1.
What Do You See?
Why might it be
occurring?
What might you
suggest? 0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
Number
of
Items
Discover
Implement
Verify
Done
31

32. 0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
Number
of
Items
Discover
Implement
Verify
Done
2.
What Do You See?
Why might it be
occurring?
What might you
suggest?
32

33. 3.
What Do You See?
Why might it be
occurring?
What might you
suggest?
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
Number
of
Items
Discover
Implement
Verify
Done
33

34. 0
2
4
6
8
10
12
Wed Thu Fri Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Mon Tue
Number
of
Items
Discover
Implement
Verify
Done
4.
What Do You See?
Why might it be
occurring?
What might you
suggest?
34

35. 5.
What Do You See?
Why might it be
occurring?
What might you
suggest?
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
45
50
Number
of
Items
Discover
Implement
Verify
Done
35

36. 6.
What Do You See?
Why might it be
occurring?
What might you
suggest?
36
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
Number
of
Items
Discovery
Implement
Verify
Done

37.  Let’s look at how a CFD could
complement and perhaps simply
replace a burndown chart.
CFDs and
Burndown Charts
37
 Let’s assume a Scrum team

38. 7.
What Do You See?
Why might it be
occurring?
What might you
suggest?
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
Wed Thu Fri Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Mon Tue
Number
of
Items
Discover
Implement
Verify
Done
38

39. 0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
Wed Thu Fri Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Mon Tue
Burndown Chart
Corresponding
Burndown Chart
39

40. Burndown Chart and
corresponding CFD for
a Simple To Do, Doing,
Done board
40
0
2
4
6
8
10
12
Wed Thu Fri Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Mon Tue
Number
of
Items
To Do
Doing
Done
0
2
4
6
8
10
Wed Thu Fri Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Mon Tue
Burndown Chart
Note how the CFD can
provide deeper insight
toward how the team
worked during the
sprint.
To Do Doing Done

41. 41
0
2
4
6
8
10
12
Wed Thu Fri Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Mon Tue
Number
of
Items
To Do
Doing
Done
0
2
4
6
8
10
Wed Thu Fri Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Mon Tue
Burndown Chart
Note how the CFD can
provide deeper insight
toward how the team
worked during the
sprint.
To Do Doing Done
Burndown Chart and
corresponding CFD for
a Simple To Do, Doing,
Done board

42. excella.com | @excellaco
Thank you!!
Mark Grove
mark.grove@excella.com